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 i2^S I 
 
 ■<^i\\m
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF- 
 
 MAXIMILIAN DE BETHUNE, 
 DUKE OF SULLY, 
 
 PRIME MINISTER TO 
 
 HENRY THE GREAT. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 The Hiftory of the Life and Reign of that Monarch, 
 And his own Administration under Him. 
 
 Tranilated from the French. 
 
 To which is added^ 
 
 The Try al of R a v a i l l a c for the Murder of 
 
 HENRY the GREAT. 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION. 
 VOL. IL 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed for A.Millar, in the Strand; R. and J. Dodsley, in. 
 Eall-Malli and W. Shropshire, in New-Bond-Street, 
 
 MDCCLXL-
 
 SUMMARY 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Books contained in the Second Volume. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE ELEVENTH BOOK. 
 
 MEMOIRS from the year 1 599 to 1 60 1 . Affairs of the mar- 
 quifate of Saluces. Artifices of the duke of Savoy to avoid 
 making a reftitution of Saluces. Journey of Henry IV. to 
 Blois, Diffolution of his marriage with Margaret of Valois : his amours 
 with mademoifelle d'Entragues, who perfuades him to give her a pro- 
 Inife of marriage : the courage and refolution of Rofny on this occa- 
 fion. Articles of marriage with the princefs of Florence concluded. 
 Foreign affairs. Rofny takes upon him the guardianfliip of his ne- 
 phew d'Epinoy. Revocation of the permiffion for manufaduring rich 
 fluffs. Rofny is made grand mafter of the ordnance, and gives great 
 application to the affairs of this pofl. The duke of Savoy comes to 
 Paris ; brings over the courtiers to his intereft ; endeavours to bribe 
 Rofny, and afterwards to exclude him from the conferences ; but fails 
 in both attempts, and returns home. Nicole Mignon attempts to poi- 
 fon the king. A public difpute betwixt the bifliop d'Evreux and Du- 
 Pleffis Mornay. New fubterfuges of the duke of Savoy : reafons for 
 declaring war againfl him; preparations made by Rofny for this war. 
 Henry IV. marries the princefs of Florence by proxy : takes Cham- 
 béry, Bourg, Montmélian, Charbonniers, &c. Other particulars of this 
 campaign : great fervices performed there by Rofny, notwithflanding 
 Vol. II. a the 

 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 the jealoufy and oppofition of the courtiers. Cardinal Aldobrandin 
 comes to negociate a peace ; Rofny's reception of him : the conferences 
 broken off by the demolition of fort Saint-Catherine : refumed by 
 Rofny ; who concludes the treaty. The queen come to Paris, and is 
 received by Rofny at the Arfenal. Foreign affairs. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE TWELFTH BOOK. 
 
 MEMOIRS of the year 1 60 1. Affairs of the finances ; of mo- 
 ney; of commerce, &c. Prohibition againft carrying gold or 
 filver coin out of the kingdom. Chamber of juftice eflabliflied, but 
 to little purpofe. The author's reâeélions upon luxury and corruption 
 of manners. The officers of the robe and finances fupprefled. Journey 
 of Henry IV. to Orleans. Affairs of the United Provinces. Henry goes 
 to Calais. The French ambaffador infulted at Madrid. Embaffies from 
 the Grand Seignor and the Venetians. Elizabeth comes to Dover. 
 Letters betwixt Henry and Elizabeth. Rofny goes to Dover. Con- 
 verfations between Elizabeth and Rofny, in which they lay the foun- 
 dation of the great defign againft the houfe of Auftria : the great wif- 
 dom of this queen. Death of young Châtillon-Coligny. Birth of 
 Lewis XIII. Henry makes La-Riviere calculate his nativity. The af- 
 fair of the Ifles concluded with the grand duke of Tufcany. Rofny 
 procures the count of Bethune to be named ambaffador to Rome, not- 
 withftanding the endeavours of Villeroi and Sillery to the contrary. 
 Oppofition made by thefe minifters to the opinions and policy of Rofny. 
 Particulars of the confpiracy of maréchal Biron : Rofny endeavours to 
 recal him to his duty: Henry fends him ambaffador to London; to 
 Sweden : he refumes his intrigues at his return. La-Fin's depofitions. 
 An account of the pretended Don Sebaftian ; and other foreign affairs. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE THIRTEENTH BOOK. 
 
 MEMOIRS of the year 1602. Foreign princes at Paris. Henry 
 IV. goes to Blois : the occafion of his journey. An account of 
 maréchal Biron's confpiracy : a council held at Blois upon this occa- 
 fion. A defign formed to arreft the dukes of Epernon and Bouillon : 
 the firft clears his condudlj the great art and addrefs of the fécond. 
 Quarrels between the king and queen : Henry's converfation with Rofny 
 upon this fubjetfl. The effedts of Henry's journey into the provinces : 
 he refolves to have Biron arrefted : particulars of his and the count 
 d'Auvergne's imprifonment 3 and of Biron's trial and execution : 
 * Rofny's
 
 SUMMARY. iii 
 
 Rofny's behaviour throughout this affair. Henry pardons the baron de 
 Lux, and the count d'Auvergne, who again betrays him : reafons why 
 he behaved in this manner to the count d'Auvergne. The prince of 
 Joinville arrefted : The king pardons him ahb; but he is confined in 
 priibn. The duke of Bouillon artfully avoids coming to court. The 
 courtiers endeavour to raife fufpicions in Henry againft Rofny : curious 
 converfations betwixt them on this occafion. Affair of the advocates: 
 difcourfe of Sigogne. Edidrs and regulations upon the coin, commerce, 
 finances, &c. Mines difcovered in France. Edidt againft duels. The 
 alliance with the Swifs renewed. Journey of Henry to Calais. Ac- 
 count of the military exploits between the Spaniards and Dutch i and 
 other foreign affairs. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE FOURTEENTH BOOK. 
 
 MEMOIRS of the year 1603. Troubles at Metz : Henry goes 
 thither and baniflies the Sobolles : other affairs tranfafted in this 
 journey. Memorial againft the cardinal d'Olfat : examination of the 
 fentiments and condudl of the cardinal. Affairs of the Low Countries. 
 Intrigues of the duke of Bouillon, and new feditions of the Calvinifts. 
 Death of Elizabeth. James L king of Great Britain. Henry's return: 
 his converfation with Rofny upon the death of Elizabeth : refolves to 
 fend Rofny ambaffador to London : deliberations in the council, and 
 intrigues in the court upon this embafly. Indifpofition of the king. 
 Public and private inftruâions given to Rofny : his departure with a 
 numerous retinue. Character of young Servin. Rofny embarks at 
 Calais; infulted by the vice-admiral of England: his reception at Do- 
 ver ; at Canterbury, &c. he is received in London with the highefl 
 honours: his feverity in the aff^air of Combaut. State of the political 
 affairs of Great Britain. Charafler of the Englifli: of king James : of 
 the queen, &c. Several faflions at this court. Rofny's conferences 
 with the Englifh counfellors ; with the deputies of the States General; 
 with the refident from Venice, &c. He obtains his firft audience : he 
 is concerned at not being permitted to appear in mourning. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE FIFTEENTH BOOK. 
 
 F^ARTHER memoirs of the year 1603. Continuation of Rofny's 
 embaffy to London : detail of what paffed at his firft audience : 
 public converfations of the king of England with him, upon different 
 fubjefts. Accidents at the court of London favourable and unfavour- 
 
 a 2 able
 
 iv SUMMARY. 
 
 able to this negotiation. Difpofitions of the different courts of Europe. 
 Rol'ny's firll conference with the Enghfli minifters. Intrigues of Spain. 
 Rofny's fécond audience, and private converfation with king James : 
 he perfuades him to fupport the United Provinces: other affairs tranf- 
 acfled between them : his fécond conference with the Britilh minillers, 
 who endeavour to overthrow his negotiation. Imprudent proceedings 
 of count d'Aremberg. Third audience. Rofny admitted to the table 
 of the king of England : public converfations on different fubjeâs». 
 Third conference with the Englifli minifiers and the deputies of the. 
 United Provinces. Artifice and perfidy of Cecil. Fourth audience : 
 private converfations with king James, to whom he communicates the. 
 political defigns of Henry IV. and Elizabeth ; and endeavours to gain 
 his approbation of them : a fhort abflradt of thefe defigns : James de- 
 clares himfelf publicly in Rofny's favour. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE SIXTEENTH BOOK. 
 
 FARTHER memoirs of the year 1603. Continuation of the 
 embaffy and negotiations of Rofny at the court of London. Form 
 of a treaty with his Britannic Majeffy : fubftance of this treaty. Dif- 
 patches from Rofny intercepted. Audience of leave, and Rofny's laft 
 converfation with king James : prefents which he makes in London : 
 his return : dangers at fea : his reception from Henry IV. public con- 
 verfation between them on the fubjeil of his negotiation. Memoirs 
 of the ftate of affairs ia England, Spain, the Low Countries, and other 
 foreign countries. Rofny refumes his labours in the finances. Henry 
 fupports him openly in a quarrel which he had with the count de 
 Soiffons : he entertains the king at Rofny. Journey of Henry into 
 Normandy : what pafi!ed in this journey. Mutiny of the proteflants of 
 the affembly of Gap. Rofny made governor of Poitou. Eflablifhment 
 of the filk manufadtory in France : converfations on this fubje6l, in 
 which Rofny endeavours to diffuade Henry from this defign. Remarks 
 on his opinion of wearing filk, and on other parts of luxury. A 
 colony fettled at Canada. 
 
 SUMMARYoF THE SEVENTEENTH BOOK. 
 
 MEMOIRS of the year 1604. Medals prefented to his ma- 
 jefly by Rofny. Death of the duchefs of Bar : particulars con- 
 cerning her death, and the difputes which it occafions. Deliberations 
 upon the re-eflablifhment of the Jefuits. Converfations of Rofny with 
 
 Henry,
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 lîenry, and the arguments which he urges againfl: their re-eftahlilTi- 
 ment; the conditions upon which they are recalled: protedion grant- 
 ed them by Henry, Father Cotton makes his court to Rofny. Me- 
 morial againfl: cardinal D'OfTat. Sentiments of Rofny not favourable 
 to this cardinal or the policy of the catholics. Treachery of Nicolas 
 L'Hôte ; how difcovcred : particulars upon this fubjeét. Villeroi's con- 
 du6t examined. Rolhy's fentiments upon the difference of religion. 
 Promotion of cardinals, and affairs of Rome. Curious converfation of 
 Henry with Rofny, upon the domeftic diforders occafioned by the 
 queen and the marchionefs of Verneuil. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE EIGHTEENTH BOOK. 
 
 FARTHER memoirs of the year 1604. Continuation of the 
 preceding article, upon the difquiets and domeftic quarrels ot 
 Henry IV. Rofny endeavours to put an end to them : the rifle he run 
 upon this occalion from the queen and-the marchionefs of Verneuil ; 
 her malignity. Wife and difinterefl:ed condu(!l of queen Margaret. 
 Faélions of the protefl:ants and feditious in the kingdom. Henry's jour- 
 ney to the provinces defigned and prevented. Rofny vifits his govern- 
 ment : how received at Rochelle, at Poitiers, &c. Hatred of the pro- 
 tefl:ants againfl him : other particulars and advantages of this journey: 
 his reception from Henry at his return. Juflification of the duke d'E- 
 pernon : falfely accufed. New intrigues of the count d'Auvergne : 
 means ufed by Henry to have him arrefled : letters which he received 
 and wrote to him : an account of his being feized : his tryal. The 
 marchionefs of Verneuil is likewife arrefled : Rofny is employed to in- 
 terrogate her : he can, neither by advice nor intreaties, perfuade Henry 
 to banifli her from France. Weaknefs of this prince for his miftrefs. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE NINETEENTH BOOK. 
 
 FARTHER memoirs of the year 1604. Henry IV. depofites 
 his treafure in the Baflile : a council held on this occafion. Con- 
 fiderations and mr.xims of Rofny upon government : means he makes 
 ufe of to recover money. Verification of rents : other operations and 
 tail of the finances. Regulations of the police and army. EftabliOi- 
 ment of a military hofpital. The talents and abilities of Henry IV. 
 for government. Caufes of the weaknefs of ftates. Rupture between 
 France and Spain, on account of commerce. Peace reflored by Rofny, 
 by means of a treaty : particulars and fubftance of the treaty. Farther 
 
 account: 
 
 /
 
 VI 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 account of the affairs of the United Provinces, of Spain, and of England. 
 Agreement and treaty between the two laft powers. Caufes of the 
 difcontent of the United Provinces againft England. The conftahle of 
 Caftile comes to Paris : his converfation with the king. Other con- 
 verfations between Henry and Rofny concerning this ambaffador. Er- 
 roneous maxim of Rofny's on the Salic law. Introdu6tion to the ex- 
 ecution of Henry's great defigns. Affairs of the Grifons, and of the 
 fort of Fuentes : proceedings of the French, and other particulars en 
 this affair. Difpute with the Pope on the fubjeél of the bridge of 
 Avignon ; terminated by Rofny in favour of the king. The acquifi- 
 tion of the earldom of Saint-Paul : prudent advice given by Rofny to 
 Henry on this occafion. Religious orders eftablifhed in France. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE TWENTIETH BOOK. 
 
 MEMOIRS of the year 1605. Conclufion of the procefs againft 
 the counts of Auvergne and Entragues. Complaifance and 
 weaknefs of Henry IV. for the marchionefs of Verneuil. The Jefuits 
 procure the demolition of the pyramid. Great difpute between Rofny 
 and father Cotton, on the fubjedl of the college of Poitiers : defends 
 himfelf againft the calumnies of his enemies : his reconciliation with 
 father Cotton : he quarrels with the duke d'Epernon and Grillon : 
 their reconciliation. Inftances of the fantaftical humour of Grillon. 
 New calumnies againft Rofny, by which he is in danger of being dif- 
 graced. An affedling converfation with Henry, in which they are 
 reconciled : an interefting detail of this whole affair. Other attempts 
 of Rofny's enemies to ruin him : marriage of his daughter with the 
 duke of Rohan : Henry refufes to give the lieutenance-dc-roi of Saint- 
 Jean d'Angely to the duke of Rohan : other favours and gratuities 
 granted and refufed to Rofny by the king. Henry's defign to marry 
 mademoifelle de Melun to the marquis of Cceuvres. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST B-OOK. 
 
 I^Sjl^RTHER memoirs of the year 1605. Details of the finances. 
 JL^ and of government. Reflections of the author upon the taille, 
 la gabelle, 6cc. Debts of France; difcharged. Flourifliing ftate of 
 the kingdom. Henry IV's application to the affairs of ftate : his 
 letters to Rofny. Death of Clement VII. Leo XI. owes his exalta- 
 tion to the protcâion of Henry : his death. Paul V. Pope. Panegyric 
 of the embaffy of the count of Bethune. Brief of Paul V. to Rofny : 
 
 the
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 the eAeem in which this minifter is held at Rome. Farther affairs 
 of Spain, Flanders, and England. The kings of France and England 
 dilfatisfied with Spain. Affairs of the proteftants : informations given to 
 Henry of their bad defigns . Rofny's opinion of the prefent ftate of this 
 body. Jndifpofition of Henry. Affembly of the proteftants at Châtel- 
 leraut : the views of Henry and the huguenots in calling this affem- 
 bly : Rofny fent thither on the part of the king ; his public and private 
 inrtruftions : his converfation with queen Margaret. Intrigues of the 
 duke of Bouillon and his party againO: Rofny : his wife conduft in the 
 affembly : his bold fpeech at the opening of it : he refufes to be pre- 
 fident of this affembly. 
 
 SUMMARY OE THE TWENTY-SECOND BOOK. 
 
 FARTHER memoirs of the year 1605. Continuation of the 
 account of the affembly held at Chatelleraut. New artifices of 
 the duke of Bouillon : his letters to the king and affembly. Imprifon- 
 ment of the Luquiffes. Different advices given to Henry IV. concern- 
 ing the feditious : Rofny's opinion of thefe advices. Rofny difconcerts 
 the fchemes of the protellants at Chatelleraut : he concludes every thing 
 at that affembly to the advantage and fatisfaftion of the king. The 
 affairs of the deputies general : that of the cautionary cities, &c. His 
 advice is not regarded in the affair of Orange : difmiffes the affembly j 
 declare.; the king's plcalure to them ; and returns to give an account 
 of his proceedings to his majeHiy. Flenry's journey to Limofin : Rofny 
 atcompanes bim thither. Turenne, and the other places belonging 
 to the duke of Bouillon, (luTenai. r to the king. His majefty's return. 
 Rofny holds the chamber Les Grand Jours. Myrargues, and the two 
 Luquiifes beheaded. Death of Theodore de Beza. Rofny quarrels 
 with the count of Soiffons, on account of fome privileges annexed 
 to the pofl of grand mailer of the ordnance : with the duke d'Eper- 
 non, upon account of the city of Rochelle : Henry's reception of the 
 deputies of this city. Rofny's return to Paris : account of his pro- 
 ceedings. Queen Margaret arrives at Paris j her reception froni-i^heir 
 majefties. Memorial of Rofny upon duels, wherein he explains the 
 or'^in, and the different cuftoms of duelling. Henry's blameable in- 
 dulgence in. this refpeit ; the good and bad fortune of this prince. 
 
 vu 
 
 ..J ' ,.:.; SUMMARY
 
 VIU 
 
 SUMMARY. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE TWENTY-THIRD BOOK. 
 
 M 
 
 EMOIRS of the year 1606. Rofny prefents medals to the 
 
 king. The king and queen confer with Rofny on the fubjeft 
 
 of their quarrels. Converfation between Henry IV. and Rofny upon 
 politics, in which they concert meafures to humble the houfe of Au- 
 flria. Rofny is made duke and peer of France. The expedition to 
 Sedan: intrigues at court upon this occafion. Letters from the duke 
 of Sully to the duke of Bouillon : his advice to Henry : difgufted up- 
 on account of the treaty of Sedan : complains of Villeroi. Sully's ad- 
 vice to Henry to feize the fortrefles in the earldom of Saint-Paul ; 
 which is not liftened to : Henry offended with him upon account of 
 his entry into Paris. Differences of Paul V. with the Venetians. 
 Henry gives good advice to both parties. The city of Metz has a dif- 
 pute with the Jefuits : new favours granted them by Henry. Adven- 
 ture of father Cotton on the fubjed; of Adrianne De~Frefne. Difputes 
 upon religion ; with the clergy, on the fubjedl of the council of Trent; 
 between the catholics and the proteftants of Rochelle. Ceremony of 
 the baptifm of the children of France. Regulations upon the gabelle 
 and the eleflions. Other operations and regulations in the finances. 
 Private life of Henry : his amufements : converfation between him 
 and the courtiers. Military affairs in Spain and Flanders. Refleclions 
 upon this war. Other foreign affairs. Confpiracy againfl: the king of 
 England. 
 
 IT 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XL 
 
 TH E time fettled for the agreement about the marquifate of j ^gg, 
 Saluces, of which the terms were referred to the pope, had 
 elapfed without any dccifion by his hoHnefs, becaufe the duke 
 of Savoy, who knew better than any other perfon that it could not be 
 favourable for him, had, to * elude the fentence, made ufe of all 
 thofe arts that were generally praâifed in this little court, whofe po- 
 licy it was, when its fafety or advantage was in queflion, to employ 
 cunning, treachery; fubmifTion, and the appearance of the flrongeft 
 attachments. The firfl thought that prefented itfelf to the duke of 
 Savoy's mind was, to revoke an agreement which had only been made 
 to gain time, or with a hope that France would embroil itfelf with 
 the holy fee : but as this proceeding feemed too difingenuous, he had 
 recourfe to another artifice to make the pope voluntarily refign the 
 arbitration : he apprifed his ambaflador at Rome, that he had certain 
 intelligence from France and Italy, that Clement VIII. had fuffered 
 
 * This marquifate was a transferable fief of Dauphiné, to which the houfe of Savoy 
 had no right. 
 
 V<5l. II. B himfelf
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XT, 
 
 1599, himfelf to be gained by the king, on a private condition, that his moil 
 chriftian majefly fhould engage to yield afterwards to the popehimfelf 
 all his claims upon the marquifate of Saluces. The ambaflador, who 
 was firft impofed upon by his mafter, explained himfelf in fuch a 
 manner upon this collufion, that his holinefs, who had only accepted 
 of the arbitration for the advantage of both parties, refigned it with 
 indignation. 
 
 The duke of Savoy, who had not doubted but that the pope would 
 aft in this manner, gave the king, however, to underlland, that he 
 would rely entirely upon him, without having recourfe to any foreign 
 arbitration upon the difpute. He thought, by piquing this prince up- 
 on his honour, to obtain that which was the fubjeft of their conteft, 
 which he took care to have reprefented to him, as a thing of fuch 
 fmall value, that it could not merit the attention of fo great a king. 
 And it was with thefe inftrudions that the fieurs de Jacob, de la 
 Roehette, deLullins, de Bretons, and de Roncas, the duke of Savoy's 
 agents, came to Paris. 
 
 With views of this nature the minifler and the confident of the 
 prince is commonly the perfon whom they begin to engage in their 
 intereft, or (to be plainer) whom they endeavour to corrupt ; and if 
 he fliould not appear very virtuous, do not even conceal from him 
 the defign with which they come, and in their difcourfe make 
 no longer any ufe of that caution which is obferved in a congrefs. 
 Thefe gentlemen therefore told me, that their malter did not pretend 
 to hold the marquifate of Saluces of his majefly any otherwife than as 
 a meer gift of his munificence j and at the fame time infmuated to me 
 plainly enough, that this prefent would produce from the duke of Sa- 
 voy advantages for me proportionable to the importance of the requeft, 
 and my folicitude to fecure its fuccefs. I would not feem to under- 
 ftand thefe lafl: words : and with regard to the firfl, I told the agents 
 drily, that fmce, as they well knew, no one could beflow upon another 
 what was not immediately in his own polTefTion, it was neceffary the 
 duke of Savoy fliould firft begin by refigning all claim to the mar- 
 quifate of Saluces; and that then his m.ajeily, who I afTured them had 
 no lefs greatnefsof mind than his highnefs, would ufe his power roy- 
 ally. And I very earneilly intreated them to addrefs themfelves di- 
 reftly to the king : which they did, difcouraged with the manner I 
 fpoke to them. Henry treated them with great civility, but appeared 
 fo rcfolute upon every thing which regarded that ftate, that after fe- 
 
 veral
 
 Book XL MEMOIRS OF SULL Y, 5 
 
 veral ufelels attempts, they laid afide all thoughts of fucceeding this 1599- 
 way. 
 
 Finding all France, and the court itfelf, filled with malecontents 
 and mutinous perlons, they imagined that by pufliing them on to Ibme 
 violent refolution, they might give Henry fufficient employment within 
 his kingdom, to make him lole fight of all that palled without. The 
 duke of Savoy's prefence appeared to theni abfolutely necelTary to en- 
 gage more clofely thofe lords that liftened to their fuggefiions ; and 
 they wrote to him, that his interefl: required that he fhould take a 
 journey to Paris. This projeft was perfedly fuited to the duke's cha- 
 radler* ; heconfcnted toit, and ordered them to demand his majefty's 
 leave for that purpofe; which the king would have denied, ifhe could 
 have done it with any appearance of reafon. But the duke of Savoy 
 had deprived him of the Icaft pretence, by protefting, that he under- 
 took this journey, in order that he might himfelf treat with his nv.i^ 
 iefty; or rather, that he came to fubmit entirely to the king's will. 
 This declaration he accompanied with fo many complaints againfl: 
 Spain, that he feemed to be upon the point of coming to an open 
 rupture with that crown ; and that henceforward he would place all 
 his hopes of I'ecurity on an union with France. He had a lliort time 
 before refufed an advantageous propofal made him by the king of 
 Spain, to fend his fon and his eldeft daughter to the court of Madrid, 
 to appear there as princes of the blood-royal of Spain. 
 
 By this ftep of the duke of Savoy, the pope was fully determined 
 to concern himfelf no further with the affair of Saluces : but nothing 
 could make the king negled; two things, which from the very firft 
 appeared to him abfolutely necelTary ; namely, to give up no part 
 of that fatisfaftion which was due to him by the duke, and to difco- 
 ver all his tranfaftions with the malecontents of his court. 
 
 Among thefe the king always gave maréchal Biron the firft rank. 
 His majefty knew, that during the ftay this maréchal made in Gui- 
 enne, he had lolicited the nobility of that province to engage in his 
 interells ; and that at his own table he had had fuch converfations with 
 them, as proved him to be an enemy to the royal authority. All this 
 might have been attributed to the pride and infolence of his difpofi- 
 
 • It is faid, that this prince, during his " come into this kingdom to reap, but to 
 refidence at the court of France, one day " fow." 
 let fall the following words, " I ana not 
 
 B Z tion;
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 tion ; but what gave mofl weight to this behaviour was, that his in- 
 trigues at the court of Savoy, although carried on with all pofliblc 
 caution, came at the fame time to his majefly's knowledge. And the 
 journey the king took this year to Blois, had in reality no other mo- 
 tive than to difconcert the projecfls of Biron, and to retain the people 
 in their duty j but in public, the king talked of it as a party of plea- 
 fure, to pafs the fummer in that agreeable climate, and to eat, he 
 faid, fome of the excellent melons there. His removal from Paris 
 likewife, in the ftate things then were, was a matter of indifference. 
 
 I ATTENDED his majefty, whofe flay at Blois produced nothing of 
 confequence enough to be mentioned : he pafled his time there in the 
 employment I have already fpoken of, and in endeavouring to procure 
 the fo earneftly defired dillolution of his marriage with Margaret of 
 Valois. As long as the duchefs of Beaufort lived, no one was felicitous 
 to prefs Henry to a divorce, either becaufe they apprehended that their 
 endeavours would turn to the advantage of his miflrefs, who was uni- 
 verfally hated, or that they did not care to expofe themfelves to the 
 rage of this woman ; who was always to be feared, even though her 
 defigns fliould not fucceed : but as foon as (he was dead, there was a 
 general combination of the parliament, all the other bodies, and the 
 people, to folicit him on this fubjedl. The procurer-general came to 
 his majefly, and intreated him to give his fubjeâs this fatisfaftion. 
 The king, though he was not determined upon his choice, promifed, 
 however, to yield to the defires of his people. 
 
 I NOW refumed my correfpondence with queen Margaret with more 
 ardour than before : I had taken no pains to remove the obflacle which 
 this princefs made, on madam de Beaufort's account, to the conlent that 
 was required of her ; for I looked upon it as a refource to which, pro- 
 bably, every one mufl: have applied ; and it was this only that could 
 have reftrained the court of Rome, if the king had fufFered himfelf at 
 laft to be gained by his miftrefs : befides, the compliance I obferved in 
 Margaret affured me that flie did not make it a pretence for an abfo- 
 lute refufal. I was confirmed in this opinion by the anfwer flie wrote 
 me from UfTon, to a letter I had juft fent her, in which I mention- 
 ed the facrjfice that was expeifled from her, in very refpeâiful but 
 in very clear terms, as fuch negotiations require. Margaret, on her 
 fide, to fliew that fhe perfectly underftood what was to be done, ex- 
 plained herfelf abfolutely upon the bill of divorce, annexing to it fuch 
 reafonable conditions as took away all difficulty for the future; flie 
 
 only
 
 Book XL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 only defired a decent penfion might be afTigned her, and that her 1599. 
 debts might be paid ; appointing a man to conclude this affair, either 
 with the king, or with me, who, though firmly attached to her, could 
 not be llilpeéled : this was Langlois, who had ferved his majelly io 
 faithfully in the reduction of the city of Paris, and had been reward- 
 ed for it with the poft of maiier of the requefts. It was not eafy to 
 find a man who was more capable of bufinefs : he brought his majefty 
 an anfwer from Margaret*; for the king thought he likewife was 
 under a neccfllty of writing to her, which he did with equal goodnefs 
 and complaifance, but in terms far lefs explicit than I had done. 
 With the letters, Langlois brought a ftate of this princefs's demands, 
 which were immediately granted. To render the thing more firm, 
 Langlois undertook to make her write to the pope in terms that gave 
 his holinefs to underfiand, that fhe was far from being conftrained to 
 thisadl; that flie had the fame folicitude for the conclufion of this 
 affair as all France had. D'Offat provided Vv'ith a writing of the fame 
 kind, found no more obfiacles : he was feconded by Sillery, who en- 
 deavoured to efface the fcandal of his firft commifllon. The holy father 
 ufed no more delays in granting the favour that was demanded of him^ 
 than what decency and ceremony required; and did not fuffer himfelf 
 to be influenced by fuggeftions of envious perfons, a deteftable fort of 
 men who are to be found in every place. He appointed the bifliop 
 of Modena, his nephew and nuncio, to put the finifliing hand to this 
 affair, which could be only done in France; affociating with him two 
 commifiioners of that nation, the archbifhop of -f- Aries, and the car- 
 dinal de Joyeufe : the courfe they were to take, was to declare the par- 
 tics free from all engagements, by the nullity of their marriage. 
 
 While this affair was haflening towards a conclufion, Henry re- 
 turned to Fontainebleau ; and giving great part of his time to diver- 
 
 * See thefe two letters of Henry IV. to reafon of confanguinity, different religion, 
 
 Margaret de Valois, and of Margaret's to fpiritual affinity, compulfion, and for want 
 
 Henry, in the new colicftion des lettres of the confent of one of the parties ; fo? 
 
 du Henry le Grand. Henry IV. and Margaret de Valois were 
 
 t Horace del Monte, the archbifhop of related in the third degree ; the mother of 
 
 Aries, and Francis dc Joyeufe, the fécond Jane d'Albert, who alio was called Mar- 
 
 fon of William de Joyeufe. Thefe three garct, being the fifter of Francis I. See 
 
 commifl'aries having met in the palace of the hiflory and pieces concerning this di- 
 
 Henry de Gondy, bifhop of Par's, after vorce in Matthieu, tom. II. b. ii. De 
 
 maturely examining the rcafons alledged on Thou, liv. cxxiii. La Chronologi'; Sep- 
 
 both fides, declared the marriage void, by tennaire, ann. 1599. 
 
 fions.
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XI. 
 
 fions, and thepleafuresof the table, heard mademoifelle d'Entragues* 
 often mentioned. The courtiers, eager to flatter his inclination for the 
 fair, fpoke fo advantageoufly of the beauty, wit, and fprightlinefs of 
 this young lady, that the king had a defire to fee her, and became im- 
 mediately paffionately enamoured of her. Who could have forefeeu 
 the uneafinefs this new paflion was to give him ! but it was Henry's 
 fate, that the fame weaknefs which obfcured his glory fhould likewife 
 deftroy the tranquility of his life. 
 
 The lady was no novice : althougli fenfible of the pleafure of be- 
 ing beloved by a great king, yet ambition was her predominant paf- 
 fion ; and (he flattered herfelf fhe might make fo good ufe of her 
 charms, as to oblige her lover to become her hufband. She did not 
 therefore feem in hafte to yield to his defires ; pride, chafliity, and 
 interefl:, were employed in their turns; flie demanded no lefs than 
 one hundred thoufand crowns for the price of her favours. And per- 
 ceiving that fhe had only increafed Henry's paflion, by an obfl:acle, in 
 my opinion much more likely to cool it, fmce his majefly was ob- 
 liged to tear this fum from me by violence, fhe no longer defpaired 
 of any thing, and had recourfe to other artifices; flie alledged the re- 
 flraint her relations -f- kept her in, and the fear of their refentment. 
 The prince endeavoured to remove all thcfe fcruples, but could not 
 fatisfy the lady, who taking a favourable opportunity, at length de- 
 clared that fhe would never grant him any thing unlefs he would give 
 her a promife, under his hand, to marry her in a year's time. It was 
 not upon her own account, flie faid (accompanying this ftrange requefl: 
 with an air of modefl:y, with which Ihe well knew how to enflame 
 the king) that (he allied for this promife, to her a verbal one iiad 
 been futHcient, or, indeed, flie would have required none of any kind, 
 being fenfible that her birth did not allow. her to pretend to that ho- 
 
 * Catherine Henrietta, daughter to Fran- foundation. If we may believe the marc- 
 els de Balzac, lord of Entragues, Mar- chal de BafTompierre, in his Memoirs, her 
 coufTy, and de Malefherbes, by Mary mother was indeed very condefcending in 
 Touchet, miftrefs to Charles IX. whom this affair ; and it was even flie that drev» 
 he married for his fécond wife. The wri- the king to Malefherbes, a houfe where fhe 
 tings of thofe times reprefent her as not fo lived : but her father v^'as not fo comply- 
 beautiful, though younger, than the fair ing, any more than the count d'Auvergne, 
 Gabriclle, and flill more gay, ambitious, half-brother by the mother to the lady. 
 and enterprizing. This fketch, which cor- They wanted to pick a quarrel with the 
 refponds with what the duke de Sully fays count de Lude, whom Henry IV. employ- 
 -here, will be very much confirmed in the ed upon this occafion : and they carried 
 fequel of thefc Memoirs. the lady to MarcoufTis, where the king 
 
 t This fear was not entirely without iicverthelefs went to fee her. Tom. I. 
 
 nour.
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 nour, but that fhe would have occafion for fuch a writing, to ferve 
 as an excufe for her fault to her relations ; and obferving that the 
 king ftill hefitated, fhe had the addrefs to hint, that in reality (lie 
 fliould look upon this proinife as of very little confequence, knowing 
 well the king was not to he fummoned to a court of juftice like one 
 of his common fubjedts. 
 
 What a ftriking example of the tyranny of love ! Henry was not 
 fo dull but that he plainly perceived this girl endeavoured to deceive 
 him : not to mention likewife thofe reafons he had to believe her far 
 from being a veftal, or thofe intrigues againft the ftate of which her 
 father, mother, or brother, and even herfelf, had been convidted, and 
 had drawn upon this family an order to leave Paris, which I had fo 
 lately fignified to them from his majefty ; notwithftanding all this, 
 the king was weak enough to comply with his miflrefs's defires, and 
 promifed to grant her requeft. 
 
 One morning, when he was preparing to go to the chace, he called 
 me into the gallery at Fontainebleau, and put this fliameful paper into 
 my hands. It is a piece of juftice, which I am fo much the more 
 obliged to do Henry, as the reader muft perceive that I do not endea- 
 vour to palliate his faults, to acknowledge that, in the greateft excefles 
 to which he was hurried by his paffions, he always fubmitted to a can- 
 did confefTion of them, and to confult with thofe perfons whom he 
 knew were moft likely to oppofe his defigns. This is an inftance of 
 re(!litude and greatnefs of foul, rarely to be found amongfi: princes. 
 While I was reading this paper, every word of which was like the 
 ftab of a poignard, Henry fometimes turned afide to conceal his con- 
 fufion, and fometimes endeavoured to gain over his confident by con- 
 demning and excufing himfelf by turns ; but my thoughts were wholly 
 employed upon the fatal writing. The claufe of marrying a miftrefs, 
 provided fhe bore him a fon in the fpace of a year (for it was conceived 
 in thefe terms) appeared indeed ridiculous, and plainly of no effedt ; 
 but nothing could relieve my anxiety, on account of the fhame and 
 contempt the king mufl: neceffarily incur, by a promife which, fooner 
 or later, would infallibly make a dreadful confufion. I was alio afraid 
 of the confequences of fuch a flep in the prefent conjun6lure whilfl 
 the divorce was depending ; and this thought rendered me filent 
 and motionlefs. 
 
 Henry, feeing that I returned him the paper coldly, but with a 
 Tifible agitation of mind, faid to me, *^ Come, come, Ipeak freely, 
 
 I *' and-
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 159g. " and do not aflume all this referve." I could not imnnediately find 
 words to exprefs my thoughts, nor need I here affign reafons for my 
 perplexity, which may be eaiily imagined by thofe who know what 
 it is to be the confident of a king, on occafions when there is a neceffity 
 of combatting his refolution, which is always abfolute and unaltera- 
 ble. The king again afliired me, that I might fay and do what I 
 pleafed, without offending him; which was but a juft amends, he laid, 
 for having forced from me three hundred thoufand livres. I obliged 
 him to repeat this aflurance feveral times, and even to feal it with a 
 kind of oath ; and then no longer hefitating to difcover my opinion, I 
 took the paper out of the king's hands, and tore it to pieces, without 
 faying a word. " How !" faid Henry, aftoniflied at the boldnefs of this 
 adion, " Morbieu! what do you mean to do ? I think you are mad." 
 *' I am mad, I acknowledge, fire, replied I, and would to God I was 
 *' the only madman in France." My refolution was taken, and I was 
 prepared to fuffer every thing, rather than, by a pernicious deference 
 and refpeft, to betray my duty and veracity ; therefore, notwithfland- 
 ing the rage I favv that inftant imprefied on the king's countenance, 
 while he colleâed together out of my hands the torn pieces of the 
 writing, to ferve as a model for another, I took advantage of that inter- 
 val to reprefent to him, in a forcible manner, all that the fubjeft may 
 be imagined to fuggeft to me. The king, angry as he was, liftened 
 till I had done fpeaking, but, overcome by his paffion, nothing was 
 capable of altering his refolution ; the only effort he made was not to 
 banifh from his prefence a confident too fmcere. He went out of the 
 gallery without faying a fingle word to me, and returned to his clofet, 
 whither he ordered Lomenie to bring him a ftandifii and paper; he 
 came out again in half a quarter of an hour, which he had employed 
 in writing a new promife. I was at the foot of the ftaircafe when he 
 defcended ; he paffed by without feeming to lee me, and went to 
 Maleiherbes to hunt, where he flaid two days. 
 
 I WAS of opinion that this incident ought to put no flop to the affair 
 of the divorce, nor hinder another wife from being fought for, for the 
 kirfg, but rather that it fliould haften both : his majefiy's agents at 
 Rome made therefore the firil: overture of a marriage between Henry 
 and the princefs Mary of Medicis *, daughter to the grand duke 
 
 * Mary de Medicis, daughter to Fran- rings and jewels. La Chronologic Septen- 
 
 cis grand duke of'I'ulcan)', by the arch- naire, anno 1600, p. 121. and Matthieu, 
 
 duchcfs Jane of Auihia, daughter to the torn. II. liv. ii. p 336, give aji account of 
 
 emperor P'erdinand. She had for her por- the negotiations of d'Ofl'at and dc Sillery, 
 
 tion lix hundred thoufand crowns, befides relating to his marriage. 
 
 of
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 of Florence. The king fuffered us to proceed in this buiinels, and, by 
 the force of repeated importunities, even appointed the conilablcj tb.e 
 chancellor, Villeroi, and I, to treat with the perfon whom the grand 
 duke fliould fend to Paris. We were refolved not to let the affair 
 fleep. Joannini, the perfon deputed by the grand duke, was no 
 fooner arrived, than the articles were inllantly drawn and figned by 
 us all. 
 
 I WAS pitched upon to communicate this news to the king, who 
 did not expeft the bufinefs would have been concluded fo fuddenly. 
 As foon as I replied to his queftion from whence I came, " We come, 
 " fire, from marrying you," this prince remained a quarterof an hour as 
 if he had been firuck with a thunderbolt. He afterwards walked up 
 and down his chamber haftily, delivering himfelf up to reHeâions, 
 with which his mind was fo violently agitated, that for along time he 
 could not utter a word. I did not doubt but that all I had reprefented 
 to him had now a proper effeft : At length recovering himfelf like a 
 man who had taken his refolution, " Well !" faid he, rubbing his hands 
 together, " well, Depardieu! be it fo, there is no remedy : if for the good 
 " of my kingdom I muft marry, I muft." He acknowledged to me, that 
 the fear of fucceeding no better in his fécond than his firll: marriage was 
 the caufe of his irrefolution. Strange caprice of the human mind ! A 
 prince who had extricated himfelf with glory and fuccefs from a thou- 
 fand cruel difl"enfions, which war and policy had occafioned, trem- 
 bled at the very thoughts of domeftic quarrels, and feemed more 
 troubled than when, that very year, upon notice fentfrom a capuchin 
 of Milan *, an Italian, who had come to Paris with an intention to 
 poignard him, was feized in the midft of the court. The marriage, 
 though concluded on, was not folemnized till the following year. 
 
 Other foreign affairs in this, which remain to be mentioned, are 
 thefe ; the war in the Low Countries, which was vigoroufly begun 
 when the archduke went into thofe provinces ; the king, upon reite- 
 rated complaints from Spain, forbad his fubjedts to bear arms in the 
 fervice of the States, but this was merely for form's fake, policy not 
 permitting him to iuffer the Flemings to be oppreffed. His majefly not 
 only forbore to punifli thofe who difobeyed thefe orders, but likewife 
 affiiled that people privately : the war in Hungary, which I fliall lay 
 
 * His name was FrereHonorio. Henry him by his amb.ifl'ador at Rome. Mat- 
 rV. thanked him himfelf for it, andcaufed thieu, toni. II, Ji\'. ii, p. 302. 
 ft vera! advantageous offers to be made 
 
 • ^OL. II, C nothing
 
 lo M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XT. 
 
 I egg. nothing of, except that the duke of Mercœur afked and obtained leave 
 to ferve in the troops of the emperor Rodolph; the revolution that 
 happen'ed in Sweden, v/here the then reigning king and elecfled one 
 of Poland '* was dethroned by his fubjedts, who put his uncle Charles 
 duke of Sudermania in his place ; and loft all hope of ever being re- 
 flored, by the defeat he received from his rival. 
 
 "With refpedlto my own perfonal affairs, this \vas the moft conlî- 
 derable. This year the princefs d'Epinoi-j-, came to me when I was 
 at Blois, to engage my interell with the king againft the princes of 
 Ligne, who had attempted to ufurp her eftate, and that of her chil- 
 dren. Thefe children were five in number, four of whom, three fons 
 and her eldefl daughter, fhe had brought with her ; the youngeft was 
 educated under the care of madam de Roubais, widow of the vifcount 
 de Gand her uncle and mine. The princefs told me, that the nearefl 
 relation by the father's fide which her children had in France being 
 myfelf, it was fit 1 fliould be their guardian. I accepted willingly of 
 this truft, to procure them juftice ; and had the fatisfaâion at the end 
 of feven years, during which time I took the fame care of thefe chil- 
 dren as my own, to reftore to them the polfeflion of all their eftates, 
 which amounted to a hundred and twenty thoufand livres a year. I 
 fhall have occafion hereafter, to take notice, of the obligations they 
 received from his majefty. 
 
 About the fame time the merchants of Tours came to in treat my. 
 affiftance in procuring leave for them to eflablifli manufadlures of filks, 
 and of gold and filver fluffs, which had not yet been made in France, 
 together with a prohibition for importing any from foreign countries for 
 the future, affuring me that they had fufficient to fupply the whole 
 kingdom. Before I gave them their anfwer, I required time to exa- 
 mine if their report was truej and being convinced it was not, I en- 
 deavoured to difluade them from an enterprife, which could not mif- 
 carry with impunity : I could not prevail. Upon my refufal they ad- 
 dreffed themfelves diredtly to his majefty. I thought it necefiary not to 
 oppofe an eftablifliment, which, if well conduced, mJght be of great 
 
 * Sigifmond. This misfortune befel Peter dé Melun prince d'Epinoi, died in 
 
 him for nitempting to re-eflablifh the ca- 1594. The princes de Ligne, of whom he 
 
 tholic religion in Sweden. See, witli re- fpeaks here, are l'Amoral prince dc Ligne, 
 
 gard to all thefe foreign affairs, De Thou, governor of Artois, that married Mary de 
 
 le Septennaire, and other hiftorians, an. Melun, who had the feigniories of Rou- 
 
 1599. bais, d'Antoing, and his brothers. 
 
 t Hippolite de Montmorency, widow of 
 
 ufè.
 
 Book XL M E M O I R S OF S U L L Y, 
 
 ufe. The king, overcome by their importunity, granted all they 
 afked ; but fix months were fcarce palled, when, for want of, having 
 taken proper meafures, they came to get their commiffions revoked, 
 which had given general difcontent on account of the inconvenienc3r 
 and increafe of expence to the purchafers, which had been produced 
 by this new regulation *. 
 
 The king, believing the affair of the marquifate of Saluces would 
 notbefinifhedwiîhoutftrikingablûwfor it, had, forlbme time, thought 
 of getting a man to perform the duties of grand mailer of the ordnance, 
 who was capable of acquitting himfelf well of them, and above all of 
 aâing by himfelf; this good old d'Eftrées was not able to do: how- 
 ever, his majefty would not take away the polf from him, for his chil- 
 dren's fake, of whommonfieur d'Eflrées was the grandfather; but the 
 expedient he hit upon was, that the elder de Born being defirous of 
 refigning the poft of lieutenant-general of the ordnance, I might treat 
 with him for it, and unite the duties of that employment to thofe of 
 the grand mafter of the ordnance, although I was not invefted with 
 this lafl. He even offered, in my favour, to augment the privileges of 
 the firft, already very confiderable, by raifmg it into an office, giving 
 it authority over all the lieutenant-generals in the provinces, augment^ 
 ing the falary, and laftly, by granting the patents gratis. However, I 
 muff acknowledge, that I was not to be won by thefe offers, and could 
 not relblve to ferve under another, after having been difappointed of the 
 firft place : I therefore excufed myfelf, upon the bufmefs I was already 
 charged with, from not complying with the king's intentions. The 
 king was not to be impofed upon by this anfwer; and, after many foli- 
 citatiorjs which I knew how to defend myfelf againft, he left me in an- 
 ger, telling me that he would mention it to me no more, but, that fmce 
 I would liffen to nothing but my caprice, he would take his own 
 way. 
 
 ■* The murinu rin2;s of the bankers and the methods of manufaflurins: thefe fluffs 
 
 the public farmers of the revenue, whofe ourfelves of a more beautiful, finer, or 
 
 profits the new prohibition had confider- cheaper fabric. At this very day a great 
 
 ably diminifhed, likewife contributed not a number of foreigners take them off our 
 
 little to its revocation. Chronologie Sep- hands, and the prohibition is in force only 
 
 tennaire, p. 94. an. 1599. Thecafe is the as to Indian ftufFs and printed linens ; but 
 
 fame with regard to thefe fluffs as all the it were to be wifhed that ws would be 
 
 other parts of traffic. The freedom of more careful to forbear the ufe of the lat- 
 
 trade which fliould fubfift between all the ter, or rather make in France fuch iiuHs 
 
 ■nations of the world, will not give us, in as would ferve infiead of tliefe which are 
 
 this refpeiSl, any advantage over our fo commodious and fen'iceable, 
 •neighbours, farther than we can find out 
 
 C 2 His
 
 12 M E M Ô I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XL 
 
 7 599, His kindnefs for me made him that moment forget his threat. He 
 
 cauled a propofal to be made tomonfieur de Ellrées to refign his em- 
 ployment, which, as foon as I was informed of, I offered, by monfieui* 
 and madam du Peche, three thoufand crowns to madam de Nery, 
 who governed the old man entirely, to procure his confent. The 
 mafter of the ordnance being importuned by this woman, told the 
 king that he was willing to accept of an equivalent for his poft. The 
 king immediately acquainted me with his refolution, addmg, that he 
 required nothing of me for the offence Î had given him, but to put 
 his artillery into a condition to obtain the marquifate of Saluces for 
 him, which, he was every day more convinced, would not be yielded 
 without force, that is to fay, without a great number of very difficult 
 fieges ; for that is the ufual way of carrying on a war in Savoy. I 
 thanked his majefty, and agreed with dEftrées for eighty thoufand 
 crowns ; all thefe petty claims rifing to a coniiderable fum more, I 
 was, on this occafion, obliged to take up rents to the value of a hun- 
 dred thoufand crowns from Morand, Vienne, and Villemontée ; and 
 three days afterwards I was folemnly inverted with the dignity * of 
 grand mafter of the ordnance, and took the ufual oath for it. This 
 was the fourth great office with which I was then honoured ; the an- 
 nual produce of it was twenty-four thoufand livres. I thought my- 
 felf obliged, in gratitude to his majefty for this lafl inflance of his 
 bounty, to give all my cares to the artillery. I vilîted the arfenal, 
 where every thing feemed to me in fuch a miferable condition, that I 
 refolved to take up my refidence there, that I might apply myfelf 
 wholly towards its re-eftalifliment, although this caille was then very 
 ill built and deftitute of every conveniency. 
 
 The affairs of the artillery were ftill worfe. I began by a reform of 
 the officers of this body, who not having the flightefl: notion of their 
 trade, were, in fadl, only the fervants of the officers of the court of 
 juftice. Icaffiiered about five hundred of them at one flroke. I con- 
 
 * The king declared it an office of the " c?j;ion, efpecially as the importance of 
 
 crown, and that in favour of M. de Sully. " the thing itfelf and his own good fenfe 
 
 Brantôme, in the place where he gives us " would have it fo. Witnefs what he 
 
 the liftof the grand mafters of the ordnance, " performed in the laft war with Savoy, 
 
 fpealcs thus, " Since M. dc Rofnyhas had " where, in a fliort time, he gave proof 
 
 " this charge of grand mafter, who un- " of very quick difpatch and diligence, by 
 
 " doubtedly does the place fo much ho- " being fooner in the field than he was 
 
 " nour, the arfenal is in very good order, " expedled." Vies des hommes illuftres, 
 
 *' owing to his great capacity and appli- art. M. Rofny, tom. L p. 227, 228. 
 
 ferred
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ferred next with the commiflaries for faltpetre, and agreed with them 
 for a confiderable provifion of powder, which I fliewed to the king. 
 I treated likewife with the mafters of great iron- works, for iron to 
 make carriages and bombs ; with foreign merchants for the metal ; 
 and with cart-wrights and carpenters, for the wood-work neceflary for 
 the defigns I had formed. His majefly came to vi(it his arfenal himfelf, 
 fifteen days after I was fettled there ; and thefe vilits became afterwards 
 one of his chief amufements : he took pleafure in feeing all the pre- 
 parations that were making there, and the extreme diligence with 
 which I applied myfelf to them. 
 
 That diligence indeed was no more than neceffiiry in the prefent 
 pofture of affairs in Savoy, the detail of which, and that of the war 
 they produced, will make up the fubjedl of thefe Memoirs for all the 
 following year. It was at the end of this, that the duke of Savoy left 
 his own dominions to come into France with thofe intentions I have 
 already mentioned, but they were too well known to produce the 
 effedis he had promifed himfelf from his artifices. The refledlions 
 which the pafi:conducft: of this prince, together with that of his agents, 
 and a knowledge of his charaâer gave rife to, were far from being 
 favourable to him. There was likewife fomething ftill more pofitive 
 againft him : Lefdiguieres had fent advice to his majefiy, that the duke 
 was fortifying his caftles and towns with great care, efpecially thofe of 
 Brefle, and furnifhing them with ammunition and provifions. It was 
 known, ly means of the count de Carces and the fieur du PafTage, that 
 he had firongly folicited the court of Madrid, and prefixed the pope, to 
 procure a fécond reference of the affair; reprefenting to him, that it was 
 the interefl of all Italy not to fuffer that his mofl chriflian majefly fhould 
 pofîefs any thing beyond the Alps. The French refidents at Florence 
 lent advice, that the duke's purpofe, by coming into France, was 
 to circumvent the king ; who, on his fide, was perfuaded, that it was 
 M. de Savoy himfelf who would be the dupe, not only of him, but 
 of the king of Spain and other princes of Italy ; for thefe lafl were at 
 no pains to conceal their diflike of the duke of Savoy's ambitious and 
 reftlefs Ipirit : and the king of Spain had not forgot the public com- 
 plaints he made, that while they gave the Low Countries and Franche 
 Compté, of more value than the two Cafiiles and Portugal, as a por- 
 tion for one of their infantas, the other, whom he had married, had 
 nothing but a crucifix and an image of the Virgin Mary. Many other 
 indecent failles of the like nature, followed by reciprocal complaints» 
 had abfolutely ruined their former good correfpondence. 
 
 Ths
 
 14 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XI. 
 
 1599. The event proved the juftnefs of thofe obfervations which the let- 
 
 ter the king fliewed me from Lefdiguieres occafioned ; but in public he 
 fliewed no refentment at what he had learned of the duke's proceed- 
 ings ; he even ordered me to fpare no expence to give him, at Lyons, 
 fuch reception as is due to foreign fovereigns. This prince, I believe, 
 had no caufe to complain of me upon this account : but meffieurs the 
 counts of Saint- John * did not adt in the fame manner ; they denied 
 him certain honours which the dukes of Savoy claimed in the affem- 
 bly of canons as counts of Villars. It was at Fontainebleau and at 
 Paris where the fliew was moft magnificent. The -f-duke of Savoy, 
 on his part, appeared with fplendor fuitable to his rank. 
 
 Three days after his arrival at Paris, the king, who was defirous 
 •of Ihewing him the new regulations in the arfenal, fent me notice 
 that he would come and fup there with the duke and chief lords and 
 ladies of his court. The duke of Savoy came fo long before, that I 
 could not impute fuch extraordinary hafte to meer accident. Fie de- 
 fned to fee the magazines ; which was not what I wanted ; I was 
 aOiamed of the poverty of the old magazines, and therefore carried 
 him into the new work-houfes. Twenty cannons latelycafl, and as many 
 more in a readinefs for it, forty completely mounted, and fcveral other 
 works which he faw carrying on with great diligence, furprifed him 
 fo much, that he could not help afking me what I meant by all thefe 
 preparations f Sir, replied I, fmiling, to take Montmelian. The duke, 
 without giving any indications that tbis reply had a little difconcerted 
 him, afked, with an air of gaiety and freedom, if I had ever been 
 there; and upon my anfwering him in the negative, "Truly, I thought 
 " fo, faid he, or you would not have talked of taking it; Montme- 
 *' lian is impregnable." I anfwered in the fame tone, that I would 
 not advife him to oblige the king to make the attempt, becaufe I was 
 
 * It was by order of the king, accord- ftcr, and giving him rank in the church 
 
 •ing to F. Matthieu, vol. II. b. ii. p. 323. among the canons. 
 
 that the canons of Lyons rcfufed the duke f Notwithflanding this magnificent re- 
 
 ot Savoy the place of honorary canon in ception, the duke of Savoy, after the firft 
 
 their cathedral, which they had granted conference he had with Henry IV. became 
 
 to the former duke his father, and that for fcnfible that he was not likely to obtain his 
 
 a very obvious reafon, the houfe of Savoy demand. " I have delivered my meflage, 
 
 having fince that time loft pofTeffion of the " fays he, and may now go whenever I 
 
 earldom of Villars. This ceremony con- " will." Matthieu fur le Vovage de ce 
 
 fiftcd in prefenting fome facred vcftments prince en France, torn. II. liv. ii. 
 to the duke at the entrance of the cloy- 
 
 very
 
 Book Xr. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 very certain Montmelian would, in that cafe, lofe the title of im- 
 pregnable. 
 
 These words gave our converfation immediately a very ferious turn. 
 The duke of Savoy taking occafion to mention the affairs which 
 brought him into France, had already, in a polite manner, begun to 
 make me fenfible that he knew I was not in his intereft, when we 
 were interrupted by the arrival of his majefty : and afterwards no- 
 thing was thought of but pleafure. However, the fame night com- 
 miflîoners were named for examining the occafion of the conteft : 
 the conftable, the chancellor, maréchal Biron, Meifle, Villeroi, and 
 myfelf, were appointed for the king; and for the duke of Savoy, 
 Belly his chancellor, the marquis de Lullin, the fieurs de Jacob, the 
 count de Morette, the chevalier de Bretons, and des Allymes. 
 
 The duke of Savoy had already brought over the greater part of 1600', 
 our commiffioners to his interefts : he gained them completely at laft, 
 by the liberal gifts which he beflowed both on them and the whole 
 court* at the new year. But I was the perfon that gave him moft 
 trouble ; for every time, when the queftion was debated amongfi: the 
 commiflîoners, I conllantly held firm to this determination, either that 
 a reftitution fliould be made to his majefty of the marquifateof Salu- 
 ées, or that Breife, and all the border of the Rhone from Geneva 
 to Lyons, fliould be given him in exchange. But for the apparent in- 
 civility of fuch a proceeding, they would have folicited my exclufion 
 from their meetings : therefore they had again recourfe to an attempt 
 to gain me, which they refolved to do at any price whatfoever. 
 
 On the 5th of January, Des Allymes •!• came to make me the 
 ufual compliments, in the name of his highnefs : he intreated me,. 
 
 * The duke fent the king two large difpenfed with. The duke of Savoy play- 
 
 bafons and two cryftal vafes, as a new- ing at primero with Henry, on a bett of 
 
 year's gift. "In return of which, the king 4000 piftoies, the king neglected his play, 
 
 " gave the duke a crotchet of diamonds, fuppofmg that he had already won the 
 
 " where, among others, was one with his game : but the duke, who had it in his 
 
 " majifty's piiSure : itwas avery fine piece, own hand, contented himfelf with fliewing 
 
 " and the duke had a great value for it: he the cards to the dukes of Guife and D'Au- 
 
 " made prefents to all who came to com- bignc, who were prefent, and thenfhufflcd 
 
 " pliment him." Chronologie Septen. ann. them together. It is D'Aubigne that re- 
 
 1600. It was faid that he had gained over lates this circumftance of the duke's gene- 
 
 the duchefs of Beaufort to his intereft. So rolity or policy. 
 
 that if this lady had not died, it is probable f Rene de Lucinge des Allymes, am- 
 
 the reftitution of Saluces might have been bafl'adorfiom Savoy to the court of France. 
 
 withi
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. llooic XÎ. 
 
 with great politenefs, to attend to his mafter's reafons ; that is, in plain 
 terms, to approve of them ; for at the fame time that he made me 
 this requeft, he prefented me with his highnefs's pifture, in a box en- 
 riched with diamonds of fifteen or twenty thoufand crowns value. To 
 affid me in making a compolition with my confcience, he told me, 
 that this picture came from a daughter of France ; and while he per- 
 ceived me bufy in admiring the brilliants, added, that it was given 
 me by a prince whofe attachment to the king was equal to his friend- 
 fliip for me. I ftill kept the pidture in my hand, and aflced Des 
 Allymes what were the propofals he had to make m.e ? He, who 
 thought the decilive m.oment was now come, immediately difplayed 
 his whole ftock of eloquence ; and, for want of good reafons, endea- 
 voured to prove the advantage that was to be gained by the pretended 
 rupture of his malier with Spain, \vho offered to affifl: the king in 
 conquering Naples, Milan, and the empire itfelf. All this coil: him 
 liothing ; and to hear him, one would have thought that he had been 
 able to difpofe abfolutely of thefe dominions; for which he added, 
 that he did not doubt but the king would yield willingly to the duke 
 a paltry marquifate. 
 
 Ï COULD keep filence no longer. I told Des Allymes, that if the 
 king demanded the marquifate of Saluces to be reftored to him, it was 
 not on account of its value, fince that was very inconfiderable ; but 
 that he could not in honour fuffer the crown to be difmembered of 
 one of its antient domains, and which had been ufurped at a time 
 when the duke of Savoy, having received the higheft obligations 
 from Henry IIL at his return from Poland, ought in gratitude to have 
 abftained from it. I thanked the deputy for his obliging expreilions 
 in my favour; and, to pay his compliments with others, afTuredhim, 
 that when the duke of Savoy had made an abfolute reftitution of Sa- 
 luces, I would not forget to ufe my intereft with his majefty, to en- 
 gage him to procure thofe opulent kingdoms for the duke which he 
 had offered to the king, and which would be much more convenient 
 for him than his majeily. Saying this, I opened the box, and after 
 praifingtheworkmanfhipand thematerials, I told Des Allymes, that the 
 great value of the prefent was the only reafon which hindered me from 
 accepting it ; but that if he would allou' me to return the box and the 
 diamonds, I would keep the picture with great pleafure, in remem- 
 brance of a prince fo obliging. Accordingly, I feparated the box and 
 diamonds from the picture, when Des Allymes telling me, that it did 
 
 not
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF S U L L Y. 
 
 not belong to him to make any altenitions in his mafler's prefents, I 
 intreated him to take back all together. And he left me in defpair of 
 ever being able to engage me in his mafter's interefl, and appeared but 
 little fatisfied with my behaviour. 
 
 All that remained now to be done was to exclude me from their 
 meetings. Upon his majefty's refufing to gratify them in this requeft, 
 the duke of Savoy took it in his head to defire, that the patriarch * of 
 Conftantinople might affill: at thefe meetings in the name of the pope ; 
 which the king agreed to, not thinking of the artifice concealed under 
 this propofition. The next day, the king having an inclination to play 
 at tennis, appointed the aflembly to be kept at the conflable's houfe, 
 becaufe he could conveniently make his party when he went from 
 thence, after he had feen the conference begun : but before he left 
 us, he exhorted all the commiffioners to have a flriét regard to juftice ; 
 and whifpering me in particular, " Take care of every thing, faid he, 
 " and do not lufFer them to impofe upon you." 
 
 Upon the king's departure, I found, that inflead of taking their 
 feats, they divided into parties, two and three together, and the 
 nuncio fometimes conferring with one fet, ibmetimes with another, not 
 fuftering the bufinefs to be entered upon regularly ; and, above all, 
 carefully avoiding to fay any thing to me. At length, Bellievre told 
 me, that the good patriarch could not fubdue his fcruples about con- 
 verfing with an huguenot ; and intreated me, in the name of the af- 
 fembly, to abfent myfelf, fmce nothing could be done while I was 
 prcfent. linftantly comprehended the caufe of this behaviour; and 
 bowing profoundly low, withdrew, intending to go and give the king 
 an account of what had palTed. I met him in the gallery, where he 
 had flopped to fpeak to Bellengreville : he afked me with fome fur- 
 prife, if all was over already ? and upon my acquainting him with the 
 truth of the matter, he fell into a great rage, and ordered me to return 
 to the commiffioners, and tell them, that if there was any perfon 
 amongft them to whom my prefence was difpleafing, it was his bufi- 
 nefs to withdraw, not mine. I difturbed a little the joy of the af- 
 fembly, by repeating this new order of the king's. The mcafures 
 they took were, to wafi:e the hours in feeking for expedients, till din- 
 ner-time approached i and then they deferred entering upon the que- 
 
 * Father Bonaventure de Calatagirone, general of the Cordeliers, and the pope's 
 nuncio. 
 
 Vol. II. D flion
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 flion till the afternoon. But notwithftanding all their endeavours with 
 his majerty, I continued ftill in the number uf the commiflioners, and 
 the nuncio was obliged to vanquifli his reludlance. 
 
 Bretons and Roncas turned themfelves on every fide, to avoid' 
 yielding to a reftitution of the marquifate ; they offered to do homage 
 for it to his majefty, and if that \\ as not fufficient, to hold Breffe upon 
 the fame conditions. I eafily rendered all thefe propofals ineffeftual, 
 and got it unanimoufly declared, to give the duke of Savoy this alter- 
 native, either to refign Saluces to the king, or, in its place, the county 
 of Breffe as far as the river of Dain, the vicarfliip of Barcelonette, the 
 valley of Sture, that of Peroufe, and Pignerol ; in which cafe, all the 
 towns and fortreffes taken on both fides were to be reftored *. 
 
 The duke of Savoy expedled a quite different cqndudt from the 
 commiffioners ; but the truth is, they durft not openly oppofe a deter- 
 mination which they knew to be the king's : all therefource they had 
 left was, to join with the courtiers in fupporting the interefts of the 
 duke of Savoy j and were continually reprefenting to the king, that 
 he ought not to aét too rigoroufly with a prince, whofe alliance he 
 might purchafe at a very inconliderable price, and would be much 
 more advantageous than a fief of no value, and which would be very 
 difficult to preferve. The alternative they offered the duke of Savoy 
 afforded them a pretence for granting him fix months to come to a 
 refolution : he defired eighteen ; and I maintained, there was no ne- 
 cefîîty for any delay. I went to his majefty to acquaint him with this 
 refolution, which was taken in fpite of me, and reprefented to him 
 the great inconveniency of giving the duke of Savoy fo long a time to 
 renew his correfpondences, and to prepare for war. Henry, preju- 
 diced by the difcourfe of the courtiers on the neceflity of granting a 
 delay to the duke of Savoy, afked me how it was poffible to do other- 
 wife ? " By granting the duke of Savoy, faid I, an honourable efcort 
 " of fifteen thoufand foot, two thoufand horfe, and twenty cannon, 
 " to condu(5t him to Montmelian, or what other place he fhall chufe 
 
 * A kind of agreement was concluded feized, and by that means obliged to per- 
 
 upon this plan between the commiilaries, form his part of the articles. But this pro- 
 
 which it was much fufpedted the duke of pofal was rejeded by the king. See the 
 
 Savoy would not obferve, becaufe of the particulars of the negotiation, and of the 
 
 delays he defired : whereupon, as Le Grain duke's relidencc at Paris, in M. De Thou, 
 
 relates it, a certain perfon propofed to and Le Septennaire, an. 1599, 1600. 
 Henry, that the duke of Savoy fliould be 
 
 " to
 
 Book XI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. î0 
 
 " to go to, and there oblige him to explain himfelf upon the alterna- 1600. 
 ♦' tive that has been propofed to him." The king did not approve of ' 
 my advice, his word was given to the contrary : I was truly grieved at 
 it; for I have been always firmly perfuaded, that, but for this com- 
 pliance, his majefly might have avoided a war, and have received com- 
 plete fatisfadion. All I could obtain was, that three months fliould 
 be taken from the fix that had been agreed upon. 
 
 The duke of Savoy, finding that his majefly, who was weary of 
 the continual felicitations that were made him on this fubjed:, would no 
 longer anfwer otherwife than in thefe few words, I am rcfohed io have 
 my marquifate, fet out a little time after for Chambery, where, till the 
 expiration of the time pefcribed, which was in the month of June, 
 he employed himfelf in preparations for his defence. He would have 
 had no occafion for them, if the plot of a woman, named Nicole Mig- 
 non, had fucceeded. She had undertaken to poifon the king *, and 
 thought to have engaged the count of Soiflbns, who, on all occafions, 
 made known his difcontent, in her defign; but he conceived fo great 
 an horror at it, that he difcovered her immediately : fhe confefTed her 
 crime, and was burnt. 
 
 Nothing remarkable happened during thefe three months, except 
 the difpute between meffieurs Du Perron and Du Pleffis. Towards the 
 latter end of the lafi: year, appeared a book -f- of Du Pleffis upon the 
 eucharift, which was looked upon, by the proteftant party, to be a 
 mafter-piece, and which I fent immediately to the bifliop of Evreux, 
 
 * By procuring her husband to be ad- dered in her fenfes. Chronologie Septen- 
 
 mitted into the number of the king's cooks, naire, anno 1600. 
 
 by the intereftofthecount deSoifrons,ftew- f This book is intitled, Inftruftions 
 ard of the houfhold. She was well known de la fainte euchariftie, and attacks the 
 to all the princes of the blood, and to Hen- mafs by pretended arguments drawn from 
 ry himfelf at St. Denis, where (he kept the fathers. As foon as it appeared in pub- 
 one of the principal inns during the war. lie, many catholic divines exclaimed 
 The count of Soiilbns, to whom (he had againft the falfliood of a great number of 
 hinted, that it would be his own fault if the quotations it contained. This obliged 
 he was not one of the greateft princes in Du Pleflis to offer a kind of challenge, 
 the world, fufpefting that this woman which thofe doctors prevailed upon the bi- 
 had fome bad defign, caufed Lomenie to (hop of Evreux to accept. After feveral 
 conceal himfelf in a clofet, which gave letters and fteps taken on both fides to fet- 
 him an opportunity of difcovering what tie the method in which they were to pro- 
 means (he intended to ufe. She was ac- ceed, and in which it appears that Du Pleflis 
 cufed of praûifing forccry, but was only a repented more than once of having gone 
 profligate woman, and fomewhat difor- fo far; the king determined that there 
 
 D 2 who
 
 20 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book Xî- 
 
 1600. who was at his diocefe : the difference of religion had never been able 
 to deftroy that friendlliip and gratitude which this prelate had always 
 for me, nor thataftcdion and reverence, which I had ever prel'erved for 
 his merit, his abilities, and even for his quality of being my biflaop : 
 the letters we wrote to each other were always in this flrain. I was 
 greatly furpriled to read in that he wrote to me on account of the 
 
 fhould be a public difpute betwen the two 
 aiitagonills, wherein fifty of thefe paffages 
 were to be made good every day, till all 
 the five hundred and fifty were ejone 
 through, which M. Du Perron had ex- 
 cepted againft. They met in the council- 
 chamber at Fontainebleau, in the prefence 
 fif the king and commiflaries appointed by 
 him : thofe for the catholics were the pre- 
 fident De Thou, the advocate Pithou, and 
 the fieur Martin, reader and phyfician to 
 his majefty ; for the calvinifts, Frefne- 
 Canave, and Cafaubon. They met on 
 Thuifday the 4th of May, at one o'clock 
 in the forenoon. Of fixty-one paffages 
 which Du Perron fent to his antagonift, 
 the latter was only prepared on nineteen of 
 them, which he had feleâed from all the 
 reft : as to thefe, faid he to the king, I 
 will lofe my reputation or life, if one of 
 them be found falfe. However, he was 
 convifted of an unfair reprefentation in all 
 thofe that were examined : and they could 
 only go through nine of them : the chan- 
 cellor then declared the opinions of all pre- 
 fent, upon thefe nine articles feverally, 
 that in the firft, which was from Scotus, 
 and the fécond from Durandus, Du Pleflis 
 had taken the objeftion for the anfu'er ; in 
 the third and fourth from St. Chryfoftom, 
 and the fifth from Jcrom, that he had 
 omitted fome of the moft material words ; 
 in the fixth, that it was no where to be 
 found in St. Cyril ; on the feventh, which 
 was taken from the Code, that it was in- 
 deed from Crinitus, but that Crinitus had 
 falfified the text : as to the eighth, which 
 included two propofitions from St. Bernard, 
 that Du Pleffis ought to have feparated 
 them, or at lend to have put an ijfc. 
 between : w'th regard to the ninth 
 from Theodoret, that it was mutilated, 
 and that the word idols was taken for ima- 
 
 ges. This was the only conference that 
 was held. Du Pleffis Mornay, being feized 
 with an indifpofition next day, went to 
 Saumur fome days after, without taking- 
 leave of the king. Frefne-Canaye one of 
 the commiffioners, and Saint Marie du, 
 Mont, another eminent proteftant, were 
 foon after this difpute, in which Henry 
 himfelf fometimes fpoke, converted to the 
 catholic faith. Du Pleffis pretended to 
 prove, by the authority of St. Cyril, that 
 it was not a cuftom among the primitive 
 chriftians to adore the crofs, and yet he al- 
 ledged the reproach which the emperor 
 Julian throws on them upon this very ac- 
 count. " It is not very likely," returned 
 the king, " that Julian the apoflate 
 " would have reproached the chriftians for 
 " adoring the crofs, if they had not ac- 
 " tually done fo ; otherwife he would have 
 " expofed himfelf to be laughed at." It 
 was the king likewife who faid, that at 
 leaft an àfc. ought to have been put in the 
 paffage from St. Bernard. 
 
 A catholic having obferved to a calvinift, 
 that Du Perron had already gained feveral 
 paffages of Du Pleffis, No matter, an- 
 fwered the proteftant, provided that of 
 Saumur be ftill left to him. Matthieu, ib. 
 This faft, which is told in the fame man- 
 ner in feveral polemical treatifes, is gene- 
 rally attefted by all our good hiitorians, 
 and even thofe who treat the proteftants 
 moft favourably. M. De Thou, liv. cxxiii. 
 p. 843, who was himfelf one of the commif- 
 faries. Matthieu, ibid. Chron. Sept. p.123, 
 &c. Suppl.au Journal d"HenryIV. torn. II. 
 p. 51, &c. Vol. 8778, de la Bibliot. du 
 Roi, Le Grain, and feveral others, who 
 give us a relation of the whofe difpute ; fo 
 confequently no credit is to be given to the 
 manner in which it is related in La Vie de 
 Du Pleflis, liv. ii. p. 269. 
 
 book
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 book I had fent him, that the errors and falfhoods it contained 
 were lb numerous, and followed one another fo dole, that the whole 
 book was jullly cenfurable. " Not that I would accule monfieur Du 
 " PlelTis of iniincerity," added the bilhopof Evreux, with equal mo- 
 dcmtion in his adveriary's regard as politenefs in mine, " but I am 
 " lurry for his misfortune in having given credit to the confufed col- 
 " ledtions of compilers, who have greatly deceived him. ' The re- 
 mainder of his letter contained only compliments upon my late prefer- 
 ment to the port of grand maftcr of the ordnance, and alTurances of 
 the plealure it would give him "to fee me" he laid, " who com- 
 *' manded the cannons of France, obey the canons of thee hurch." 
 
 I NEVER had fo good an opinion of Du PlelTis as the reft of the 
 party had, who were all prejudiced in his favour; and I would not 
 have chofen to have been fecurity for the exaftnefs of thofe large vo- 
 lumes, which he fent into the world in fo quick a fuccelfion, for that 
 on the eucharift had been preceded by a treatife upon the church. To 
 write well, and upon thefe fubjedls efpecially, long reflexion is necef- 
 fary. This 1 told the bilhop of Evreux in my anfwer, but at the fame 
 time I obferved to him, that I could not believe Du PlelTis's book was, 
 as he faid, a feries of errors. I told Du Perron at the fame time, that 
 this would be the fubjedl of a great difpute between them, for Du 
 Pleffis would not fuffer his accufations to pafs unanfwered ; this was 
 all the ferions part of my letter, the reft of it was filled with compli- 
 ment, praifes, and an invitation to vifit my new dwelling, which do 
 not deferve to be repeated *'. 
 
 What I had forefeen happened. However, I had expecfled only a 
 private not a public difpute. I would have interpofed the king's au- 
 thority, to have hindered the two champions from proceeding fo far, . 
 but Du Pleffis was the moft difficult -f- to be perfuaded, and perfifted in 
 his refolution to meafure his weapons with thofe of the bilhop of 
 Evreux. Every one knows how the difpute was terminated. Du 
 Pleffis's defence was weak, and ended in his difgrace. The king, who 
 would honour this challenge with his prefence, gave a thou fan d praifes 
 to the wit and learning of monfieur d'Evreux. *' What do you think 
 " of your pope," faid Henry to me, during the debate (for Du Pleffis 
 
 * See thofe letters in the original, torn, fend, and I intreat you would fufFer me 
 II. part I. p. 52. to do fo : don't you meddle with it, for 
 
 + Sir, faid Du PlefTis to M. de Rofny, you have not reared it. Matthieu, torn. 11. 
 my book is my own child, which I will de- liv. ii. p. 340. 
 
 was
 
 22 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XL 
 
 1600. was with the proteftants what the pope is amongft the cathohcs) " I 
 think, fire," repHed I, " that he is more a pope than your majefty 
 " imagines, for, at this moment, he gives the cardinal's hat to monneur 
 *' d'Evreux. If our rehgion has not a better foundation than his legs 
 *< and arms crofled, I would quit it this inftant." 
 
 It was upon this occafion, that his majefty, in a letter to the duke of 
 lEpernon, told him, that the diocefe of Evreux had vanquiflied that of 
 Saumur ; that this was one of the greateft advantages, which for a long 
 time had been obtained for the church of God ; and that fuch a pro- 
 ceeding would draw more proteftants to the true church than a courfe 
 of violence for fifty years. This letter, the turn of which was no lefs 
 fingular than the choice Henry made of the duke of Epernon to ad- 
 drefs it to, made as much noife as the difpute itfelf, when it became 
 public, which could not fail of happening when it was in fuch hands. 
 Some faid that the king wroteit to deftroy the fufpicions of his not being 
 a fincere catholic, which, notwithftanding his converfion, prevailed 
 during his whole life, and gave room to the Jefuits to mention him dif- 
 advantageoufly in their letters to Rome : others imagined that this let- 
 ter had a meaning which was not at firft perceived, and maintained, 
 that the king had a view in it to perfuade either Spain or the proteftants, 
 that all efforts to induce the council of France to take violent and fan- 
 guinary methods with them would be ufelefs. 
 
 The fix months that had been given to the duke of Savoy were now 
 expired, yet he had taken no care to fatisfy his engagement. His ma- 
 jefty began to think he (hould obtain nothing but by force; but, be- 
 iidesthe perfuafions of his courtiers, who all feemed to have fold their 
 voices to the duke of Savoy, this prince was then retarded by an obfta- 
 cle far more powerful, his fondnefs for his new miftrefs, to whom he 
 had given the title of marchionefs of Verneuil. He was no longer able 
 to think of a feparation, and (it is with fome confufion that I mention 
 it) after I had, by repeated importunities, prevailed upon him to take 
 the rout to Lyons, he deliberated whether he fliould not carry her with 
 him, to which he was farther incited by the flatterers about him *, 
 She was now with child ; and, having the promife of marriage in her 
 polTeflion, the affair became of great confequence to Henry. Provi- 
 
 * She came to meet him at St. André de ciled : after which, this prince carried his 
 ]a Code. Baflbmpierre, who was with miftrefs to Grenoble, where he continued 
 Henry, fays, that the lovers quarreled at with her (even or eight days, and after- 
 their firfl; meeting, but were foon rccon- wards to Chambery, torn. I. 86, &c. 
 
 dence
 
 Book XL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 dence once more interpofed in his favour. Madam de Verneuil was 
 fo frightened by the thunder during a ftorm, that flie was delivered of 
 a dead child. The king was informed of this accident at Moulins, 
 whither he had advanced, and from vvhenca he fent many a melan- 
 choly look to the place where he had left his miflrefs ; but, reftored to 
 himlelf by his own refleftions, he continued his rout to Lyons, where 
 his troops had orders to join him. 
 
 I INTENDED to follow, as foon as I had fettled all affairs relating to- 
 the government, and taken proper meaiures to fecure the neceflary 
 fupplies for the war, which I did not delay till the moment of execu- 
 tion. I had written to the receivers-general, that, according to the 
 king's order, they were no longer to pay any bills drawn upon them, 
 except thofe which were for the fupport of the frontier garrifons and 
 the payment of the troops, becaufe all others vvould be immediately 
 difcharged at the treafury, to which I ordered all their money to be 
 carried diredtly. I likewife forbad thofe that paid rents, to difcharge 
 any bills without a new order, to keep them from paying, as they were 
 accuftomed, fuch notes as had been revoked or created without money. 
 I raifed fome militia, which I chofe rather to incorporate in the old 
 corps, than to compofe new regiments of. I applied myfelf more par- 
 ticularly to the affairs of the ordnance. I fent orders to the lieutenants 
 of the ordnance of Lyonnois and Dauphiné, and to the commilîîoners 
 of that of Burgundy, Provence, and Languedoc, to collect all their 
 bed pieces, and to make a great number of carriages for cannon and 
 balls in proportion, and fend them all with the powder and other am- 
 munition to Lyons and Grenoble : and fearing, left my orders fhould 
 not be pundually executed, I went myfeif to Lyons, and returned in 
 three days. 
 
 I GAVE the like orders in all the other provinces, and brought car- 
 riers to Paris, whom I obliged to enter into an engagement before a 
 notary, to carry in fifteen days, three millions three hundred thou- 
 fand weight to Lyons, without explaining to them what kind of 
 merchandife it was. They were greatly aftonifhed when they found 
 their loading was twenty cannons, fix thoufand balls and other things 
 belonging to the ordnance not very portable. They alledged, that 
 fuch heavy pieces could not be comprehended in goods of carriage;. 
 but having threatened to feize their carts and horfes, and they 
 not being willing to lofe the expences they had been already at, re- 
 folved to do what was required of them : and I had the fatisfaétion 
 
 to
 
 24 M E M O I R s F s U L L Y. Book XI. 
 
 1 600. to fee all this luggage arrive fafely in fixteen days at Lyons ; whereas, 
 by the ordinary methods, it could not be done in lefs than two or three 
 months, and at an infinite expence. 
 
 It was always doubted whether tlie king would ferioufly renew the 
 war, till his majefty was feen to take his rout to the Alps. The chan- 
 chellor Bellievre, who had perfifted in his endeavours to diffuade him 
 from it, finding my advice prevailed, came to me with an intention to 
 make me approve, if pofTible, of the reafons he had againft it. I did 
 not regard him as one of thofe perfons with whom to enter into an ex- 
 planation would have been ufelefs. His fincerity appeared in the man- 
 ner in which he fpoke to me, and the reflexions with which his mind 
 feemed to me to be agitated : the condition France was in, for which 
 a war of any kind whatever could not but be fatal : the king's honour, 
 which was engaged to maintain a work fo folid as that of the peace of 
 Vervins : the reproach of the infraction of that peace to which he ex- 
 pofed himfelf : the fear of bringing all the duke of Savoy's allies upon 
 him, to oppofe whom he had an army fufficiently provided with ar- 
 tillery indeed, but confifting only of fix or feven thoufand foot, and 
 twelve or fifteen hundred horfe, and (for fo Bellievre imagined) defti- 
 tute of all neceflary provifions. This was the fum of the chancellor's 
 objeftions.. 
 
 I DO not think that, in any paflage of thefe Memoirs, or in the con- 
 duct of my whole life, efpecially fmce I have been called to the go- 
 vernment of public affairs, there is any thing that can lay me under 
 the neceffity of juftifying myfelf with regard to too great a propenfity 
 for war. Should it appear to any one that, on this occafion, I ailed 
 in contradidlion to my own maxims, I anfwer, that, in reality, no 
 maxim, however general it may be, can fuit all cafes j and fuppofing 
 war to be (as I really believe it is) an evil at all times, it is alfo certain 
 that it is often a neceffary and even an indifpenfable evil, when by that 
 only thofe claims can be fupported, which it would be a bafenefs to 
 renounce ; fince it mull: be likewife confefied, that generofity and mild- 
 nefs, two qualities abfolutely neceffary in fovereigns, yet when em- 
 ployed agamfi; the common rules of prudence, degenerate into weak- 
 nefs, and are looked upon as inftances of bad condudl. 
 
 To this general reply I added the particular reafons for the prefent 
 war. I fliewed the chancellor, that he fuffered himfelf to be unkafon- 
 .ably alarmed : the king of Spain was the only formidable ally, whom 
 
 it
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 it might be apprehended would join the duke of Savoy ; but it was to 
 be confidered, that the reigning king of Spain was a young man, with- 
 out experience or abiUties for war, fufficiently employed in reducing 
 his own fubjedls, and wholly guided by a minifter as little inclined to 
 war as himfelf, by the natural turn of his difpoiition, and a defire of 
 keeping in his own hands the money which muft be confumed by a 
 war i and laflly, that he bore no good- will to the duke of Savoy, and 
 was convinced, as well as all Europe, that the king demanded only a 
 reftitution of what belonged to him : that this war would appear a 
 mere difference between the king and the duke of Savoy, or rather an 
 effeél of the intoxication of the latter, occafioned by an ill-grounded, 
 prefumption, and the intrigues carried on in his favour in the council of 
 France : and this prefuppofed, the fuccefs of the war depended upon 
 its being purfued with expedition. I maintained to the chancellor, that, 
 with four thoufand men this year, the king would gain greater advan- 
 tages, than with thirty thoufand the next, but I did not negleft to 
 prove to him, that his majefly was not fo unprovided as he imagined, 
 at leaft, that he fliould not want for two things, which, in the offices 
 I held, it depended upon me to furnifh him with, that is money and 
 artillery. Belliévre was fo far from being convinced by my arguments, 
 that he left me with chagrin : the event will fhew who had the befl: 
 reafons on his fide. 
 
 The duke of Savoy feeing that, contrary to his expectation, a 
 French * army was ready to fall upon him, had recourfe to his ufual 
 artifices, to prevent, at leaft, any a6l of hoftility before the winter 
 was begun. He fent deputy after deputy to his majefty at Lyons; 
 fbmetimes he appeared willing to perform the agreements, fometimes 
 he eluded them by fpecious reafons, and at other times, he propo- 
 fed advantageous projefts for his majefty, and continued to impofe 
 upon this prince fo completely, that Henry believing he fliould be 
 under no neceffity to go farther than Lyons, ftaid there much longer 
 than he ought to have done. While I continued with Henry in this 
 city, I guarded him againft the fubtiltiesof the duke of Savoy ; but, as 
 foon as I left him to return to Paris, to haften, as I have faid, the pre- 
 parations for war, the king was fo effedlually deceived by the duke's 
 pretended fincerity, that he wrote to me to fufpend my cares, for 
 every thing was fettled in an amicable manner. 
 
 * He was encouraged, it is faid, by cer- that proved very true, fays Perefixe, for 
 
 tain idle predictions of aftrologers, who at that time he was vidtoious in the heart 
 
 gave out that, in the month of Auguft, of Savoy, 
 there would be no king in France ; a thing 
 
 Vol. II. E In
 
 26 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XI. 
 
 1600. In effect, the duke of Savoy had agreed to all that was demanded 
 
 of him, but this was a meer verbal agreement, and propofed that hof- 
 tages fhould be given on each fide ; a very proper management to de- 
 lay the performance of his word, by the time that was neceflarily taken 
 up in naming thofe hoftages, and fending them to each other. I 
 wrote to the king very freely my opinion of this pretended accommo- 
 dation, and did not fcruple to difobey his orders, by forwarding the 
 ammunition*, and came in perfon to Montargis, from whence I fent 
 my baggage up the Loire, intending to ride poft myfelf. Here it was - 
 that I received a letter from the king, which contained only thefe few 
 words, " You have gueffed truly : the duke of Savoy has deceived us ; 
 " come to me as foon as poffible, and negledt nothing that may be 
 *' neceflary to make him fenfible of his perfidy." 
 
 I WAS informed more particularly of all that had paffed, by a letter 
 from Villeroi. The king had fent for Roncas, from whom he had 
 received fo little fatisfadlion in the explanation he demanded of him, 
 that, refolving to prefs him in fuch a manner as to leave him no fub- 
 terfuge to have recourfe to, the Savoyard deputy at length betrayed 
 himfelf by his equivocations, which threw the king into fo great a 
 rage, that he would hear no more, and inftantly took his rout towards 
 Chambery ; and it was from this place that the abovementioned 
 billet was dated. His majefty imagined that this city would furrender 
 at his approach, and that he iliould not be at the trouble of inverting 
 it ; but in this he was miftaken. 
 
 This interval was employed by the king in foliciting his marriage 
 with the princefs Mary of Medicis; and this negotiation, which was 
 highly pleafing to the pope, was of fervice to the king, in hindering 
 his holinefs from taking any part in the affairs of Savoy. D'Alincourt, 
 whom his majefly had fent to Rome on this occafion, obtained all that 
 he demanded : the marriage was concluded on, and nothing now re- 
 mained but to fend fome perfon to Florence, to folemnize it by proxy. 
 Bellegarde earneflly Iblicited for this honour j but all he could obtain 
 was to be the bearer of the procuration, which was given to the duke 
 of Florence. 
 
 * Matthieu, in the account which he fure afcribes to him the honours of that 
 
 gives of this expedition into Savoy, be- campaign. Tom. II. liv. ii. p. 352, 361, 
 
 llows, in feveral places, high encomiums 365, &C. 
 on the duke of Sully, and in a great mea- 
 
 While
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 27 
 
 While this ceremony was performing in Florence *, Henry 1600. 
 thought it necefîary to appear wholly taken up with balls, plays, and '— v — 
 entertainments : however, that did not hinder him from laying out 
 no lefs affiduoufly the whole plan of the campaign : he ordered Lef- 
 diguieres to take an exaél view of the caftle of Montmelian; and up- 
 on his report, that with twenty pieces of cannon, and twenty thou- 
 fand difcharges, it might be taken, he refolved to attack it. He like- 
 wife caufed that of Bourg-en-BrefTe to be reconnoitred by Vienne 
 and Caftenet, who were with me ; and it being their opinion that the 
 place might be carried, it was refolved to endeavour the taking of 
 thefe two towns by petard and in the fame night : and in proper time 
 befiege the two citadels in form. Maréchal Biron, to whom his 
 majefty committed this enterprife, gave the expedition of Montme- 
 lian to Crequy, and referved that of Bourg to himfelf. 
 
 The king had, without knowing it, pitched upon him, amongfl 
 all his general officers, who was the leall: likely to give fuccefs to the 
 enterprife. Biron was at that time deeply engaged with the duke of 
 Savoy. It is thought that his treaty might have been at leafl: rough 
 drawn or fketched out by this time. He fent word to Bouvens, the 
 governor of Bourg, to be upon his guard, and informed him of the 
 night and the hour when it was defigned to furprife him. All this 
 was afterwards proved. But what is iingular enough, this treachery 
 did not hinder the taking of Bourg, and on the fame night that it had 
 been refolved to attack it, 
 
 BouvENS communicated the advice he had received to the parrifon 
 and inhabitants of Bourg, exhorted them to defend themfelves brave- 
 ly, kindled great fires, doubled, nay, trebled the corps-de-guard, and, 
 in a word, took all poffible precautions on the night that he expedled 
 to be attacked, even to the ftanding centinel himfelf. Every one im- 
 patiently expeâed the hour mentioned in the billet, which in reality 
 was to be that of the attack. However, it happeiied that marflml 
 Biron, who was himfelf at the head of his troops, either to give the 
 governor more time, or to render the enterprife impoflible to be exe- 
 cuted, or perhaps by mere chance, took a road fo far about, that in- 
 flead of midnight, it was break of day when he appeared before 
 Bourg. He would then have perfuaded his officers to defer till ano- 
 
 * See the whole account of it in La Chronologic Septennaire, an. 1600. 
 
 E 2 ther
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 tlier time an attempt which at fuch an hour was very improper. But 
 
 his opinion was fo ftrongly oppofed by Saint- Angel, Chambaret, Lou- 
 
 flrange. Vienne, and particularly byCaflenet, who had undertaken to 
 
 fix the petard in open day, even though the baftions fhould be filled, 
 
 p ,,pc and likewife by BoëlTe, to whom his majefty had promifed the go- 
 
 daca de Bo- vernment of it ; that Biron, fearing left he fliould incur the imputa- 
 
 èfle. tion of cowardice, and believing that the defign would mifcarry, was 
 
 obliged to confent to it. 
 
 The affair turned out quite otherwife : the garrifon and the citizens 
 having been upon the watch till two, three, and even four o'clock, 
 ^veve of opinion that the enterprife was blarted, or that it was merely 
 imaginary; and when day appeared, went to breakfaft, and to refre(h 
 themfelves with lleep ; leaving the care of guarding their walls to fom.js 
 centinels, who being opprefled with fleep, acquitted themfelves very 
 ill of their charge. Caftenet, with three faithful men whom I had 
 given him, advanced as far as the counterfcarp, with each a petard in 
 his hand, followed by twelve men well armed, and of tried bravery : 
 the centinel cried, " Who goes there ?" Caftenet, whom I had in- 
 flrufted, anfwered, That they were friends of the city, v/ho were coms 
 to advertize the governor, that fome troops had appeared at the dif- 
 tance of two thoufand paces, and were gone back : he added. That he 
 had much more to fay to monfieur Bouvens from the duke of Savoy j 
 and defired the foldier to go and inform him of it, that the gate might 
 be opened. The centinel quitting his port to go to the governor's 
 houfe, Caftenet, without lofs of time, advanced to the gate and fixed 
 his petard, which carried off the draw-bridge, and made a breach, 
 through which, the ditches not being very deep, twelve men, by ths 
 help of fhort ladders, entered immediately, and after them the whole 
 army. All this was executed with fuch rapidity, that the city was 
 filled in a moment with our men, and Bouvens had only time enough 
 to retire precipitately, with his garrifon, into the citadel. 
 
 The town of Montmelian * was taken in the fame manner; and 
 Chamberry, by his majefty's orders, was inverted : the citizens, full of 
 terror, thought not of defending the town, but fortified themfelves in 
 the caftle, where at firfl they made a fhew of refiftance ; however, 
 they capitulated the next day, being intimidated by a battery of eight 
 
 * Confult lil:£wire, on all thefe military Sully is mentioned with great honour. See 
 expeditions, De Thou, Matthieu, and La likewife torn. I. des Mem. de Baffjnipi- 
 Chronologie Septen. an. i6co. in which ene, 
 
 pieces
 
 Book XL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 pieces of cannon, the fire of which they durft not ftand. By the or- 
 der his majefty caufed to be obferved, there was not the leaft violence 
 committed. The French ladies, who followed their hufcands in this- 
 expedition, fettled at Chamberry ; and the next day after the reduc- 
 tion of it, my wife gave a ball to the principal ladies of the town, 
 where all appeared as gay as if it had not changed its mafler. 
 
 After this, the king fent me to Lyons, to give orders for the fur- 
 nlfhing and conveyance of the ordnance ; and commanded me to vifit, 
 in this journey, the citadels of Saint-Catherine, Seifiel, Pierre-Chatel, 
 I'Eclufe, and other fortrelies of BrefTe, particularly the caille of Bourg: 
 he ordered me likewife to provide a quantity of gabions, three feet iii 
 heighth and nine in width ; upon which I anfwered him, that fuch 
 gabions were only proper to make an enclofure forflieep newly bought 
 up in the country. The king, on his fide, in the mean time, went 
 to poffefs himfelf of Conflans, Miolens, Montiers, Saint-Jacome» 
 Saint-John de Morienne, and Saint-Michael : not oneof thcfe places 
 held out againft the cannon. The taking of Miolens reftored liberty 
 to a man who had been detained in the prifons there fifteen years ; 
 Feugeres brought him to me on account of the Angularity of a pre- 
 didlion that had been made him, upon the duration of his captivity, 
 and the perfon by whom he fhould be delivered ; which was found 
 to be exactly fulfilled. 
 
 I LEFT Lyons, to execute the commiffion his majefty had given me. j^ the Upper 
 I reached Miliars by dinner-time, and Bourg in the evening, where Biefle. 
 I was received and treated with great politenefs by maréchal Biron. 
 When he found that I came to take a view of the citadel, he ufed his 
 utmoft endeavours to diifuade me from it ; reprefcntiiig to me, that 
 I expofed myfelf to evident danger. He was certainly right ; the en- 
 terprife was full of hazard ; but it was becaufe that this maréchal, 
 having failed in his attempt to hinder me from executing my defign, 
 had given the enemies (for I cannot think otherwife) fuch exad in- 
 formations, that wherever I prefented myfelf I found a battery 
 againft me. Notwithftanding this, I continued there night and day, 
 till I had finiflied all my obfervations. 
 
 BiRON, who probably had expedled that I fliould pay dear for my 
 curiofity, finding that I had efcaped, laid other fnares for me : on the 
 day that I was to leave Bourg and return to Lyons, I received advice,, 
 that a party of the enemy, conhlting of two hundred men; had ar- 
 
 àved
 
 30 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Hook XL 
 
 1606. rived at acafHe near the place where I was to lodge that night. I took 
 <- — -/-— ' notice of it to Biron, who then had none of that obliging folicitude for 
 my fafcty which he had difcovered before, and treated the information 
 asajeft; which raifed my fufpicions. I asked him for an efcort of 
 foldiers ; which he excufed himfelf from granting, telling me, that 
 he would commit this care to his own guards : but he privately or- 
 dered them to return, and leave me at Villars ; which they did, not- 
 withftanding my intreaties to the contrary, as foon as 1 alighted at 
 Villars, and my mules were unladed. The defign of this proceeding 
 appeared now but too plain. I ordered my mules to be loaded again, 
 and travelled four leagues farther, nor flopped till I came to Vimy, 
 where I thought myfelf in fafety. My fufpicions that Biron had un- 
 dertaken to deliver me up to the duke of Savoy were changed to a 
 certaintv, when I learned that three hours after I had left Villars, the 
 two hundred men came and liormed the houfe I had been at, and 
 feemed very much concerned that they had milfed their blow. 
 
 A courier from his m.ajefty waited for me at Lyons : his bufinefs 
 was, to get a train of artillery to force Conflans, the only one of thofe 
 little towns which the king had attacked that made any refiftance, and 
 ■which furrendered immediately at the approach of the cannon. The 
 king, whom I went to vifit at Saint-Pierre d'Albigny, told me, that 
 he was afraid he fliould not accomplifli fo eafily his defigns upon 
 Charbonnières and the caftle of Montmelian ; and feemed to make 
 fome difficulty about undertaking thofe fieges at the approach of win- 
 ter. I affured his majefty, that inftead of five months (for fo long he 
 imagined the fiege of Montmelian would lall) it might be ended in fo 
 many weeks, provided that during that time the works were carried 
 on with vigour. The king gave no credit to what I laid on this head, 
 and after I had left him laid to my brother and La-Varenne, that my 
 enemies would take advantage of my prefumptuous manner of talking. 
 However, the attention with which I had examined the weak parts 
 of this caftle, which had apparently efcaped the obfervation of others, 
 convinced me that I had not advanced any thing lightly. 
 
 The next day, the king taking a journey to Grenoble, left the 
 command of the army in his abfence to me. During this time, I no 
 longer employed myfelf in obfcrving Montmelian, under the cannon 
 of which we were, but in forming the plan of the out- works, and of 
 the difpofition of thofe batteries with vv'hich I expefted to carry the 
 fort. I went afterwards to the king at Grenoble, who had pafled his 
 
 time
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 time in deliberation with his council upon this enterprize, which he 
 had forbad me ablblutely to begin in his abfence. I infifted again up- 
 on the realbnablenefs of undertaking it ; and again found the fame 
 oppofition. I know not whether it was through enmity to me, or 
 attachment to the duke of Savoy, that the count of SoifTons, the 
 duke D'Epernon, La-Guiche, and many others, appeared fo unrea- 
 fonable : amongft all the counfellors, only mefTieurs de Lefdiguieres 
 and de Crequy were of my opinion. I laid the plan I had juft finiflied 
 upon the table, and went out, faying, that while they deliberated whe- 
 ther Montmelian fliould be attacked, I would go and put myfelf in 
 readinefs to take it ; and in the mean time would f\Il upon Charbon- 
 nières, that the example of this fort, for the taking of which I de- 
 manded only eight days, might teach them what to expedl from 
 Montmelian. 
 
 Accordingly, I laid fiege to Charbonnières, where I fuffered incre- 
 dible fatigues ; the firft difficulty was to bring the cannon to bear on the 
 place; the only road that led to it was extremely narrow, bordered on 
 one fide by the river Arc, of which the bank was all along perpendicu- 
 larly fteep, and on the other by impradticable rocks : they could with 
 difficulty travel a league a day, becaufe they were every moment obliged 
 to unharnefs the cannon, one of the wheels almofl: always running over 
 the fide of the precipice. We were certain at kaft of favourable weather; 
 for in this climateitisgenerally fair during the autumn; however, there 
 now fell fuch violent rains that the road was all under water, and the 
 eight days which I had thought fufficient for taking the place, had 
 been almoft wholly confumedin bringing up the carriages. This was 
 my excufe in the council, againft the malicious remark which the 
 count of SoilTons and others did not fail to make upon the promife I 
 had given. The king who that moment looked at me attentively, 
 perceiving that my face was very red, and all overfpread with pim- 
 ples, ran to me, and unbuttoning my clothes, examined my neck and 
 breafi:, crying, " Ah ! my friend, you are very ill." He lent imme- 
 diately for Du-Laurens *, who, after examining thofe pimples, faid, 
 that by bleeding and taking a little care of myfelf they would be re- 
 moved. I had, indeed, over-heated myfelf with labour; and, when 
 in a violent fweat, had been wet quite through my clothes with the 
 rain, without perceiving it. I was bled as foon as I got to my quarters, 
 which were at Semoy : the king had his at Rochette, from whence he 
 
 * André Du-Laurens, the king's phyficiaiu 
 
 fent
 
 32 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XL 
 
 1600, fent Thermes the next day to know how I was ; and was greatly fur- 
 priled to hear that his mellenger had found me on horfeback, viiiting 
 my batteries. 
 
 Before I erefted them, I was willing to take a more exatSt view 
 of the place, beginning with Aiguebelle, for that was the name of the 
 little town at the foot of the fort. It feemed to me that I was known 
 every where, and that there was a general confpiracy againfl; me ; for 
 as often as I appeared in view, a volley was difcharged upon me. The 
 rock upon which Charbonnières is fituated, appearing inacceffible on 
 all fides, and not to be taken by the cannon, I was greatly afflidied : 
 however, examining it more narrowly, I thought that I had found out 
 a part where what feemed on the outfide a natural rock, might probably 
 be a place filled up with earth covered with green turf. I reprefled the 
 ioy this difcovery gave me, till the night afforded me an opportunity of 
 being convinced of it. I approached very near tlie wall, being fa- 
 voured by the darknefs of the night, and was tranfported with joy, 
 when, upon trying the ground with my pike, I found that it went 
 down as I defired, and that this baftion was fuch as I had believed it to 
 be. I was no longer in doubt on what fide I fliould batter the fort, 
 and no difficulty now remained, but to find out feme place proper for 
 erefting thefe batteries ; for Charbonnières is, indeed, furrounded with 
 mountains that command tlie town, butfolleep that a man can hardly 
 afcend them on foot. I began again to creep along thefe m.ountains, 
 which, in reality, had a terrible appearance, and all feemed wholly 
 inaccefiible to the cannon, except one, upon the declivity of which, 
 I faw a road where it was not impoflible but fome pieces of cannon 
 might be heaved up by main ftrength. Unfortunately the accefs to 
 this road was by another which paffedfo near the fort, that they might 
 pelt us from thence with flones. 
 
 This was another obftacle, which did not, however, cool me in my 
 attempt. I chofe out two hundred French, and as many Swifs, to 
 each of whom I promifed a crown, provided they could, by this road, 
 bring up fix cannon, which 1 gave them, and mount them on an emi- 
 nence that I pointed out to them. I pitched upon a very dark night 
 for this work, recommending to them particularly, to make as little 
 uoife as poffiblej and, to prevent the befieged from obferving it, caufcd 
 horfes and carmen to advance in the oppofite roads, whofe cries and 
 the fmacking of their whips, drew all the enemy's fire to that fide, but 
 with no effed; for thele carts were covered, in their march, by 
 
 trees.
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 trees, gabions, and even by the walls, while my men that were em- 
 ployed in forcing up the cannon, efcaped the notice of the befieged, 
 who were deafened with the noife of their own fire. I appointed La 
 Vallée *, lieutenant of the ordnance in Brittany, and other officers, to 
 watch over and encourage my men in this uncommon method of car- 
 riage. It rained fo violently, that La Vallée and the reft of the officers 
 left their poft to go to fupper, and the foldiers their cannon, when they 
 were got about halfway- This was what I had expected ; and, having 
 taken that ro id, I met them in their retreat, and gave them a fevere 
 reprimand, threatening them that they fliould have no pay for three 
 months, and brought them all back, that inftant to their tallc, which 
 they rcfumed, and the cannon again began to move. I did not quit 
 them till I faw them out of danger, which did not happen without 
 receiving fome check : their delay at length occafioned their being 
 difcovered, and fix were killed and eight wounded. 
 
 I GOT back to my quarters while it was yet dark, foaked through 
 with the rain, and fo difguifed with dirt, that I was not to be known, 
 but full of joy that my lix pieces of cannon were out of danger, though 
 not yet upon the top of the rocks. I flcpt an hour, and breakfafted, 
 and returning to my work, met La Vallée, who, not knowing what I 
 had done, began to value himfelf upon the performance of the 
 night. The reproaches I loaded with him, while I contradicted what 
 he faid, ought to have covered him with confufion ; but he was the 
 moft undaunted lyar I ever knew, " What ! you have been there 
 " then," faid he, without the fmalleft difcompofure. *' Well, I fin- 
 " cerely confefs I am a fool." " You are fo, indeed," replied I, 
 " and fomething worfe, but avoid fuch a behaviour for the future, 
 '* and repair your fault." It was not doubted but the befieged would 
 endeavour to make themfelves amends for their being furprifed ; 
 which did not hinder the cannon, by the meer force of my men's 
 labour, without any aflîftance from the horfes, from being placed 
 upon the rock at nine o'clock, where, during that time, I had made 
 provifion of gabions, planks, and every thing that was neceflary to 
 make platforms there. 
 
 • But, when the gabions came to be filled, no earth was to be found 
 within half a league of the place : all that could be got in this ftubborn 
 ground was ftony, and could not be ufed for making port-holes and 
 
 * Michael de La Vallée Piquemouche, governor of Comper. 
 Vol. n. F plat-
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 platforms, without running the danger of laming all who were em- 
 ployed in the work. The officers, for want of this ufual defence, 
 feeing themfelves expofed to the whole fire of the place, came, in great 
 confternation, to acquaint me with the condition they were in. I told 
 them, without arty appearance of emotion, that they fhould begin di- 
 reétly the palifade, which I had ordered them to ercft along the bor- 
 ders of the rocks, making it very high and thick, to deprive the enemies, 
 at leail of the fight of the cannon, which otherwife, they would be 
 able todifmount; and this was performed immediately, thefe moun- 
 tains being almofi: all covered v/ith wood. To lupply the reft, I or- 
 dered the carpenters, and pioniers of the army, to cut down two 
 hundred large beech trees, which were cleaved into billets, fome round 
 to fill up the gabions, ethers fquare, to make a fecure lodgment for 
 the fix pieces of cannon ; and the better to conceal their laft fituation 
 from the enemy, to which the branches of the palifade greatly con- 
 tributed, I contrived, that there jfhould be on each fide feveral open- 
 nigs filled with baikets of earth ; upon which the enemy made a con- 
 tinual fire, without knowing at what part of the palifade the artillery 
 was placed, till the moment v/hen we were prepared to difmount the 
 battery of the fort, and throw down the palifade by which our can- 
 non had been concealed. At two o'clock in the afternoon, this work 
 was completed ; and about an hour afterv/ard his majefty came to vifit 
 it, and embracing me, afiTuredme ot the fatisfa(5lion it gave him. He 
 faw no obfiiacle that fliould hinder ua from beginning to batter the 
 place. I reprefented to him, that it was fi:ill necefi^ry to delude the 
 befiegedtill night : this prince fubmitted to my opinion, but the count 
 of Soiffons, d'Epernon, La Guiche, and Villeroi, who attended him, 
 making obfervations that his cannon was pointed againfi: a rock, on 
 which it would be ufelefs to lofe more time, Henry came to me and 
 faid, that he would have them fire, that inftant, fome voUies upon the 
 oppofite ravelin : againfl I contefted this point vv'ith him, and perhaps 
 with rather too much heat ; for it gave me great uneafinefs to fee a 
 work, that had coft me fo much labour, likely to be ruined by two 
 much precipitation. My refifliance put Henry into a paflion, and he 
 again, and in a very abfolute manner, commanded me to obey him, 
 even adding, that I forgot he was the mafter. *' Yes, fire," replied 
 I immediately, " you are the rnafi:er, and fliall be obeyed, though at 
 " the expence of ruining exery thing." I caufed the palifade to be 
 thrown down, and gave orders that they £honld fire, but I would not 
 be a witnefs of it, and withdrew in great difcontent. As the guns 
 
 were
 
 Book XI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 
 
 were not aimed, every body took upon thein to dirCtS them according 
 to his own mind, but no one hit the right p! ice. After a hundred in- 
 effe(flurd dilcharges, the king fent La Guefle for mc to complain to 
 me of the faults of my batteries. I replied, that I intreated his ma- 
 j'efty would cxxufe me; for it being now funfet, it was no longer time 
 to undertake any thing. His majefty ordered the firing to ceafe, and 
 every one withdrawing, I came and lay in the midlt of my batteries, 
 which I caufed to be completed during the remainder of the night, 
 notwithftanding the rain that fell in great abundance. The belieged 
 on their fide, laboured as hard, and were not without feme apprehen- 
 fions that they ihould find the place, to which they gave the moft 
 attention, dcfeâ:ive : I judged fo by the fires and candles which I faw 
 lighted up in the fort, and contented myfelf with interrupting their 
 fecurit)', by firing fome difcharges from time to time. 
 
 At the b^eak of day, there arofe fo thick a fog, that, at fix 
 o'clock, the fort could not be feen : this unlucky accident gave me 
 great uneafinefs, becaufe all my batteries were ready ; and I had 
 boalled over night, that I would take Charbonnières the next day. I 
 fancied, however, that the agitation of the air, occafioned by the 
 cannon, might pofiibly difperle tlie fog, and I caufed fome vollies to 
 be fired. Either by chance, or by a natural efted;, that which I had 
 jeftingly propofed, fuccceded almofl: beyond my hopes. No fooner 
 had the refi; of the artillery anfwered the cannon from the top of the 
 mountain, than the fog wholly difappeared. The befieged had been 
 all night employed in eredling a battery of four pieces of cannon over- 
 againlt my fix, which the imprudence committed the day before had 
 difcovered to them, and which, at that inftant, they endeavoured to 
 difmount. I found that, there was no time to be given them, and caufed 
 a piece to be pointed directly oppofite to their port-holes, which ren- 
 dered two of their four cannons ufelefs, killed one gunner, and 
 wounded two others : but this did not happen till after their dilcharge 
 had killed, on our fide, fix gunners and two pioniers, and at length 
 made our pieces ufelefs, till they were diflodged from thence. 
 
 The king ran thither upon the noife, at nine o'clock, and ordered 
 his dinner to be brought to a place which I had contrived in fuch a 
 manner, that he might fee every thing that pafied without danger. 
 This was an enclofure made with the largeft trees, laid at their length 
 one upon another, in the form of a rampart. I flicwed his niajcfty the 
 bodies of thofe that had been juft killed, and made him fenfible, that 
 
 F 2 this
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XI. 
 
 this was the confequence of the bad counfel that was followed the day 
 before. I did not fiy this without defign, perceiving that the fame 
 perfons continued flill to find fault with my work, and to prejudice 
 his majefty againfl: me. I did net fuffer myfelf to be at all difcompofed 
 with their obfervations, and told them haughtily, that, not having yet 
 eat any thing, though I had laboured hard all night, I would leave the 
 place free to any of them that were defirous of playing the grand maf- 
 ter of the ordnance ; but that, at my return, if they did not permit me 
 to order my batteries as I pleafed, I would abandon them entirely. 
 My table, as grand mailer, confifted of forty covers, and was placed 
 under a kind of half arch, formed by nature in the rock, and hung 
 with ivy. The king fent me a large trout pye, which was fent him 
 from Geneva. My dinner was foon over, and I went again to intreat 
 his majefty that he would fuffer me to perform the duties of my em- 
 ployment alone, and renewed my promifes that I would make him 
 mailer of Charbonnières that day. The king replied that he would 
 be contented if it was taken in three days: upon which La Guefle 
 faid, that, if he was in the place, he fhould know how to hinder it 
 from being taken in a month. Go there then, faid I to them all, fa- 
 tigqed with their impertinence, and if I do not hang you all to-day, 
 let me pafs for a boafter. 
 
 The king then withdrew into his enclofure, and delivered me from 
 the importunate prefence of his courtiers for three hours, which he paf- 
 fed in waiting for his dinner, at table, and in furveying the park of artil- 
 lery. At the end of this time, I faw h*m come back with the count of 
 Soiflbns, to whom he faid loud enough for me to hear, " This place will 
 " not be taken to-day." The count anfwered, with great complaifance. 
 That his majefty, who had more knowledge of war than any perfon 
 M^hatfoever, ought to make ufe of his authority to force me to obey, in- 
 ilead of wafting time in battering a rock, which could not be hurt by 
 the cannon. I had my revenge that inftant. The king came jufl at the 
 time that the enemy beat a parley, and the lieutenant of the place came 
 out to treat with me. I intreated his majefty to have no part in the 
 capitulation ; and I told the lieutenant that he might go back again, 
 for I was refolved that the garrilbn fhould furrender at difcretion. 
 The lieutenant returned with a perfonated boldnefs, faying that 
 there were ftill two hundred men in the fort who were able to 
 hold it out eight days longer. Henry withdrew, leaving Lefdigueres 
 and Villeroi with me, who perfuaded me to accept of the conditions 
 offered by the befieged. Lefdigueres even carried me towards the fort, 
 
 to
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 to (hew me that the enemies were not reduced to extremity. I top- 
 ped him when we came within two or three hundred paces of the 
 curtain, telling him, that it would be rafhnefs to expole himfelf to the 
 mouth ot the cannon of the fort ; and I withdrew to a rock a hundred 
 paces diiiant, which ferved me as a fhelter, while thefe gentlemen 
 very unfeafonably rallied me for my caution ; but they foon changed 
 their tone when a terrible fire obliged them to follow me. 
 
 a^ 
 
 The lieutenant of the fort returned a fécond time, but with propo- 
 fals little different from the former. I fent him back without hearing 
 him: upon which Villeroi faid. That, if the city failed of being taken 
 that day, he could not difpenfe with himfelf from acquainting the king 
 that it was owing wholly to me. I pretended not to hear him : and, 
 fending the belieged my laft refolutions in writing, ordered the artil- 
 lery again to pi ly : the fécond difcharge fet fire to the powder of the 
 befieged, and killed twenty or twenty-five of their m,en, and fix or 
 feven women ; at the third, the little ravelin fell down entirely, and 
 they could no longer bring any aflîftance to the breach, becaufe the 
 cannon, fweeping along a low path that led to it, at every fire deftroyed 
 fome of their beft foldiers. This made them refolve to beat a parley 
 once moi'e, which I pretended not to hear, although I faw their drum- 
 mer carried up in the air at the heigh th of twelve feet, by a cannon ball 
 which entered the ground where he ftood, but did him no other hurt. 
 The befieged then held up a pike, with a flag faftened to the top, 
 crying out that they furrendered, and implored us to ceafe firing. Yet 
 the artillery continued to play, till the enemies, holding out their hands 
 over the breach to our foldiers, I was afraid fome French would be 
 killed amongft them. I then mounted myhorfe and entered the city 
 on full gallop. It was lawful to treat it as one carried by aflault j but 
 that heart muft be wholly impenetrable to compafilon, that could not 
 be foftened by a fight fo truly pitiable as now prefented itfelf : it was 
 the women, the wounded, and thofe that were fcorched by the fire^ 
 who came and threw themfelves at my feet. I never in any other place 
 beheld the fex fo lovely as in this city, nor fo finifhed a beauty as one 
 woman in particular who came to implore my mercy : inftead of exe- 
 cuting my threat, to hang all the inhabitants, I gave the fame condi- 
 tions I had offered at firfi:, and caufed the garrifon to be conduced 
 to a place of fecurity which I had appointed for them. 
 
 Notwithstanding this fuccefs with Charbonnières, Jfiill found 
 great oppofition in the council to my propofal of attacking the caftle 
 
 o£
 
 Ô 
 
 ^,8 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XL 
 
 1 600 of Montmelian. The debate ran very high : " Take care what you 
 " do," faid his majefty to me, prejudiced by the great number that 
 diCapproved of the attempt j " for if we are obHged to raife the fiege, 
 <' every one will exclaim againfl you, and I poffibly fhall be amongft 
 " the firfl." They were not fenfible at that time what a ftrong train of 
 artillery, well condufted, was able to do at a fiege : what had happen- 
 ed at Charbonnières had fo confirmed me in my opinion on that head, 
 that I did nut fcruple to engage that I would carry Montmelian in five 
 weeks, as I had already promifed in a former council : I ftipulated 
 only for one condition, which his majefty could not deny me, becaufe 
 he had accepted it, without its being named, and this was, that he 
 lliould not be prefent at the fiege. I forefaw that it would be very 
 bloody. I produced a plan of the fortrefs, and of the attack ; and 
 every one agi-eeing that I ihould make the attempt, I laid fiege to the 
 caille of Montmelian. 
 
 This caftle is fituated on a rock almofl as hard as that of Charbon- 
 nières, and fo high, that it commands the whole country about it ; fteep 
 and inacceflibleon all fides except that next the city, where the afcent 
 is lefs difficult, but on which, to make amends, there runs a ditch, cut 
 in the rock itfelf, and which mufl have been done with infinite labour 
 with the point of a fharp chiflel ; befides which, there were three baf- 
 tions, that could neither be fapped nor undermined, their foundations 
 being of rock itfelf, almoft impenetrable, and above a toife and a 
 half deep- The country is ftrewed with feveral mountains, but fome 
 are fo diftant, that they appeared to be abfolutely out of the reach of 
 cannon, and the rocks that are nearefi: are fo fi:eep and pointed at the 
 top, and fo rugged and bare, that far from being poflible to carry up 
 and make ufe of cannon, it is difficult to believe that a man could 
 chmb up. The caftle was then provided with thirty pieces of can- 
 non, with powder for eight thoufand vollies at leaft, a proportionable 
 garrifon, and ammunition in great abundance. 
 
 The firfl thought that occurred to my mind, and fupported it againfl 
 obfiacles in appearance unfurmountable, was, that however folid and 
 continued the rock feemed to be, upon which, or rather in which, the 
 baflions were raifed, it was not poffible that it ffiould be all of equal 
 hardnefs ; and if one part of it only was ever To little weaker than the 
 rell, the artillery I had would fecure me the means of opening a paf- 
 hgQ through it. In order to be convinced, I began to open the trenches 
 before the baflion called Mauvoifin ; for otherwife it would have been 
 
 impofiible
 
 Book XT. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 impoffible to have approached near enough to difcern whether this 
 whole mafs was an entire rock, cut with a chiflel ; but the rock which 
 we found even with the ground hindered us from carrying on the 
 trenches. 
 
 I WAS obhged to have recourfe to artifice; and one very dark night 
 caufed a hut to be built with clay, and thatched over, very near this 
 baftion, and fo low that it could not be thrown down by the cannon : 
 it was fhot through and through with the fmall arms as foon as the 
 day difcovered it to the befieged; but it was not overturned, and none 
 of our men were in it. I fuftered the enemy to difcharge their rage 
 for fome days upon this hut, till of themfelves they fhould ceafe to fire ; 
 which at length they did, fuppofing it had been built there to make 
 them fpend their powder in vain. When I found the befieged neg- 
 lefted it, I entered it in the night, taking no other arms with me but 
 a buckler, with which, upon occafion, I could entirely cover my body 
 againll: the fire. From this hut I carefully examined the whole ba- 
 ftion ; I perceived there a light at the bottom, from whence I concluded 
 that it was hollow, and that it was not an entire rock which could be 
 cut into fo deep. Without doubt the befieged were then making fome 
 repairs there. The day beginning to appear, I perceived likewife that 
 the flank was uncovered; and this was proof that it was not a folid 
 rock that formed either ; and that this flank prefented itfelf naked and 
 eafy to be pierced with the cannon. I was now fatisfied, and had no 
 other care but how to get out fafely, which in broad day could not be 
 done without difficulty, the hut not being above a hundred paces di- 
 ftant from the parapet, which was lined with foldiers, and I had above 
 two hundred to go before I could flielter myfelf. I feized that mo- 
 ment when the guards being relieved, the foldiers began to be carelefs, 
 and leaving my buckler in the hut, I began to run as faft as I was able; 
 four centinels perceiving me, cried out, and fired upon me at the fame 
 time ; their mufquet-fliot whiftled about my ears and covered me with 
 gravel and flint ftones, but did not wound me; before the other fol- 
 diers were ready, I had gained the neareft lodgment. 
 
 I HAD at firft refolved to place a battery of cannon on an eminence 
 on the fide of the Ifere, where they might be carried up more cahly 
 by the help of fteps cut by the hands of men; but having obferved, on 
 the oppofite fide of the water, another eminence which faced the cita- 
 del, and which had this advantage, that from thence might be feen the 
 road tliat led to the wells of the caftle, and to the magazine, the en- 
 trance
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 trance of the tower, and the guard-houfe; I preferred this laft, and 
 confidered upon the means to carry up fix pieces of cannon. This 
 eminence was perpendicularly fleep on all fides but one, and even 
 this fide of the afcent was a league about : but this was not the greateft 
 difficulty ; to plant them there we mufl level rocks of fuch hardnefs, 
 that moll of the officers thought the enterprize ridiculous. 
 
 The enemies were not of the fame opinion : as foon as they found 
 that we had undertaken to make a lodgment upon the edge of the 
 rock, they pointed fix pieces of cannon there likewife, and made a 
 continual fire : the firfl: volley was fhot one day when I was giving 
 diredtions about the works, with my ftafFof command in my hand, 
 drefled in a green coat laced with gold, and a plume of green and 
 white feathers upon my head. I obferved that this fiiot had palled a 
 good deal above my head, and that which followed it as much below : 
 perceiving that they were going to fire a third time, I faid to Lefine, 
 Maignan, and Feugeres, that this would be between both, and that, 
 without doubt, the befieged having perceived me would take an exad: 
 aim. I retired two or three fteps behind a llielving part of the rock, 
 from whence I held my pike in one hand fixed in the place where I 
 had llood myfelf j one ball threw down the pike, the others killed three 
 pioniers and two gunners, and broke fome glaflcs and bottles that had 
 been brought for a refreflmient, and were placed in a hole of the rock. 
 This accident was related to his majefty, as an inflance of rafiinefs in 
 me ; and he wrote to me immediately, that my perfon being fiill more 
 neceflary to him for the bufinefs of the ftate than war, he defired 
 that I would not adl like a meer foldier of fortune, who had a re- 
 putation to raife; and that he would recal me, if I difobeyed this 
 command. 
 
 Henry could not refill: the defire he had to fee the difpofition of this 
 fiege, and wrote to me a fécond time, defiring I would difpenfe with 
 the promife he had given me to the contrary, afiliring me, that he 
 would go to thofe places only that I fhould appoint, and with no other 
 attendants than the count of Soifibns, D'Epernon, Bellegarde, and me. 
 I intreated him at leall to difguife himfelf in an ordinary cloak; and, 
 above all, to Ihun, at the expence of going half a league about, a cer- 
 tain field, ftrewed over with flint fiones, oppofite to which the befieged 
 kept a party of thirty or forty foldierscontinually, armed withmufquets ; 
 and ten or twelve pieces of cannon were pointed there, becaufe they 
 knew that our men palled every moment through this field, to go to 
 
 the
 
 Book XL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 the new battery raifed upon the rock. I did not doubt but that he 
 would have compUed with this requeft ; but when he was upon the 
 fpot, he could not relblve to ufe this precaution ; and my intreaties be- 
 ing ineffedual, we marched all five in a file. Some muflcet -fiiot that 
 we were expofed to at firfl: made two or three of the company look 
 pale J but it was much worfewhen we entered the field j there was at 
 once fo terrible a difcharge of the heavy cannon and fmall-fliot, that 
 we faw ourfelves in a moment all covered with earth, and our {kin. 
 fcratched with a fhower of thofe little flint-ftones. Henry making the 
 ûgn. of the crofs, " It is now, faid I, that I acknowledge you to be 
 •' a good catholic." " Let us go, faid he, this is a bad place." We 
 doubled our pace, efteeming it a fingular piece of good fortune that 
 none of us were killed, or at leaft lamed. No one thought of return- 
 ing the fame way, but took the road from the mountains, where I 
 caufed horfes to be brought for the company. 
 
 The king was a little afhamed of his unneceflary raflinefs, which 
 was the caufe, that fome days afterwards, when I fent him notice that 
 all my batteries were finiflied, his majefi;y, who was then returned 
 to the Tarantaife, having an inclination to fee them, ordered me to 
 make a truce for fome hours with the governor. The king's curiofity 
 being fatisfied, I was feized with an inclination to exert the prerogative 
 of a grand mafter exercifing his office in the royal prefence ; but as 
 this could not be done without a difcharge of the artillery, which 
 would have been confidered as an infradlion of the truce, which was 
 not yet expired, to induce the befieged to break it I ordered fome 
 commiffiiries to fend certain ammunitions to the battery upon the 
 rock, which they had an occafion for there. The enemy, who had 
 not loft any part of their fiercenefs, and probably repented of having 
 granted the truce, cried out that it was violated, and that they were 
 going to fire. Accordingly, they fired twelve or fifteen cannon-fhot. 
 I had given my men orders, in cafe this happened, to hold themfelves 
 in readinefs to anfwerthem immediately by a general difcharge. This 
 was the firft, and afi-orded matter for ferions refîeélion to the befieged, 
 when they faw their tower battered by fifty cannon : they were the 
 firfl: to demand a continuation of the truce ; efpecially when a fécond 
 difcharge fucceeded fo rapidly. From that moment they began to al- 
 ter their opinion, that the citadel was impregnable, and privately 
 fought out ways to procure an honourable compofition. 
 
 Vol. IL G Two
 
 42 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book Xl. 
 
 1 600. Two women were by chance the firft movers * of this accommo- 
 
 dation. Madam de Brandis, wife to the governor of Montmehan, and 
 then with him in the caltle, amufed herfelf with making Httle glafs 
 toys and pieces of chair-work. My wife being then in the town, flie 
 fent her a pair of ear-rings and two chains of exquifite workmanfhip. 
 Madam de Rofny, in return, fent her wine and venifon, and defired 
 to know if it was not polTible for them to fee each other : they ob- 
 tained permiffion for it, and paffed three afternoons together with fuch 
 famiUarity, that at length they began to confider how Montmehan 
 might be furrendered with honour. Each acquainted her husband 
 with the fubjedt of their converfations, and we were fo far from oppof- 
 ing them, that they were authorifed to go on, but concealed from one 
 other that they adted by permifllon. Madam de Brandis had an in- 
 difpofition that made the country air neceflary for her. Her husband 
 thought he could procure this favour through the interpofition of my 
 wife ; and fhe made fo reafonable a reprefentation to him of the con- 
 dition to which he would be foon reduced, without being able to 
 obtain honourable terms afterwards, that he confented to treat with 
 me, and fent me a deputation for that purpofe. I dilpatched notice of 
 it to the king, who propofed it to his council ; and it was there re- 
 folved, that a month Ihould be granted to the governor,, after which, 
 if he was not relieved, the place fliould be furrendered. I was very 
 fure that it could not hold out fo long, and that it was relying too 
 much upon the doubtful fincerity of an enemy to grant fuch condi- 
 tions. I gave my opinion freely, but it was to no purpofe to oppofe 
 a refolution in which envy had as great a fliare as fear. 
 
 The king did not begin to repent of having followed the counfels 
 of maréchal Biron and d'Epernon rather than mine, till, a little while 
 before the expiration of the time granted to the belieged, a report was 
 fpread, that an army of twenty-five thoufand men was coming over 
 the Alps to their afliftance. The king acquainted me with the per- 
 plexity into which this news threw him : he was determined to meet 
 the enemies and fight them ; but he was fenfible of the danger he ran, 
 in leaving behind him fuch a fortrefs as Montmehan. He aiked me 
 if by fome means or other there was not a poffibility of putting him 
 in pofi*eirion of it before that time. Difficult as it appeared, it was 
 neverthelefs accomplifhed, and in this manner. 
 
 * The hlftoiian who has given us the Life of the duke d'Epernon, afcribes to him 
 
 Ever 
 
 the hcnour of taking Montmeljan.
 
 Book XI. M Ë M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 43 
 
 Ever fince the rufpenficn of arms, the count of Brandis fuffered all 1600. 
 étrangers to enter his caftle who brought provifions and neceflaries 
 which the wounded, and even madam de Brandis herfelf, had occafioa 
 for. As there was only one gate to enter by, the crowd was often fo 
 great that fome blows paffed between them ; for which the governor 
 could not chaflife them, becaufe there were a great many Frenchmen 
 amongft them, and therefore intreated me to apply a remedy to this 
 inconvenience : and I now believed that I had found the opportunity 
 I fought for. 1 placed a guard of fifty chofen men at the gate of the 
 caftle, commanded by officers who, being informed of my defign, ac- 
 cuftomed the guards of the caftle to fee them enter it, at firft three 
 or four only in number, afterwards more, till at length, the garrifon 
 not daring any longer either to hinder or fire upon them, they found 
 themfelves almoft m-afters of the caftle itfelf, without giving them any 
 affiftance ; but, on the contrary, inftead of lefi!ening the diforder, thel'e 
 French did all they could to increafe it. 
 
 Brandis imputed all to thelicentioufnefs of the foldiers, and com- 
 plained to me of it. I told him, that he might fall upon all thofe 
 ftrangers, whom I fuppofed to be country people. He replied, that 
 he would have done fo, but for the great number of my foldiers that 
 were amongft them ; and that rather than do them any violence, al- 
 though without any intention to break the conditions, he chofe to con- 
 fide to me the care of putting an end to the diforder. I feemed to 
 yield to this expedient (which was what I moft ardently wiihed) only 
 to reftore order and quiet, and told the governor, that I could eafily 
 accomplifti it, if I had a guard within equal to that without : he con- 
 fented to it, and I caufed fifty foldiers to enter; but thefe were not 
 all, thirty had got in before, and a much greater number had flipt in 
 with them ; I came thither myfelf likewife, with all my train : and 
 from that time our party was fo ftrong, that the fort and part of the 
 tower was at our difpofal. 
 
 Brandis then found the fault he had committed, but could repair 
 it no otherwife than by {hewing himfelf ftill more generous. He came 
 to me and told me, that he confented I fliould take pofteffion of the 
 tower, and that he remitted it wholly upon the fecurity of my word. 
 I refolved not to abufe his confidence, and faithfully obferved all the 
 •articles. I fupped and lay in the tower that night; and tJie next day 
 sfter that in which I had received this commiffion from the king, I 
 
 G 2 went
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 wenf to tell him that without any fears from Montmelian, he might 
 march to meet his enemies ; which he did in good order, and at the 
 head of his army^ but the information he had received was found to 
 be falfe. 
 
 The garrifon of Montmelian marched out after the month was 
 elapfed, and yielded the place to his majefty, who commanded me to 
 fettle Crequy there with his company. The garrifon was reinforced, 
 and provided with great plenty of ammunition of all kinds. I would 
 have perfuaded the king to have difmantled this place, as it mufl: un- 
 doubtedly be reliored to the duke of Savoy in cafe of a peace ; and to 
 have done the fame by all the other conquered fortrefles : but the ad- 
 vice of the courtiers, who all feemed to be in the pay of the duke, 
 faved Montmelian from a treatment that good policy required. 
 
 The myftery of this condudt with regard to Montmelian, as well 
 as many other things, was explained two years afterwards, by the dif- 
 covery of fome letters of maréchal Biron in cyphers : he told the 
 duke of Savoy, to whom they were addrefled, that he had obtained a 
 month for the garrifon of Montmelian, to give him time to raife the 
 fiege : that he had nothing to expeél from his friends, unlefs he made 
 fln effort to fave this place, which could hold out three months 
 longer ; and affured him, that the réduction of it would give him great 
 concern. Li the letter he wrote to this prince after the caftle was 
 taken, he tells him, that his negligence in fuccouring it had filenced 
 the French lords in his party, who would have declared againft the 
 king, if, by advancing to join them, he had put it in their power to do 
 fo with fafety. Notwithftanding the caution he obferved in not writ- 
 ing their names, they were all fo well defcribed, that it was not diffi- 
 cult to know them. The filence I keep with regard to thefe names 
 is only in favour of fome whom the public perhaps has not fufpeéted. 
 
 Montmelian was not yet furrendered, when it was reported in the 
 French army that cardinal Aldobrandin, the pope's nephew and legate, 
 was on his way to come and treat with his majefty concerning a peace 
 and his marriage. The king having appointed me to go and receive 
 his eminence with all imaginable honours, I advanced to meet him 
 with a body of 3000 foot, and 500 troopers, all fpruce fellows. It 
 was not difficult for him to perceive that it was the grand mafter of 
 the ordnance who waited for him, by the manner in which he was re- 
 ceived at his approach to Montmelian. The truce affording me an op- 
 portunity
 
 Book XI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 4^^ 
 
 portunity to make ufe of the artillery of the place as if it had been my 1 600. 
 own. Upon this occafion I joined them together, to pay him the ' 
 greater honour : the fignal was given by a white flag raifed on the bat- 
 tery of the rock : mine began after a great fire of the fmall-fliot, and 
 was anfwered by that of thecaftle, in fuch a manner, that both hav- 
 ing time to load again, this double difchargeof an hundred and feven- 
 ty cannons, performed with the utmoft regularity, and multiplied by 
 the echoes formed amidft the mountains, had the noblefl; effedt ima- 
 ginable, though not in the legate's opinion, I believe, who was more 
 frightened than foothed, by an honour fo magnificently dreadful, be- 
 lieving all the mountains about him were going to fall down, and had 
 feveral times recourfe to the fign of the crofs. 
 
 I CARRIED the cardinal to dinner at Notre Dame de Miens, and 
 forewarned him of two things relating to the bufinefs he mentioned 
 to me ; one was, that he fliould give no credit to any of thofe perfons 
 who would make a boalt to him of their interefi: with his majefty ; 
 the other, that if they promifed him to get all the places taken from 
 the duke of Savoy to be reftored without being demoliflied, he lliould 
 believe them ftill lefs, for he might be aflured this would never hap- 
 pen. After this caution, I refigned him freely to thofe fent by his 
 majefty to fetch him, and continued my hoftilities, by befieging the 
 citadels of Bourg and fort Saint-Catherine. 
 
 The latter was attacked before the other, at the intreaty of the 
 citizens of Geneva, whom the king was glad of an opportunity to ob- 
 lige. Upon our arrival at this fort, which is fituated on a rifing-ground, 
 in an open field, of which it feems to be the centre, maréchal Biron, 
 who by chance was near me, afked me to go that inftant, on horfeback 
 as we were, and reconnoitre the place v^^ith him. I told him that we 
 were too gayly drefi'ed, and had too many plumes on, to examine it in 
 open day : for the maréchal was mounted on a white horfe, and wore 
 a large plume of feathers of the fame colour. " No, no, faid he, 
 " you need not be under any apprehenfion : morbieu 1 they will not 
 " dare to fire upon us." " Let us go then, replied I, if you will, for 
 " if it rains upon me it will fprinkle upon you." Accordingly, we 
 came within two hundred paces of the fort, and obferved it a long time, 
 while they only fired twelve or fifteen vollies of fmall-fliot, and I be- 
 lieve in the air, although we were about twenty horfe; which furpriled 
 mc greatly. " Certainly, fir, faid I to the maréchal, there is no one 
 " within, or they are afîeep, or afraid of us." The king could with, 
 
 difficulty
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 difficulty believe this, bccaufe being there himfelf the day before, 
 with fix horfe only, they fired repeated vollies at his approach ; and 
 when I returned the next morning at the break of day, on foot, and 
 with no other company than Erard and Feugeres, I was received with 
 fb great a noife of the artillery, that the king fent Montefpan thither, 
 believing it was a fally. " Whom are thefe fellows aiming at ?" faid 
 Montefpan to me, finding no-body in fight. " At me, I believe, re- 
 " plied I, but I have feen all that I wanted to fee." However, I 
 guefled foon after the reafon of that refpedl which they fhewed maré- 
 chal Biron. I perceived that the flanks of the baftions of Saint-Cathe- 
 rine were fo bad that great part of them had fallen down, and that 
 the ditch was in no better a condition. I afi"ured his majefly, that as 
 foon as the trenches were carried to the extremity of the ditch the 
 place would furrender. In eff^e<ft, the befieged, who were likewife in 
 want of every thing, demanded to capitulate, if they were not fuc- 
 coured in fix days. 
 
 After I had opened the trench, I defired leave from the king to 
 make a tour to Geneva : I arrived there the next day, with an hun- 
 dred horfe, and came very feafonably to relieve this city from the ter- 
 rors which the prefence of a great number of catholics within their 
 walls occafioned. Meflïeurs de Guife, d' Elbeuf, d' Epernon, de Bi- 
 ron, de la Guiche, and many others, were there, with their feveral 
 attendants. I afiured them, that his majefi:y had their interefi: at 
 heart, and that I would not leave them while thofe gentlemen con- 
 tinued amongll them : but the remembrance of the late perfecutions 
 was yet too recent in the minds of the citizens ; they could not 
 be fatisfied till I had removed the occafion of their fears; which 
 I did that evening by fpeaking to thofe gentlemen, who all left Ge- 
 neva the next day. The city deputed twelve of their chief citizens, 
 with Beza, their minifier, at their head, to compliment his majefiy, 
 and to endeavour to obtain a requefl that they kept very fecret ; this 
 was, the demolition of fort Saint-Catherine, which they were moft 
 ardently defirous of. Beza delivered himfelf like a man of fenfe, and 
 one who knew how to praife with delicacy j congratulating the pro- 
 teltants upon the happinefs which the reign of fo good a prince pro- 
 mifed them. Henry thanked the deputies and the city, ofi'ering to 
 beftow upon it any of his conquefis which fhould be mofl; convenient 
 for it ; and preventing their requefi, told them in a low voice, that 
 they fhould have the pleafure to be mafters of the fate of fort Saint- 
 Catherine ; and that he gave them his word, in my prefence (for he 
 
 held
 
 Book XL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 held me by the hand at the fame time) that no intreatics whatfoever 
 fliould hinder him from razing it. Upon which the deputies with- 
 drew, extremely well pleafed. 
 
 His majefty, at cardinal Aldobrandin's requeft, confented that the 
 conferences on the fubjedt of a peace fhould be held at Lyons, and ap- 
 pointed the cardinal Du-Perron, the conftable, the chancellor, Ville- 
 roi, and Jeannin, to treat with the legate : they had yet come to no 
 agreement, when the future queen * arrived in that city. As foon as 
 the king was informed of it he quitted his quarters, and fet out in very 
 rainy weather, riding port, with great part of the lords of his court. 
 It was twelve o'clock at night when we got to the bridge of Lyons, 
 and waited there a full hour, wet through with the rain, and almoii 
 periflied with cold, before they would open the gate ; for his majefly, 
 that he might have the pleafure of furprizing the queen, would not 
 fuffer himlelf to be named. They had not yet feen each other. The 
 marriage-ceremony was performed without any pomp. We attended 
 
 * This princefs left Florence on the 
 17 th of October, having embarked at Leg- 
 horn, and, with an efcort of feventeen 
 galleys, landed at Toulon, from whence 
 fhe came by the way of Marleilles and 
 Avignon to Lyons, where the king arrived 
 poft on the 9th of November. As foon as 
 he alighted (I take the following account 
 from the moft authentic Memoirs of thofe 
 times) the queen happened to be at fupper ; 
 and having a defire to fee her at table with- 
 out being difcovered, he went in as far as 
 the drawing-room, which was very much 
 crowded ; but he was known the moment 
 he appeared by thofe nearefi: the door, who 
 opened to make way for him : upon which, 
 his majefty went away diredlly, without 
 going farther. The queen, in the mean 
 time, was well aware of all this, but ftili 
 gave no other figns than by putting the 
 plates away as often as {he was ferved with 
 any thing, and eat fo little, that fhe feem- 
 ed to have fat down rather for form's fake 
 than to fup. After the table was removed, 
 fhe returned immediately to her chamber. 
 The king, who waited only for this, came 
 to her chamber-door, and ordering M. Ic 
 Grand to go before, he knocked fo hard, 
 that the queen thought it muft be the 
 
 king : upon this fhe flept forward at the 
 very inftant that M. le Grand entered 
 the room, who was followed by his ma- 
 jefly, at whofe feet fhe immediately threv/ 
 herfelf. The king railed her up, em- 
 braced her with great tendernefs, and all 
 that was polite, paflionate, and refpe£tful, 
 palled on both fides. After the firfl com- 
 pliments were over, the king took her 
 hand, and led her to the fire-place, where 
 he continued talking with her above half 
 an hour; he afterwards went to fupper, 
 but eat very fparingly. In the mean time, 
 he bid madam de Nemours tell the queen, 
 that he had not provided himfelf with a 
 bed, expefting {he would give him part of 
 hers, which from that time was to be in 
 common between them. Madam de Ne- 
 mours carrying this mefTage to the queen, 
 fhe returned for anfwer, That fhe had 
 come thither only to obey his majefly as 
 the humbleft of his fervants. Upon this', 
 the king undrefled, and went directly t» 
 the queen's chamber, who by this time was 
 in bed. Chronologie Septennaire, an. 1600, 
 where alfo may be feen the particulars cf 
 the queen's journey, and her reception in 
 the towns of France, &c. De Thou, liv. 
 125. Matthieu, torn. IL p. 378. 
 
 tll£
 
 48 M E M I R S F S U L L Y. Book XI. 
 
 i6oo. the king at fupper, who afterwards difmifled us to refrefh ourfelves 
 u . — <— ■ > Hkev/ile ; and he retired to the queen's apartment. 
 
 His majefty's arrival only increafed the warmth with which they con- 
 tefted the articles of the peace : the plenipotentiaries were almofl all in 
 the duke of Savoy's intereft, and glad of an opportunity to make their 
 court to the legate; which was the caufe that Henry thought it neceffary 
 to make them give an account of their negotiation, and feverely blismed 
 the commiffioners for having exceeded the power that was given them. 
 Bellievre and Villeroi had promifed the legate, that none of the fortreiles 
 which had been taken fhould be demolifhed, but efpecially Saint-Cathe- 
 rine, for which the legate particulary folicited, as being the beft, and 
 even the only bulwark the duke of Savoy had againft the republic of 
 Geneva. Henry maiie them fenfible, that their precipitation in fub- 
 fcribing to an article of this importance, without confulting him, had 
 given him fome fufpicion of them ; and added, that in a few days he 
 would acquaint them with his intentions upon that head. Then fend- 
 ing for me, he told me, that the fliortefl way to prevent the folicita- 
 tion which he expefted from the legate, would be to blow up the 
 five baftions of the fort, and to fend word to the citizens of Geneva to 
 come and complete the demolition of it. No order was ever more 
 expeditioufly nor more efFed:ualIy executed. The Genevois, in one 
 night, laid this citadel even with the ground, and carried away all the 
 materials fo carefully, that the next day it could with difficulty have 
 been believed that there ever had been a fort in the place ; and at firffc 
 the report ran, that it was deflroyed by lightning. When the truth 
 was known, the legate expreffed great refentment at it, and did not 
 fcruple to confefs, in the heat of his paffion, that I was the only perfon 
 who had not deceived him with flattering hopes on this head, and that 
 he had not fufficiently attended to my admonitions. But his having, 
 upon the faith of the commiffioners, given very different expeélations 
 to the pope, was what he was chiefly concerned at. For three or four 
 days the negotiation was intirely broke ofi^ ; and when it was afterwards 
 refumed, it was with fo much animofity on his eminence's part, that 
 he rejecfted all the propofitions that were made him. Thefe propofitions 
 were,That the duke of Savoy fliould yield to the king the courfe of the 
 river Rhone and its borders : That he fliould not eredt any fort within 
 a league of it to favour the Spaniards paffage : That he fliould leave 
 to the republic of Geneva the enjoyment of certain villages fpecified 
 Dauphiné. likcwife : That Beche-Dauphin fliould be demoliflied, Chateau-Dau- 
 phin
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 phin reftorcd : and laftly, that the duke fliould pay an hundred and 1600. 
 fifty thouland crowns for the expences of the war. 
 
 The king looking upon this affair as wholly impraticable, through 
 the obflinacy of the legate, refolved to carry on the v/ar more vigoroufly 
 than before, and communicated his defign to me, which was, to go 
 in fearch of the duke of Savoy at the head of his army ; while I, with 
 the artillery, battered the citadel of Bourg. Each of us had particular 
 obftacles to this double projed;, befides the want of money, which was 
 common to both. I found the enterprife on Bourg very difficult to be 
 executed, the feafon being now fo far advanced : the difference between 
 this caftle and that of Montmelian, with which I think it may be com- 
 pared, is this, that for thofe that have only ten or twelve pieces of can- 
 non, Montmelian is equivalent to ten fuch places as Bourg, becaufe that 
 the reduélion of Montmelian depends upon having artillery fufficient 
 to batter the out- works ; but for an army fixty cannon ftrong, the cita- 
 del of Montmelian is not more difficult to carry than that of Bourg; 
 becaufe this lall: being more regular than the other, it can only be at- 
 tacked methodically and by flow degrees. Had the counfel I gave, to 
 attack this fort immediately after the furrender of Montmelian beea 
 followed, it would have been now in the king's poffeffion. 
 
 With regard to this prince, his perplexity was occafioned by his 
 knowing in what manner the greatefl: part of his general officers con- 
 fpired with Spain and the duke of Savoy againft him : he had great 
 reafon to be apprehenilve of engaging himfelf in the enemy's country, 
 if they were with him : Lefdiguieres was the only one on whom he 
 could depend; he had lately given an inftance of his fidelity, in fend- 
 ing notice by Calignon, that the duke of Bouillon made ufe of a man 
 named Ondevous to carry on his correfpondence with the great lords 
 of the kingdom, It is certain, that if Calignon had been more dili- 
 gent to acquit himfelf of his commiffion, Ondevous would not have 
 had time to efcape as he did, and his detention might have laid open 
 all the fchemes of the feditious ; but there is no appearance that this 
 happened through the fault of Lefdiguieres. I advifed the king to rely- 
 entirely upon him, and to bind him ftill clofer to his fervice, by ma- 
 king him a maréchal of France, and governor of Piedmont. As for 
 the refl:, it was eafy to prevent the confequences of their ill intentions, 
 by giving them employments at a diftance from the body of the 
 army. 
 
 Vol. il H Bur 
 
 49
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XL 
 
 But the affair that appeared mofl; prefling to us both being to 
 procure a fupply of money, it was refolved that I fliould fet out for 
 Paris in four days : and that I might be enabled to pafs fix entire weeks 
 there, I employed thefe four days in making all the neceffary prepara- 
 tions for the attack of Bourg, in paying the foldiers out of what little 
 money remained, and in providing for the ordinary as well as extra- 
 ordinary expences of the king's houfliold. The very next day I fent 
 away my wife and my equipages before me, with direftions to wait 
 for me at Rouanne, where I propofed, as foon as I arrived, to fend 
 them down the Loire as far as Orleans : they waited there for me three 
 or four days longer, becaufe my meafures were broke by the altera- 
 tions that happened in the affiir of the peace. 
 
 When I went to take leave of the king, he advifed me to vifit the 
 legate alfo before I fet out, he having always expreffed great efleem for 
 me. I went to vifit him booted, my poft-horfes waiting for me on 
 the other fide of the river, oppofite to his lodgings. He afked me 
 where I was going in that equipage ? " To Italy, replied I, and I fhall 
 " go with good company to kifs the pope's foot." " How ! to 
 " Italy," faid he in great amazement: " no, that mufi; not be, fir.; 
 " I beg you will aflift me to renew this peace." I feemed to confent, 
 in refpedl only to his mediation, the king having laid afide all thoughts 
 of it. I repeated, in a few words, all the principal articles that had 
 been already propofed, and afterwards afked him if he would give 
 credit to what I was going to fay to him? Having afiured me he 
 would, I told, him, that he might be abfolutely certain, that of thefe 
 articles, his majefcy would abate none of his demands with regard to 
 the borders of the Rhone, the villages in the neighbourhood of Gene- 
 va, Chateau-Dauphin, and Beche-Dauphin ; becaufe I was well ac- 
 quainted with the king's intentions in all thefe refpeâs. He defired to 
 know my reafons : which I excufed myfelf from telling him, on ac- 
 count of the fliort time I had to fiay. After walking thoughtfully 
 feveral times backwards and forwards in his chamber, he afked me, if 
 with the fameproteftations of fincerity, I would affure him, that, pro- 
 vided he agreed to all thefe points, there fliould be no mention made 
 of the other. I told him, that I believed I might promife this. Upon 
 which, he entreated me to go and acquaint the king with what he had 
 faid. Henry was glad to fee me come back: and I returned a moment 
 afterwards to the legate with full powers from his majefty. And we 
 
 concluded
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 concluded that* inftant a treaty which had languiHisd fo long a time; 
 the conditions of which were as follow. 
 
 The duke of Savoy, in exchange for the marquifate of Saluces,- 
 which the king of France gave up, was to make a ceffion to his ma- 
 jefty of the fortreffes of Cental, Monts, and Roquefparviere, all Breffe 
 entirely, the borders and country of the Rhone on both fides as far as 
 Lyons, except the bridge of Grezin, and fome paffages neceflary for 
 hishighnefs to enter Franche-Comté ; hut he was not by this ceffion 
 to acquire a right to raife any tribute from thefe places, or to build 
 any fort there, or to ferry troops over, but by the king's permiffion, 
 and on condition that for this privilege of paiTing the bridge of Grezin 
 tlie duke fhould pay France one hundred thoul'and crowns : That he 
 fliould likewife refign to his majefliy the citadel of Bourg, the bailiwic of 
 Getx, Chateau-Dauphin and its dependencies, with all that could be 
 comprehended in the province of Dauphiné on this fide the Alps : 
 That he fliould likewife renounce the property of Aus, Choufy, Vally, 
 Pont d'Arley, Seiflel, Chana, and Pierre-Cliatel, to the borders of Ge- 
 neva : That the fortifications of Beche-Dauphin fliould be razed : That 
 the king fliould on his fide reftore all the other forts he had taken 
 which are notfpecified here, withdrawing theartillery and ammunition 
 that were then placed there. The other articles related to criminals 
 and prifoners of war that had fled on either fide, church benefices, 
 exchange of eflates between private perfons, &c. It was articled for 
 the duke of Nemours, part of whofe eflate lay in this country, that he 
 fhould not be difturbed in the poffeffion of it, neither for the part 
 which he held of the king, nor for that which he held of his high- 
 nefs. The other claufes common to all treaties I fliall not mention. 
 
 Notwithstanding this treaty was figned by me for the king, by 
 the legate for the pope, and the duke of Savoy's agents, yet the duke, 
 influenced by the count of Fuentes, put ofl^fo long the entire conclu- 
 fion of it, by his complaints and delays, that the king thought it ne- 
 cefiary not to lay down his arms : he took poft to Paris ■f, where he 
 waited for the duke's determinations. 
 
 * M. De Thou, Matthieu, and La " one night poft from Lyons, in order 
 
 Chron. Sept. agree with this account, ib. " to return to Paris ; and embarlcing at 
 
 an. 1601. See alfo the treaty in the Mem, " Rouanne he landed at Briare ; from 
 
 de Nevers, torn. XL p. 775, &c. " whence he came to lye at Fontaine- 
 
 t " He departed, fays BafTompierre, " bleau, and next day dined at Ville- 
 
 Uz In
 
 52 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XI. 
 
 1 600. In cafe there fliould be a necefllty for his returning into Savoy, he 
 
 had certain meafures to take for the affairs within his kingdom, and 
 in Paris efpecially, at a time when every place was filled with male- 
 contents. He left the conftable and Lefdiguieres, till his return, 
 with fome good troops upon that frontier ; and Villeroi and two 
 or three other commiffioners at Lyons, to conclude the bufmefs of 
 thepeace. 
 
 But his majefly found no occafion to return into thefe provinces. 
 The duke of Savoy, after having long amufed himfelf with expecta- 
 tions from the difaffedled French lords, gave place to more prudent 
 thoughts ; and refleâ:ingon what he had already loft by his obftinacy, 
 he thought himfelf very happy to accept the treaty in the form already 
 mentioned j accordingly the laft formalities were added, and the peace 
 was publi(hed at Paris and Turin with the ufual ceremonies : how- 
 ever, the articles were not executed without many difficulties being 
 raifed by the duke of Savoy, which detained Villeroi at Lyons part of 
 the following year : it was not till then that every thing was entirely 
 agreed to ; and Spain, who had taken great intereft in the affair, even 
 advifed the duke of Savoy to comply with the articles of the treaty. 
 On all thefe occafions Henry paid great deference to the pope. He 
 granted all the delays with the duke of Savoy, by count Odlavio 
 Taffone, engaged the legate to demand ; which was contrary to Ville- 
 roi's advice : but his majefty, having in reality obtained all that he 
 could demand, thought he ought not to obferve too rigorouily the 
 manner it was yielded to him, nor hazard, for fuch a trifîe, a re- 
 newal of the war. This produced as many advantages to the king as 
 any war ended in a fingle campaign could pofllbly do. His majefly 
 declared, that BrefTe fhould not be comprehended in the diftri(ft of 
 Lyons, but that it fhould be re-united to Burgundy, and be under 
 the jurifdi(5tion of the court of aides of Paris. 
 
 The queen did not fet out immediately after for Paris. She had 
 brought with her her uncle Don John, a baftardof the family of Medicis, 
 
 " neuve ; and croffing the Seine below " having rode port with fixty frelh horfes, 
 
 " the Tuilleries, came in the evening to " came and carried her to Fontainebleau, 
 
 •' Verneuil (afterwards Senlis.) We con- " where after flaying five or fix days, fhe 
 
 " tinued three days at Verneuil, and then " arrived at Paris, and was accommodated 
 
 " came to Paris. At length the queen " with apartments at the houfe of Gondy." 
 
 *' arrived at Nemours j and the king, Mem. de Bafibmpierre, torn. I. p. 89, 90. 
 
 Virgilius
 
 Book XI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Virgilius Urfinus her coufin, who being brought up while young with 1 600 
 her had conceived hopes above his condition. Many more Italians of both '_ -.- 
 fexes were in her train; atnongft others, a young man named Conchini, 
 and agirl called Leonora Galiga'i, who afterwards played a great part 
 in France. I went to Paris eight days before the queen, to make pre- '^ 
 
 parations for the ceremony of her entry *, which was performed with 
 great magnificence. The ne^rt day, the king brought the queen and 
 the whole court to the arfena! io dine with me ; the queen was at- 
 tended by all her Italian ladies, "/ho being pleafed with the wine of 
 Arbois, drank more of it than was n^celfary. I had fome excellent 
 white wine that was as clear as rock water . I ordered fome decanters 
 to be filled with it, and when the ladies aflced for water to temper 
 the burgundy, they were prefented with this liquor. The king fuf- 
 pedled by their gaiety that I had played them a trick. This winter 
 was wholly taken up with parties of pleafure, on account of the 
 king's marriage. 
 
 In Flanders, this year, the war broke out with great violence, prince 
 Maurice of Orange gained a battle in the month of May againll: the 
 arch-duke Albert, in which the -f admiral of Caftile, the man on 
 whom he chiefly depended, was taken prifoner. He afterwards laid 
 fiege to Nieuport, but was obliged to raife it. All I ihall fay of the 
 war between the Emperor and the Grand Signior in Hungary, is, that 
 the duke of Mercceur was made lieutenant-general here by his im- 
 perial majefty. I fupprefs a detail of the grandeur and magnificence 
 of the fecular ;}: jubilee at Rome, and fhall conclude the Memoirs of 
 
 * It does not appear that- this princefs f This was the battle of Nieuport, that 
 
 v.'as complimented with the ceiemony of was fought in the month of July, wherein 
 
 a public entry into Paris. The citizens, the Spaniards loft 8000 men. The prince 
 
 fays the Chronologie Septennaire, would of Orange was neverthelefs obliged to raife 
 
 have prepared a very magnificent one for the fiege of Nieuport and retire to Holland, 
 
 her, and addrefied the king for that pur- The grcateil part of thefe foreign tranfac- 
 
 pofe ; but his majefty chofe rather that the tions are neither fully norexacElly related in 
 
 expence of the entry fhould be laid out our Memoirs ; and I therefore think it un- 
 
 on other things that were more neceflary. neceflary to give an account of them in the 
 
 It afterwards adds : Upon her arrival at notes, but rather refer the reader to the 
 
 the poftern-gate of the fuburb St. Marcel, Memoirs and Hiftories of that time. In like 
 
 the marquis de Rofny caufed all the cannon manner confult the general and particular 
 
 of the arfenal to be tired three times. She accountsof the military expeditionsbetweeu 
 
 was carried in a litter along the moats of the armies of the emperor and the Grand 
 
 the city, and that day lodged at the fuburb Signior, which are mentioned here. 
 
 St. Germain, at Gondy's houfe, and the J It was faid, that 300,000 French, 
 
 next at Zamet's, and after that at the men and women, went to Rome, to ob- 
 
 Louvre. Ibid. tain the indulgence of the jubilee; con- 
 
 this 
 
 53
 
 54 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XI. 
 
 1600. this year with an incident that afforded matter for much ferious re~ 
 fledlion upon duels : Breauté having * killed his adverfary in a very 
 uncommon combat, was afterwards aflafllnated himfelf. 
 
 cerning which, fee the ceremonies in La 
 Septennaire, an. 1600, and other Memoirs 
 of that time. 
 
 * Charles de Breauté, a French gentle- 
 man of Caux, captain of a troop of horfe 
 in the fervice of the States ; his antagonift 
 was a Flemifh foldier, lieutenant of a com- 
 pany under the governor of Boifleduc, with 
 whom he fought a fingularkind of combat, 
 of twenty French againft the fame number 
 
 of Flemifh ; he had the advantage in the 
 firft encounter, in which he killed his an- 
 tagonift, but was made prifoner in the fé- 
 cond, and put to death by order of the 
 governor of Boifleduc. He was one, fays 
 the author of the Chronologie Septennaire, 
 that eagerly fought after occafions of duel- 
 ling, for which reafon he had been obliged^ 
 to 4uit the court of France.. 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 o F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XIL 
 
 IN rhe foregoing book I finifhed the laft military narration that will 1 60 1 . 
 be found in thefe Memoirs, in which at leaft France was con- 
 cerned. The life of Henry the Great, hitherto wholly paffed 
 amidfl: the tumult of arms, will in the fequel exhibit only the ad:ions 
 of a pacific king, and the father of a family. The manner in which 
 the campaign in Savoy had been conduced and terminated, leaving no 
 room to fear that the peace would be again infringed by thefe an- 
 tient enemies of the monarchy, or that it would not fubfift as long as 
 his majefly pleafed, I refumed, by his orders, and under his infpedion, 
 thofe fchemes with regard to the finances that the war had fufpended, 
 and were now to meet with no more interruption. After the repre- 
 fentation I have already given of the flate of affairs within the kingdom,, 
 it would be injurious to confider the life which the prince and myfelf 
 now embraced as idle and inadive : if it is lefs noify and tumultuous, 
 it is probably more laborious. Behold me therefore again fliut up iii 
 my clofet, where I applied myfelf with the utmofl attention to the 
 examination of all the abufes that ftill remained to be rooted out of the 
 
 chamber
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XII. 
 
 chamber of accounts* ; the offices of the finances, the crown lands, 
 the aids, the fubfidies, the equivalents, the five large farms, the tenths, 
 and all the reft. I laboured at once for the prefent and the future, 
 by taking fuch meafures, that the method I eftabliflied in the diredliori 
 of every part of the finances fliould not be afterwards fubjed: to any 
 alterations. I confidered of means to enrich the king without impo- 
 veriihing his fubjeâs, to pay his debts, repair his palaces ; and ftrove, 
 with ftill more affiduity, to complete the art of fortifying his cities, 
 than that of attacking and defending them ; and to make provifion of 
 arms and ammunition. I extended my cares to the repairing and re- 
 newing public works, fuch as roads, bridges, keys of rivers, and other 
 buildings, which refleét no lefs honour upon the fovereign than the 
 fplendor of his own palaices, and are of general utility: for which pur- 
 pofe I began to look into the application that had been made of the 
 money granted for thofe ufes to the cities and corporations, or rather 
 into the frauds that had been ufed in the management of thefe funds. 
 
 O" 
 
 The fcheme of drawing up an account of every part of the finances, 
 under the title of a general fbate, which fliould lay down their nature 
 uniformly and clearly, feemed always fo happy a thought, and fo pro- 
 per to bring them to the utmoft exadlnefs, that wherever this method 
 was pradlicable I made ufe of it. On the firll: day of this year, when 
 I prefented to the king the gold and filver medals, as ufual, I gave 
 him at the fame time five of thefe general fiâtes, each of which re- 
 lated to one or other of my employments, bound up in one volume very 
 neatly. In the firfi:, which was of the greateft importance, becaufe 
 I there gave an account of all that concerned myfelf as fuperintendant, 
 was fet down on one fide, all the money that was raifed in France 
 by the king from every tax whatever ; on the other, all that was to be 
 dedufted for the charge of colleâion, and confequently all that was 
 to be brought clear into his majefty's coffers. I cannot perfuade my- 
 felf that this method was never thought of by any one fince the 
 finances were fubjeél to fome regulation ; but interefl alone prevented 
 the execution of it. However that may be, I fhall always infift upon 
 it, that without this guide there is no proceeding without miftakes 
 or roguery. 
 
 The fécond of thefe fiâtes was drawn up merely for the ufe of the 
 keeper of the royal treafuryj here was fet down, whence and upon. 
 
 * As to thefe reformations, confult likewife Matthieu, torn. II. liv. iii. p. 444. 
 
 what
 
 Book XIL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 what account he received all the king's money that pafled through 
 his hands during the year of his office, and how much he was at li- 
 berty to dill)urfe out of the whole fum, and for what purpofes. The 
 third was compiled for the ufe of the mafler of the ordnance, contain- 
 ing an exadl account of money received and expended; with a true 
 inventory of all that relates to the artillery ; the number and forts of 
 cannon, and of other arms, the quantity of inftruments of war, and 
 provifions of visual, laid up in different places, or magazines; the ftateof 
 the arfenals and fortified places, and other obfervationsof thefame fort. 
 The fourth related to the chief furveyor of the roads, and gave an 
 account of all the money difburfed or to be dilburfed for the repair of 
 every thing under his charge, whether it was to be done at the expence 
 of the king or of the provinces. And, to conclude, the fifth contained 
 a catalogue of cities and cafiles, particularly thofe on the frontiers, that 
 required any money to be laid out upon them; with a kind of rough 
 draught of the works necefi*ary at each place, formed with due regard 
 to their natural fituation and prefent (late. 
 
 The king, upon my reprefentation, reformed many abufes with 
 refpedl to money, which had caufed a decay of commerce, of which 
 money is the chief inftrument; the firft was the pradice which was 
 then allowed, of putting money to intereft at eight, or even at ten 
 per Cent. * a pradlice of equal mifchief to the nobility and the people; 
 to the nobility, becaufe they, being forbidden to engage in trade, have 
 no other riches but the produce of their grounds, of which the price 
 was brought down by high intereft; to the people, becaufe, by putting 
 out money to intereft, they made as great profit by fitting ftill as by 
 labour, and thereby kept immenfe fums of money ufelefs to the pub- 
 lic, which, without that method of growing rich, they would have 
 improved by fome means advantageous to the commonwealth. The 
 intereft of eight per Cent, was aboliflied, and fix per Cent, allowed id 
 its ftead. 
 
 The coin of different countries was till this time current in France,!, 
 and pafiTed in commerce equally with that of our own fovcreign. A 
 prohibition was ifilied, by which all money was put down but the coin 
 
 * It is thus that a prince, in our times, tion that would oblige monied men to hz- 
 
 remarkable for his abilities and fuperior skill take tliemfelves to commerce and agricul- 
 
 in politics, has judged : being firmly per- ture, which are infinitely preferable to the 
 
 fuaded, that the ftate would receive great bare and dead produce of rents, 
 advantages in every refpeit from a régula- 
 
 Vol. il I of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIL 
 
 1601. of France *, that of Spain only excepted, which would have been too 
 much milled in commerce had it been at once for.bidden. But it was 
 more neceflary to rid ourfelves of the merchandife of our neighbours 
 than of their money, for the whole kingdom was filled with their ma- 
 nufactures; and it is incredible how much mifchief was done hy foreign 
 ilufFs, particularly thofe of gold and filver. The importation of thefe, 
 and of all others, was forbidden under fevere penalties: and becaufe 
 France had no means of fupplying herfelf with them out of her own 
 flock, we had recourfe to the true remedy, which is, to do without 
 them } the ufe of all fluffs wrought with gold and filver being forbid^- 
 den by an edidl -f*. 
 
 All thefe declarations tended to introduce one, by which it wa3 
 forbidden to carry any fpecies of money out of the kingdom, under 
 the penalty of a confifcation of all that fliould be intercepted in the 
 carriage, and likewife of all the eflates of the offenders, as well thofe 
 that favoured as thofe that were guilty of the infringement of this law. 
 The king gave a public proof how much he had this affair at heart, 
 by the oath he made not to grant any pardon for this fort of mifde- 
 meanors ; and even to hold all thofe fufpedled that (liould dare to foli- 
 cit him to the contrary: yet all this couLd only oblige thofe perfons that 
 carried on fuch practices to conceal them more carefully. I was of 
 opinion, that one example would be more efficacious in correcting this 
 obftinate evil than all the threats that had been publifhed againft it. 
 I was not ignorant that a great many very confiderable perfons, and 
 even amongft the courtiers themfelves, made a fund out of this perni- 
 cious traffic, either by fuffering this money to pafs under their names, 
 or by felling, at a high price, the authority which enabled them to 
 
 * It is true, that the fpecies of foreign comes to handle it, in the following book, 
 gold and filver coin ought not to pafs cur- As to the prohibition of ufing gold and fil- 
 rent and be confounded with that of the ver in cloaths and houfhold furniture, we 
 prince in interior commerce, and in pay- fhall alfo have occafion, in the fequel, la- 
 ments made between individuals ; but is it give our opinion on the principles he efl:a- 
 not evident, that the more fuch coin a- blifhes with regard to luxury, 
 bounds among our own money, the more t He fhewtd, by his example, how to 
 flourifhing will our commerce be ? The retrench the fuperfluity of drefs, for he 
 hiflorian Matthieu obferves, torn. II. 1. iii. commonjy went clad in .t coat of grey cloth,, 
 p. 446. that this prohibition made the com- with only a pourpoint of fattin or tatfety, 
 merce in Frajice fall almoft entirely ; and without any indented edgings, lace, or em- 
 the duke of Sully himfelf agrees, a little broidery: he commended fuch as drefled in . 
 lower, that he was obliged to have recourfe that plain fafhion, and ridiculed others, who 
 to other means to retrieve it. We will carried, faid he, their windmills and their 
 examine this qutllion with -him, when he old. woods on their backs, Peref. part iii. 
 
 correfpond
 
 Book XII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 correfpond with the foreigners, and fecured the privileges of pafllige. 
 I thought it moft prudent to apply myfelf to thole who were employ- 
 ed by them for thefe correfpondences, and promifed them that, as a 
 recompence for their difcovery, they Hiould have the fourth part of 
 thofe fums that were feized by their informations ; for the king hav- 
 ing made over thefe confifcations to me, I had a right to difpofe of 
 them. By thefe means I was well ferved. 
 
 A Month was fcarce elapfed, when I received notice from an 
 inconfiderable man, the authors not being willing to make them- 
 felves known, that there were two hundred thoufand crowns in gold 
 colleding to fend abroad, which was to be fent at two different 
 times, and that the firfl: carriage would be much lefs than the fécond. 
 After having taken all the neceffary precautions, this fum appearing 
 rather too confiderable for me, I thought myfelf obliged to mention 
 it to the king, who made this qualification in the right he had given 
 me, that if the fum did not exceed ten thoufand crowns, I might 
 appropriate it to myfelf, but that the overplus fliould be his, " Which 
 '• will come, faid he, very feafonably, having had fome lofs at play 
 " that I durfl: not tell you of, nor make up with my own money." 
 I was not mercenary enough to wait for the profits of the fécond car- 
 riage. I ordered the firil to be dogged, and with fuch vigilance, that 
 it was flopped half a league beyond the territories of France. It 
 could not be done in the kingdom, though but a quarter of a league 
 from the frontier, without furnifhing the offenders with a pretext for 
 getting it releafed. There was found in piftoles, double pirtoles, and 
 crowns of the fun, to the amount of eight and forty thoufand crowns, 
 which had been concealed in fome bales of common goods for ex- 
 portation. The king's refolution on this article was fo w-ell known, 
 that the condudors named no perfon as proprietor of it ; and not- 
 withflanding all the noife this feizure made at court, it was difavow- 
 ed by every one ; and this fum was, by his majefty, divided in this 
 inanner : feventy-two thoufand livres he referved for himfelf, five and 
 twenty thoufand he ordered Ihould be given to the informer, and the 
 remaining forty-feven thoufand he left to me; promifing me, that 
 however large any future capture might be, he would take no part of 
 it from me. But after this, no more money was attempted to be 
 carried out of the kingdom ; this example had given a general diflike 
 .to fo ruinous a traffic. 
 
 I 2 Those
 
 6o MEMOIRSOFSULLV. Book XII. 
 
 1601. Those that compofed the chamber of juflice * which was eredled 
 
 againft the contradtors, treafurers, receivers, and others who had 
 been guilty of inifdemeanors in their offices, were likely, in appearance, 
 to exercife far greater feverities. It was my advice, that thefe offen- 
 ders fliould not only be obliged to refund, but that thofe who were 
 convided of embezzling the public treafure fhould be corporally pu- 
 niflied. Money however, the poUèffion of which covers all crimes it 
 is the caufe of, excepted this from the juft rigor of the law -f-. I 
 would, were it pollible, transfuie into the brealts of my countrymen 
 fome part of that indignation that fills mine, againfl: fo pernicious an 
 abufe, and all that contempt which I feel for thofe that owe their 
 elevation to it. If we confider as a flight matter, the defpicable light 
 we appear in to our neighbours by this fhameful cuftom (for none 
 ftrikes more diredtly at the honour of the nation) we cannot conceal 
 from ourfelves the evils it has given rife to ; nothing has contributed 
 more towards perverting our ideas of probity, candor, and difinterefled- 
 nefs, or to turn thofe virtues into ridicule; nothing has more ftrength- 
 ened that fatal propenfity to luxury, which is natural to all men, 
 but is with us become a fécond nature, by that peculiarity of temper 
 which makes us faften eagerly upon every thing that can gratify our 
 paffions ; and nothing in particular has fo greatly degraded the French 
 nobility, as the rapid and dazzling fortunes of contraélors and other 
 men of bufinefs, by that opinion which they have circulated every 
 where, and which is indeed but too well grounded, that in France 
 this is almoft the only method of arriving at the higheft honours, 
 and firfl: employments of the ftate, in the poffeffion of which all is 
 forgot, and to the attainment all is permitted. 
 
 To go to the fource, military virtue is almoft the only quality by 
 which true nobility can, in France, be obtained, preferved, or dignified : 
 
 * Otherwife called the royal chamber : of the chambers of juftice, he requires» 
 
 it confifted of a prefident of the parliament that they {hoiild not confine their proceed- 
 
 of Paris, two counfellors, two mafters of ings to pecuniary mulds only, but join to 
 
 requell, a prefident and four counfellors of thefe corporal punifliments. And he feems 
 
 the chamber of accounts, a prefident and to me to have ftill greater reafon, when, 
 
 three counfellors of the court of aids, and in the fequel, he advifes to fupprefs this 
 
 one of the general advocates of theparlia- method as abfolutely ufelefs ; and entirely 
 
 ment, &c. Commiffioncrs were fent into abolifh, in France, the ufage of compofi- 
 
 the provinces, to give them informations tions in farming the finances : and this is 
 
 of fuch as were guilty of any malverfations. likewife the opinion of cardinal Richelieu. 
 
 t The duke of Sully feems to me to Teflament Polit, part I. ch, iv. § 5. 
 reafon juflly, when, infuppofing the utility 
 
 and
 
 Book XII. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 and in this pradlice there will be found no prejudice or empty opi- 
 nion, ifit be confidered, that precedence muft naturally be granted 
 to that rank, by which all other clafTes of the community are preferved 
 and fupported in that fecurity without which there can be no pro- 
 perty : but this ftate of life is not the way to a great fortune ; this 
 fimplicity and feparation from lucrative purpofes fliew the antiquity 
 and purity of the firfl: inftitution. By bravery nothing but honours 
 could be got, becaufe in thofe times honour was the only reward of glo- 
 rious actions : in later days, fince the notions of mankind are changed, 
 and every thing is rated by the money which it brings, this generous 
 body of nobility is brought in comparifon with the managers of the 
 revenue, the officers of juftice, and the drudges of bufinefs. But this 
 comparifon terminates in an univerfal agreement, to pay to thefe gather- 
 ers of money that refpecSl which muft always be (hewn to thofe who 
 are polfefted of power, and are, in fadl, our fuperiors, an advantage 
 which the former have loft *. And, indeed, how fhould it be other- 
 
 6i 
 
 i6o] 
 
 * The fame cardinal Richelieu com- 
 plains of this abufe, and propofcs a remedy 
 for it, according to the duke of Sully's 
 fchemc. " Gentlemeii, fays he, cannot 
 " be promoted to places of truft and dig- 
 " nity, but at the expence of their ruin ; 
 " for at prefent all forts of people are ad- 
 " mitted to them through the infamous 
 " traffic carried on by means of money. 
 " Fcr the future, all perfons fhould be 
 " excluded from thofe pofts, but thofe that 
 " have the good fortune to be of noble 
 " birth." This minifter concludes, in 
 another place, after M. de Sully, " That 
 " the means of continuing the nobility in 
 " that purity of manners which they derive 
 " from their anceftors (thefe are his words) 
 " is to retrench that luxury and intolerable 
 " expence which have been gradually in- 
 " troduced." Part I. ch. iii. § i. lîow- 
 ever, the impartiality which I profefs ob- 
 liges me to agree, that the notions of the 
 duke of Sully are overflrained ; and that in 
 this pafTace there is a little of what may be 
 called invective and idle declamation. I 
 anticipate a remark, which we fhall have 
 occafion to make in what follows, and that 
 is, the alterations which have happened in 
 'the political ftate of Europe from different 
 conjunftures, and elpecially from the fpirit 
 of commerce, v.'hich at this day feems to 
 
 animate it, have obliged ftates to recede a 
 little from thefe old maxims which relate 
 to luxury and expence ; and therefore what 
 follows feems to me to be the moft reafon- 
 able method upon the whole. It is true, 
 that that profeffion which' has for its end 
 the defence of the ftate, ought to be in the 
 pofTeffion of its principal dignities ; or, 
 which is much to the fame purpofe, all man- 
 ner of regard, honour, and refpei^t, fhould be 
 paid to them. The duke of Sully has there- 
 fore good reafon lo obferve, that of all the 
 profeflions this has moft to fear from luxury 
 and effeminacy. Hence that reludance 
 officers fhew to refide with their regiments : 
 and that averfion of the young nobility to a 
 ftudy, which ought entirely to engage their 
 attention. Hence that Àfiatic pomp of 
 high living, and thofe exceffive pleafures 
 into which armies are ufually plunged. 
 Hence it follows, that foldiers, who from 
 their youth have been only habituated to 
 debauchery, are unable to undergo the fa- 
 tigues and inconveniences of a campaign. 
 And, laftly, we will farther agree with AI. 
 de Sully, that theabufes accruing from un- 
 equal marriages, are at this day carried to 
 an almoft fhameful height ; and that, in 
 general, we have too much ncg!e(5led a 
 piece of policy, which has always been 
 locked upon, and that with very good rea- 
 
 wife>
 
 6s: 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Book XIL 
 
 1601. wife, when we fee the nobility of the fame mind, with regard to this 
 point, as the meaneft of the people, and making no fcruple to mingle 
 the moll illuftrious blood in a fliameful alliance with a dirty pedlar, 
 who knows nothing but the change, his fliop, his counter, and his 
 knavery ? This abufe is necefl'arily produiftiveof two others, confulion 
 of ranks, and degeneracy of families ; which laft is better proved by 
 experience than argument. We need only take a view of that great 
 number of mongril gentry with which the court and city is filled, 
 and we fliall find them wholly deltitute of the plain and manly virtue 
 of their anceftors; no depth of thought, no folidity of judgment, rafh, 
 inconfiderate, a ftrong paihon for play, a natural propenfity to diffo- 
 lutenefs, a folicitude fordrefs, and vitiated tafle in every kind of luxu- 
 ry j that one would imagine they thought to exceed even the women 
 in the effeminacy of their manners : yet thefe people engage in the 
 army, but with fiich difpofitions, to which is often added a fecret 
 contempt for the profeflion they embrace, what can be expelled 
 from them ? This fubverfion of all order is indeed to be lamented, 
 but is inevitable, while that profeffion, which has only glory for its 
 objed:, is not exalted to the highefl rank, and dignified with the chiefeft 
 
 fon, as one of the principal foundations of 
 the fl:rength of a flrate, a flrift attention in 
 making matrimony be honoured and re- 
 fpcâed. But after all thefe conceffions, we 
 nnifl: likewife agree, that one of the chief 
 cares of a fovereign being to maintain and 
 ftrcngthen unanimity between his fubjedls, 
 by banifhing jealoufies from among the 
 different ranks, and the mutual animoil- 
 ties of the feveral orders towards each 
 other, and war not being, as formerly, the 
 true, and even the only means, of rendering 
 a kingdom flourifhing, the greateft part of 
 the maxims laid down with this view are 
 unfupported. Would it not be much fitter 
 to oblige the numerous families to divide 
 themfelvcs equally among the different em- 
 ployments in the army, the navy, the 
 church, and commerce, and to permit the 
 nobility to engage in trade, as a means 
 ■without which it will henceforth be impof- 
 fible for the great families to fupport them- 
 felves ? We will refume the handling this 
 fubje(5l pretty often ; but it is certain, in 
 general, that a moderate degree of atten- 
 tion is fufficient to make it plain, that the 
 maxims of government, as to politics and 
 
 commerce, Ihould not at prefent be abfo- 
 lutely the fame as they were a thoufand 
 years ago. It may be imagined, that as to 
 the alterations necefTary to be made in all 
 thefe refpefts, we could not do better than 
 rely upon the various conjunctures, and the 
 natural difpofitions, which render all man- 
 kind fo clear-fighted with regard to their 
 own intereft and welfare. However, a fa- 
 tal experience has but too well taught us, 
 how dangerous it is to leave to the giddy 
 multitude the choice of the means how to 
 arrive at it. Of thefe alterations there are 
 fome which ought to accompany, or follov/, 
 and be naturally fubordinate to, each other; 
 a thing which the rabble can neither dif- 
 cern nor relifh. There is in every thing 
 excefs or abufe which they can neitiier 
 forefee nor prevent. And this is the great 
 point in the art of government, an art which 
 requires continual application and atten- 
 tion. The hand of the pilot is not necef- 
 fary to bear up the veffel upon the waves ; 
 but without it, file will in the end be dafhed 
 againft rocks, or at leaft never be able to 
 reach her wiflied for port. 
 
 honours.
 
 Book XIL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 honours, which, for that purpofe, ought to be taken from the upftarts of 
 fortune; and fince the infamy which we fliould find thefe creatures of 
 chance ftained with, if we took pains to examine them, is not fuffi- 
 cient to draw cur contempt, it is necelTary they Ihould be branded 
 with pubUc marks of difgrace, to fignify the rank they ought to hold. 
 
 The king was convinced by the juflnefs of this reafoning. How- 
 ever, in this chamber of julHce, the fame thing happened that gene- 
 rally does : the little rogues paid for all the reft ; the principal delin- 
 quents found their fecurity in that very metal for which they were 
 profecuted ; they made ufe of a fmall part of it in prefents, which faved' 
 the other. This qualifying would not have prevailed with the king' 
 had it been employed direcflly ; but it found acceptance with the ladies 
 of the court, and even with the queen herfelf ; they gained the con- 
 ftable, Bouillon, Bellegarde, Roquelaure, Souvré, Frontenac, and 
 fome others, who, though not of this high clafs, knew as well 
 how to work upon the king's inclinations ; fuch were Zamet, La 
 Varenne, Gondy, Boneuil, Conchini, and many more of that fort. 
 The complaifance of this prince for all thofe whom he fufFered to live- 
 in fome degree of familiarity with him, and efpecially for ladies, def- 
 troyedall his wife refolutions,fo that the ftorm fell only upon thofe that 
 had reafon to reproach themfelves with not having yet ftolen enough 
 to put their thefts in fecurity. The retrenching of part of thofe of- 
 ficers of all ranks, with which the bar and the finances abounded, and 
 which was done at this time, was looked upon as the work of the 
 chamber of juftice. The great number of thofe officers, as well as 
 their extreme licentioufnefs, are indubitable teftimonies of the calami- 
 ties that are introduced into a ftate, and the forerunners of its ruin. 
 
 In May the king and queen had the devotion to celebrate the ju-- 
 bilee at Orleans. 1 attended their majefties as far as half a league be- 
 yond Fontainebleau, from whence they proceeded that evening to 
 Puifeaux. Ltook. advantage of this little vacation, to vifit the lands of 
 Baugy, which had been juil awarded to me by a decree, for the great 
 fums which were due to me from thefe lands, and upon which I began 
 to build immediately with the confifcated money I have lately men- 
 tioned. I was flopped within two leagues from the place where I in- 
 tended to lie, by a courier from his majefty, who called out to me- 
 while I was yet a great way before him. Ke brought me a letter' 
 from the king which contained only thefe few words. " I gave • 
 "you fix days for your journey to Baugy,, but I have received- 
 
 " letters-
 
 64 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XÏÏ. 
 
 1 60 1. " letters of great confequence from Buzenval, which I want to fliew 
 you ; you will oblige me if you will come and lie to-night here at 
 " Puifeaux, whither you need bring no necefl'aries. I have given 
 " orders for your lodging, and fent thither my hunting-bed, and have 
 " ordered Coquet to get your fiippcr ready, and your breakfaft in the 
 " morning, for I will detain you no longer. Adieu, my beloved friend." 
 
 1 WISHED my wife, who accompanied me, a good night, and, 
 taking with me only two gentleman, a page, and a valet de chambre, 
 and one groom, I turned back to Puifeaux, where I found the king, 
 who was amufing himfelf with feeing the youth of his train wreftle 
 and leap in the court-yard of the priory. As foon as he law me, he 
 called Pafquier, who had been fent to him by Villeroi with Buzenval's 
 letters, which informed the king that prince Maurice had taken the 
 field with his army, which he had increafed with garrifons drawn out 
 of their quarters, and efcorted by two thoufand waggons : that, 
 with this armv, he intended (as Buzenval had learned from the prince 
 of Orange's officers, and from the prince himfelf) to crofs Brabant, 
 the county of Liege, Hainault, and Artois, to gain by it the rivers 
 along the frontiers of France, from whence he expeéled affiftance, and 
 bring the war to the neighbourhood of Gravelines, Berque-Saint-Vinox, 
 Dunkirk, and Nieuport; that the archduke, greatly inferior to the 
 prince of Orange, not having yet received the troops which he ex- 
 peded from Italy and Germany, beheld thofe preparations with 
 aftonifhment, and duril not oppole his march, but that he contented 
 himfelf with being near him, that he might oblige him to keep in a 
 narrow compafs, and that while he obftiufted him he might be him- 
 felf near the place where he perceived the florm would fall ; that, 
 finding this ftep, which had been communicated to him, of great 
 importance, he thought it was neceffary to inform the king of it. 
 
 The knowledge I had of the Low Countries made this defign of 
 the prince of Orange appear to me fo dangerous, that I thought it 
 likely to draw upon him a total defeat. He would be obliged to march 
 a great way within view of the enemy and upon their frontiers, through 
 countries fo full of woods, hedges, and hollow ways, particularly in 
 Liégois, that I thought them impafiable for fuch a number of waggons; 
 and the king was of the fame opinion. After we had conferred toge- 
 ther a long time, he refolved to fend prince Maurice his fentiments of 
 it, and I refumed my route to Baugy, in which I vifited the lands of 
 Sully, that I had a defign of purchafing, and did fo accordingly the 
 
 following
 
 Book XÎÎ. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 following year. The king continued his pilgrimage to Orleans, and i6o( 
 
 laid there the firft ftone for the rebuilding the church of the Holy <-^ ^ 
 
 Crofs : he afterwards returned to Paris, to which place I had come 
 three days before' his majefty. 
 
 Henry's letters changed the defign of NafTau ; he befieged Rhim- On the 
 berg, and took it on the tenth of June. The archduke Albert, in ^'^'"<=- 
 revenge, inverted Oftend on * the fifth of July. Maurice, on his fide, 
 laid liege to Bolduc, either to force the archduke to abandon his en- 
 terprize, or to indemnify himfelf by the redudlion of this place, which 
 was looked upon to be the moft important fortreis in Brabant, I Vi^as 
 ilill of opinion that he would do neither; and when li.e king fent for 
 me to hear my fentiments of it in the prefence of the courtiers who 
 .were by when the pacquet which brought the news was opened, and 
 who all fpoke differently of it, I faid that, although I was very young 
 when I had vifited Bolduc, I had neverthelefs preferved the remem- 
 brance of the place ; and, that not to mention its fituation, which 
 rendered the fiege of it a work of immenfe labour, it feemed to me 
 impofiible, conlidering the extent of the place and the great number 
 of its citizens, to furround it in fuch a manner as to hinder anyone 
 from going in or out, at leaft without an army of twenty-five thou- 
 fand men. In effeâ, the prince of Orange failed in his attempt 
 upon Bolduc : but all this did not happen till November. 
 
 The war breaking out fo near our frontiers, made Henry refolve to 
 go to Calais, as if he had no other defign but to vifit that country. 
 Although he always fufpefted the Spaniards, he was not apprehenfive, 
 in the prefent ftate of the affairs of that crown, that they would be 
 prevailed on to break the peace : but he was not difpleafed at having 
 an opportunity to give them a little uneafinefs, in revenge for the daily 
 occafions of difcontent which he received from them. They aâed, 
 indeed, in a manner fufficient to have obliged his majeily to do fome- 
 thing more, had not policy prevailed over refentment. After many 
 fruitlefs attempts to break the alliance between the Swifs cantons and 
 France, ftnd to hinder the pope from acfling as arbitrator in the difpute 
 about the marquifate of Saluées, becaufe his holinefs could not difpenfe 
 with himlelf from giving judgment againfl the duke of Savoy, they 
 had fent troops to that prince in the laft campaign, under the com- 
 
 * It will be often mentioned ; thisfiege, three years ; but for a minute detail of 
 in which many brave adtions were per- them confult M. De Thou, Le Septen- 
 formeJ on both fides, having laftcd above naire, and other hiftoriaiis. 
 
 Vol. II. K- mand
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIL 
 
 mand of the count de Fuantes. Their continued intrigues with maré- 
 chal Biron, Bouillon, D'Auvergne, the prince of Joinville, were 
 publickly known. Biron himfelf had confeffed it to his majefty : and 
 laftly, the king, at his return from Orleans, received certain intelli- 
 gence of their pradlices with the cities of Metz, Marfeilles, and 
 Bayonne. 
 
 At all this his majefty diflembled his difpleafure j but nothing pro- 
 voked him againft that crown fo much, as the outrage which La 
 Rochepot* , our ambaffador at Madrid, his nephew, and his whole 
 train had received from that court. La Rochepot gave an account of 
 it in his letters, " I fwear by heaven," faid Henry tranfported with 
 rage, " that, if I can but once fee my affairs in order, and get a fuffi- 
 " cient fupply of money, and whatever elfe is neceflary, I will make 
 " fo furious a war upon them, that they fliall repent of having obliged 
 " me to take arms." However, he ftill fhut his eyes upon fo gla- 
 ring a violation of the rights of nations, but it was not without doing 
 great violence to his inclinations. " I fee plainly," faid this prince to 
 me fometimes, " that through emulation, jealoufy, and intereft of 
 " ftate, France and Spain can never be on friendly terms with each 
 " other, and that a proper fecurity againft that crown mull: have fome 
 *' other foundation than words." He was fufliciently convinced of 
 the error in Villeroi and Sillery's policy, who often, in his prefence, 
 maintained againft me, that a ftridt union with Spain was not only 
 neither impoflible nor dangerous for France, butlikewife the moft rea- 
 fonable fyftem of politics that ought to be embraced. To their 3.rgu-r 
 ments I oppofed that competition fo natural to thefe two crowns, the 
 opposition of their interefts, and the remembrance of fo many recent 
 injuries ; and I concluded that, with a neighbour fo artful and unjuft, 
 the neceffarymeafures to be taken were to hold them always fufpedled, 
 and to be always prepared for defence. The laft news that came from 
 Madrid gave me, for this time, the advantage over my opponents, at 
 leaft in the king's opinion, who hefitated no longer about going to . 
 
 * Antony de Silly, count de la Roche- and thence dragged his nephew to prifon, 
 
 pot. His nephew happening to bathe him- with others of his aflbciates that had taken 
 
 i'elf with fome French gentlemen, was ia- {helter there. This difference was com- 
 
 fulted by fome Spaniards, who flung his promifed by the pope, who caufed the pri- 
 
 cloaths, and thofe of his companions into foners to be fent to him to Rome, and dsli- 
 
 the river. Thefe revenged themfclves for vered them to the count de Bethune, brother 
 
 the affront by killing and wounding fome of to M. de Sully, ambaffador of France at 
 
 the Spaniards; thofe that fled foon after re- that court. See the above mentioned hif- 
 
 turncd to forcc.openthc ambafTudor's houfe, torians for the year i6oi. 
 
 Oftend,
 
 BoaK XII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 67 
 
 Oilend, after he had difmified two celebrated embaffies, which he i6or. 
 received about this time. 
 
 One of thefe embaffies was from the grand feignior, who, know- 
 ing that the fophy of Perfia his enemy had fent a folemn deputation to 
 the pope, the emperor, and the king of Spain, without taking any 
 notice of the king of France, againft whom he feemed to make an 
 overture of his affillance at the fame time that he alked for theirs, he 
 was returning one adl for another. His highnefs, on this otcafion, 
 made ufe of his phyfician, who * was a chriftian, and inverted him 
 with the dignity of his ambaflador. The terms in which this haughty 
 potentate expreiTed himfelf, with regard to the French -f-, difcovered a 
 diftindion and refped:, of which there are few examples ; he fet a 
 higher value, he faid, upon the friendship and arms of the French, 
 than of all the other chriftian nations together; and that although they 
 fliould all unite with Perfia againft him, he fliould think himfelf in a 
 condition to defpife their attempts, as foon as he had fecured the al- 
 liance and affiftance of a king, whofe fuperiority over all his neighbours, 
 as well as his great perfonal qualities, he appeared not to be ignorant 
 of. The Turkifti ambaflador prefented his majefty with feveral rich 
 prefents, and gave me two fcymetars of exquifite workmanftiip, which 
 I keep with great care. 
 
 The other ambaflador was from the republic of Venice. This ftate 
 had been a long time, by a particular alliance often renewed, and by 
 their common intereft, united with France againft the Spanifli power : 
 it had been amongft the firft in complimenting his moft chriftian ma- 
 jefty upon his marriage and the peace, by the fieurs Gradenigo and Del- 
 fin, the laft of whom was likewife in this embafly. Henry was de- 
 firous that thefe ambafladors fhould be received with the utmoft dif- 
 tiniftion in Paris. He ordered them to be ferved with his own plate, 
 and loaded them with prefents of equal value with thofe he gave the 
 firft. The letters he then wrote to me turned almoft wholly upon 
 
 * Bartholemew Cœur, a renegado of faith of Jefus . . . the compofer of the dif- 
 
 Marfeilles. He demanded of the king that ferences that happen between chriftian 
 
 the duke of A'Ieicœur fhould be recalled potentates, prince of grandeur, majefty, and 
 
 from Hungar}', becaufe, among the pro- opulence, and the glorious leader of the 
 
 phefies which the Turks believe, there is greateft fubjedls, Henry the IVth emperor 
 
 one, they fay, that the French fhall drive of France ; fuch were the titles which his 
 
 the Turks out of Europe. highnefs gave the king. MSS. de la Bib- 
 
 t To the moft glorious, moft magnani- liuth. de Roi. vol. 9592. 
 
 mous, and moft illuftrious prince of the 
 
 K 2 this
 
 68 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XIL 
 
 1 60 1, this head, for he was then at Fontainebleau with the queen, who was 
 
 ' V— ' far advanced in her pregnancy, upon which account the king could 
 
 not come immediately to Paris, and ftill lefs the queen who had fo 
 great a concern in this einbajjy. His majefty {hewed fo much refped: 
 for the Venetian ambafladors, as not to fuffer them to wait for his re- 
 turn to Paris, but let them know that he would receive them at Fon- 
 tainebleau, to which place his coaches and equipages attended them. 
 
 The archdukes could not fail to fufpedl, that the king, by marching 
 towards Calais, would endeavour to obftruél their defigns upon Oftend, 
 by way of reprifal for the ill treatment La Rochepot had received. In 
 order to difcover the purport of this journey, they deputed to him the 
 count of Solre in the quality of ambaffador, under a pretence of mak- 
 ing him the fame compliments on the queen's pregnancy which he re- 
 ceived from all parts; enjoining this ambaffador to infinuate a com- 
 plaint of his journey, by which Solre gave a fair opportunity to the 
 king, who, inflead of iatisfying him as to the occafion of his com- 
 plaints, made, in his turn, very heavy ones againft Spain, affuriiig 
 him however, but in a general manner, that he would not be the firfl 
 to come to a rupture, provided that the Spaniards did not force him to 
 it by continuing their unfair proceedings. With this promife the am- 
 baffador pretended to be fatisfied. 
 
 The queen of England hearing the king was at Calais, thought it 
 a favourable opportunity to fatisfy her impatience of feeing and em- 
 bracing her bcrt friend. Henry was not lefs deffrous of this interview, 
 that he might confer with the queen upon the affairs of Europe in 
 general, as well as on their own in particular, efpecially thofe which had 
 been jufl: hinted to him by the Englifli and Dutch ambaffadors when 
 he was at Nantz. Elizabeth firft wrote him a letter equally polite and 
 full of offers of fervice ; fhe afterv/ards made him the ufual compli- 
 ments, and repeated thofe affurances by the lord Edmund, whom ilie 
 difpatched to Calais, till fhe herfelf could arrive at Dover, from whence 
 fhe fen t the lord Sidney with other letters. 
 
 Henry refolving riot to be outdone in complaifance, anfwered thefe 
 advances in a manner that fliewed at once his refpedl for the fex of Eli- 
 zabeth, and his efteem and admiration of her charadler. This inter- 
 courfe continued a long time, to the great mortification of the Spa- 
 niards, whofe jealoufy was ftrongly excited by proximity and clofe 
 correfpondence. Of all the letters wrote by thefe two fovereigns on 
 this occafion, I am pofleffed only of that in which Elizabeth informs 
 
 the
 
 Book XIÏ. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 the king of thofe obflacles that prevented her conferring with him in 
 perfon, lamenting the unhappinefs of princes, who, contrary to their 
 inclinations, were flaves to forms and fettered by circumfpedlion. This 
 letter "*, becaufe it was the occafion of the voyage I made to this prin- 
 cefs, I have kept in my hands ; in it (he tells her mofl dear and well 
 beloved brother (for fo (he called the king of France) that her concern 
 at not being able to fee him was fo much the greater, as (he had fome- 
 thing to communicate to him which flie durft not confide to any 
 other perfon or commit to paper, and yet thatfhe was upon the point 
 of returning to London. 
 
 The king's curiofity v/as ftrongly excited by thefe lafl: words ; in 
 vain did he torture his imagination to guefs their purport. Secretary 
 Feret being fent by him to fetch me, " I have juft now received let- 
 " ters," faid he to me, " from my good fifter the queen of England, 
 *' whom vou admire fo greatly ; they are fuller of civilities than 
 '* ever : fee if you will have more fuccefs than I have had in difcover- 
 " ing her meaning." I agreed with Henry that it mufl: be fomething 
 of great confequence which induced her to exprefs herfelf in this man- 
 ner; it was refolved therefore, that I fliould embark the next day for 
 Dover, as if with no other defign than to take advantage of the fliort- 
 nefs of the paflage to make a tour to London, which would give me 
 an opportunity of feeing what ftep the queen would take upon my arri- 
 val, neither the king nor I doubting but that (he would be immediately 
 
 * This letter, and this whole relation of fufpefted the true motive for propofing this 
 
 the duke of Sully's concerning Henry the interview, which was the occafion of all 
 
 IVth's journey to Calais, and Elizabeth's thefe letters that palTed between them, and 
 
 to Dover, appear fufficient, without any caufed the duke of Sully to make the fecret 
 
 other refleiftions, to fhew the error of all voyage to Dover, of which he here gives 
 
 thofe various judgments current at that an account. Siri, on this occafion, builds 
 
 time, and which have been mentioned by upon the refentment which he fiippofes 
 
 different hiftorians concerning thefe two Elizabeth always preferved, both of the 
 
 potentates. It was faid Elizabeth propofed peace of Vervins and the furrender of Ca- 
 
 to Henry, either that he fhould come to lais, as well as her fear left: Henry fhould 
 
 Dover, or at leaft confer with her in a aggrandife himfelf too much, and on the 
 
 velTel half way between thefe two towns, jealoufy which the Englifh entertained of 
 
 and that this propofal concealed a fnare in the French. Mem. Recond. vol. I. p. 130, 
 
 which Elizabeth hoped to entrap Henry, by 150, &c. But this writer, fo well ac- 
 
 feizing upon his perfon in the interview, and quainted with foreign negotiations, efpe- 
 
 keeping him piifoner till he reftored Calais, cially thofe of Italy and Spain, is not right, 
 
 and that Henry excufed himfelf from com- neither in the faiSs nor the opinions which 
 
 plying with her re'quefi:, only becaufe he he produces concerning the interior of our 
 
 fufpedtcd the defign; others fay, becaufe court and councils under the reign of Hen- 
 
 his fears of the fea were fo great, that he ry the IVth. He knew neither this prince 
 
 durft not venture into a vefl'cl. No one nor the duke of Sully. 
 
 informed
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIL 
 
 informed of it. I acquainted no one with my intended pafTage, but 
 fuch of my domeftics as were to attend me, and of thefe I took but a 
 very fmall number. 
 
 1 EMBARKED early in the morning, and reached Dover about ten 
 o'clock, where, among the crowd of thofe who embarked and difem- 
 barked, I was immediately difcovered by the lord Sidney, who five or 
 fix days before had feen me at Calais : with him were Cobham, Ra- 
 leigh, and Griffin, and they were foon after joined by the earls of De- 
 vonfliire and Pembroke. Sidney embraced me, and afked me if I was 
 come to fee the queen ; I told him I was not, and even affured him 
 that the king knew nothing of my voyage : I likewife entreated him 
 not to mention it to the queen, for not having had any intention of 
 paying my refpefts to her I had no letter to prefent, my defign being 
 only to make a fliort tour incognito to London. Thefe gentlemen re- 
 plied fmiling, that I had taken a ufelefs precaution, for that probably 
 the guardfliip had already given a fignal of my arrival, and that I might 
 quickly expecft to fee a meiïenger from the queen, v.ho would not 
 fufFer me to pafs in this manner, having but three days ago fpoke of 
 me publicly and in very obliging terms. I affedted to be extremely 
 concerned at this unlucky accident, but to hope neverthelefs, that I 
 might ftill pafs undifcovered, provided that thefe gentlemen would be 
 fecret as to the place where I was to lodge ; from whence, I aflured 
 them, I would immdiately depart as foon as I had taken a little refrefh- 
 ment: faying this I left them abruptly, and had but juft entered my 
 apartment, and fpoke a few words to my people, when I felt fome- 
 body embrace me from behind, who told me, that he arrefted me as a 
 prifoner to the queen. This was the captain of her guards, whofe 
 embrace T returned, and replied fmiling, that I fliould efteem fuch 
 imprifonment a great honour. 
 
 His orders were to condu(fl me direftly to the queen j I therefore 
 followed him. " It is well, M. de Rofny," faid this princefs to me 
 as foon as I appeared, *' And do you break our fences thus, and pafs 
 '* on without coming to fee me; I am greatly furprifed at it, for I 
 •' thought you bore me more affedion than any of my fervants, and I 
 " am perfuaded that I have given you no caufe to change thofe fenti- 
 " ments." I replied in few words, but fuch as fo gracious a reception 
 required. After which I began, without any difguife, to entertain her 
 with thofe fentiments the king my mafter had for her. *' To give you 
 '*' a proof," replied fhe, " that I believe all you have told me of the 
 
 good-
 
 Book XIL MEMOIRS OF S U L L Y. 
 
 " gôod-wlllof the king my brother, and of your own, I will difcourfe 
 " with you on the fuhjcél of the laft letter I wrote to him; though 
 " perhaps you have feen it, for Stafford (that is the name of the lord 
 •' Sidney) and Edmund tell me, that the king conceals few of his fe- 
 " cretsfrom you." She then drew me alide, that (he. miglit fpeak t» 
 me with the greateft freedom, on the prefent ftate of affairs in Europe ; 
 and this flie did with fuch ftrength and clearnefs, beginning from the 
 treaty of Vervins, that I was convinced this great queen was truly 
 worthy of that high reputation (he had acquired in Europe. She en- 
 tered into this detail, only toiliew me how neceflary it was that the 
 king of France fliould, in concert with her, begin to execute thofe 
 great defigns which they both meditated againft the houfe of Auftria. 
 The neceffity of this flie founded upon the acceffions this houfe was 
 daily feen to make : fhe repeated to me all that had palled on this 
 fubjeét in 1598, between the king and the Englifli and Dutch ambaf- 
 fadors, and afked me if this prince did not ftill continue to have the 
 fame fentiments, and why he fo long delayed to begin the enterprize.y 
 
 To thefe queftions of queen Elizabeth, I anfwered. That his mofl 
 chriftian maieftyll:ill continued to think of that affiiir as he always had 
 done : that the men and money he was railing, and the other warlike 
 preparations he was making, were deftined to no other purpofe than 
 the execution of the concerted plan; but that in France things were 
 far from being in fuch a ftate, as to enable him to undertake the de- 
 ftruftion of a power fo folidly eftablifhed as that of the Auftrian princes. 
 This I proved, by the extraordinary expences Henry had been at fince 
 the peace of Vervins, as well for the general neceffities of his king- 
 dom, as to reftrain the attempts of the feditious, and to carry on the war 
 which he had juft ended with Savoy. I did not diffemble with thi-s 
 princefs the opinion I had always entertained of this enterprize, which 
 is, that though England and the United Provinces fhould ufe their 
 utmoft endeavours to reduce the houfe of Auflria, unlefs they were 
 affifted by all the forces of the French monarchy, and on whom, for 
 many reafons, the chief weight of this war muft fall, the houfe of 
 Aullria, by uniting the forces of its two branches, might, without 
 any difficulty, not only fupport itfelf againft them, but even render 
 the balance equal; it would therefore be uielefs, and even an impru- 
 dent attempt, to endeavour to fap the foundations of fo formidable a 
 power, by the fame means only that ferve merely to keep upon the 
 defenfive with it : and it would be indifpenfibly neceflary to defer the 
 attempt for fome years, during which, France would acquire all Ihe 
 
 now-
 
 72 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XII. 
 
 1 60 1, now wanted, to enable her to flrike more effeâiually the blow that 
 was preparing for the common enemy; and would, in conjundlion 
 with her allies, endeavour to engage the neighbouring princes and 
 ftates in their defign, the princes of Germany efpecially, who were 
 more immediately threatened by the tyranny of the houfe of Auflria. 
 
 It was eafy for the queen of England to comprehend, by the man- 
 ner in which I exprefled myfelf, that thefe were not fo much my own 
 as Henry's fentiments which I communicated to her, and (he gave me 
 to underftand as much, by confeffing, that they appeared fo jufl and 
 reafonable to her, that fhe could not avoid adopting them : adding 
 only, that there was one point on which all the parties could not be 
 too foon agreed, which was, that the ultimate view of the intended 
 combination being to confine the power of the houfe of Auftria within 
 iuft bounds, it would be neceflary that each of the allies fhould {b 
 proportion all his defires or expeftations which he might conceive in 
 confequence of the event, as that none of them might be capable of 
 giving umbrage to the reft : fuppofing, for example, that Spain fliould 
 be deprived of the Low Countries, neither the whole nor any part of 
 this ftate was to be coveted, either by the king of France, or the 
 kins of Scotland, who would one day become fo of Great Britain, nor 
 yet by the kings of Sweden and Denmark, already fufficiently power- 
 ful by fea and land to make themfelves refpedled by the other allies ; 
 and that the fame condu(5l ought to be obferved with regard to all the 
 other fpoils that might be taken from the houfe of Auftria by thofe 
 princes whofe dominions fliould happen to be neareft to the conquered 
 countries j " For if my brother, the king of France, faid fhe, fliould 
 ** think of making himfelf proprietor, or even only féodal lord of the 
 *' United Provinces, I fliould never confent to it, but entertain a moft 
 " violent jealoufy of him ; nor fliould I blame him, if, giving him 
 " the fame occalion, he fliould have the fame fears of me." 
 
 These were not the only refledions made by the queen of Eng- 
 land ; flie faid many other things, which appeared to me fo juft and 
 fenfible, that I was filled with aftonifliment and admiration. It is net 
 unufual to behold princes form great defign s ; their fphere of adion 
 fo forcibly inclines them to this, that it is only neceflary to warn them 
 of the extreme, which is, the projefting what their powers are fo little 
 proportioned to perform, that they fcarce ever find themfelves able to 
 execute the half of what they propofed ; but to be able to diftinguifli 
 and form only fuch as are reafonable j wifely to regulate the conduâ: 
 
 of
 
 Book XII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 of them; to forefee and guard againfl: all obftacles in fuch a manner, 
 that when they happen, nothing more will be neceflary, than to ap- 
 ply the remedies prepared long before. This is what few princes are 
 capable of. Ignorance, profperity, luxury, vanity, nay, even fear and 
 indolence, daily produce fchemes, to execute which there is not the 
 leaft poflîbility. Another caufe of furprize to me was, that Elizabeth 
 and Henry, having never conferred together on their political projeâ:, 
 fliould agree fo exaâly in all their ideas, as not to diifer even in the 
 mofl minute particulars. 
 
 The queen obferving my eyes were attentively fixed on her with- 
 out fpeaking, imagined flie had expreffed herfelf fo confufedly in 
 fomething fhe had faid, that I was unable to comprehend her mean- 
 ing. But when I ingenuoufly confefled to her the true caufe of my 
 filence and furprize, flie then, without fcruple, entered into the mofl: 
 minute parts of the defign : but as I fhall have an ample occafion to 
 treat of this, in relating the great fchemes which were prevented by 
 the untimely death of Henry IV. I fliall not trouble the reader with 
 ufelefs repetitions ; but in this place jull fhew the five principal points 
 to which her majefty reduced fo extenfive a fcheme, as from the 
 fequel of thefe Memoirs this will appear to have been. The firil: 
 was, to reft ore Germany to its antient liberty, in relpedt to the eledtion 
 of its emperors, and the nomination of a king of the Romans. The 
 fécond, to render the United Provinces abfolutely independent of Spain ; 
 and to form them into a republic, by annexing to them, if necefl^ary, 
 fome provinces difmembered from Germany. The third, to do the 
 fame in regard to Switzerland, by incorporating with it fome of the ad- 
 jacent provinces, particularly Alface and Franche-Compte. The fourth, 
 to divide all Chriftendom into a certain number of powers, as equal as 
 may be. The fifth, to reduce all the various religions in it under 
 thofe three which (hould appear to be moft numerous and confiderable 
 in Europe. 
 
 Our conference was very long : I cannot befl:ow praifes upon the 
 queen of England that would be equal to the merit which I difcovered 
 in her in this fhort time, both as to the qualities of the heart and the 
 underftanding. I gave an exadl relation of every thing that paft!ed 
 betv/een us to the king, who very highly approved all fhe had faid to 
 me. Their majeflies correfponded by letters, during the reft of the 
 time they flayed at Dover and Calais. All preliminaries were agreed 
 on ; meafures were taken even on the grand objedl of the defign, but 
 
 Vol. II. L with
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIL 
 
 with fuch fecrecy, that the whole of this affair remained to the death 
 of the king, and even much longer, among the number of thofe in 
 which only various and uncertain conjedures are formed. 
 
 The king did not return to Paris till he had carefully examined all 
 the fortreffes upon his frontier, and provided for their fecurity : in 
 every other refpedl, he appeared an indifferent fpetflator of the quarrel 
 between the Spaniards and the Flemilh : and all he did in favour of 
 Offend, the fiege of which was ftill continued, was not to hinder fome 
 French from engaging in the fervice of the prince of Orange, in which 
 feveral of them lofl their lives ; amongft thefe, the death of young 
 * Chatillon-Coligny, whofe head was fliot off by a cannon-ball before 
 Oflend, deferved to be particularly lamented. The king, when he 
 was told it, faid publicly, that France had loff a man of great merit : 
 myfelf, in particular, was fenlibly afflitled at his death. Coligny, at 
 an early age, had already united almoft all the qualities that form a 
 foldier; valour, moderation, prudence, judgment, and the art of making 
 himfelf equally beloved by the foldier and officer. 
 
 But Coligny was a proteflantj and the jealoufy of the courtiers 
 foon converted all thefe virtues into fo many crimes, in the opinion of 
 the king; they told his majefly, that Coligny already afpired to the 
 diftindlion of being head of the proteftants, both within and without 
 the kingdom, to which he was folicited by the duke of Bouillon ; that 
 he delired nothing with fo much ardour as to equal, or even to fur- 
 pafs, the adtions of his father and grandfather ; and had been heard 
 to declare, that he ffiould not regret the lofs of life, if he had the fa- 
 tisfadlion to lofe it at the head of an army, fighting for the preferva- 
 tion of his friends. His affecflion for the foldiers was treated as an 
 artful and dangerous artifice. They hinted to the king, that he had 
 already raifed a jealoufy in the prince of Orange j and that his ma- 
 jefty" would one day have reafon to fear a flioot from a flock that had 
 given fo much trouble to our kings. Henry was fo far influenced by 
 thèfe infinuations, that when I went to alk fome favours of him for 
 the mother and brother of Coligny, he dwelt continually upon what 
 he had heard, and had given but too much credit to, and appeared 
 
 * Henry de Coligny, lord of Chatillon, tillon Coligny came originally from Savoy, 
 
 fon to Francis, and grandfon to the admi- of a very noble and antient Uneage, as he 
 
 ral de Coligny : he carried to the afliftance fays, and who were formerly fovereign 
 
 of Oftend a regiment of 800 French. Ac- princes, and very powerful. Tom. Ill, 
 
 cording to Biantome, the houfe of Cha- p. 173. 
 
 to
 
 Book XIL M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 75 
 
 to me not only full of indifference for the death of Coligny, but aUb 1601 . 
 
 fo greatly prejudiced againft the whole family, that I defifted from ' r~—> 
 
 a folicitation which could not but be prejudicial to myfelf, my con- 
 nections and conformity of religion with the deceafed confidered. 
 
 The king, at his return to Fontainebleau, had the pleafure to 
 find the queen in as good a flate of health as he left her. He was 
 feldom from her during her pregnancy, and took all poflible care of 
 her hçalth*. In a letter he wrote to me fome days before the queen 
 lay in, he fays, " Bring no people of bufinefs with you at this time, 
 " no mention mud be made of it during the firfl: week of my wife's 
 *' lying in ; we fliall have fufficient employment to hinder her from 
 " getting cold." 
 
 At length, the moment that was to fill the king, the queen, 
 and the whole kingdom with joy, arrived ; the queen was, on the 
 17th of September -j-, delivered of a fon, whofe firong health, as 
 well as the queen's, filled the kingdom with the moft agreeable 
 hopes :{:. I believe I may venture to affirm, that this incident gave 
 me more joy than any one elfe. I was attached to the king's perfon 
 by the moft tender ties of afiedlion, an afi'edtion which I felt in a 
 higher degree than the mofl faithful of his fubjedls, and was therefore 
 more interefted in his happinefs. He was fo well convinced of this truth, 
 that he did me the honour to give me notice of the birth of his fon 
 in a billet, which, at ten o'clock at night, he fent from Fontainebleau 
 to Paris, where I then was ; it contained only thefe few words : " The 
 *' queen is juft delivered of a fon ; I fend you the news, that you may 
 " rejoice with me." Befides this billet, which he wrote as to a friend, 
 he fent me another the next morning by La-Varenne, as grand mafter 
 of the ordnance ; he there mentioned the birth of the Dauphin as an 
 
 * " We read," Hiys Bayle, in the Rep. " broke its conftitution. The king,- im- 
 
 deLett. for January, 1686, " that Henry " ploring the bleffing of heaven upon the 
 
 *' recommended to Louifii Bourgeois, a very "infant, gave him alfo his own benedic- 
 
 " fkilful midwife, who laid the queen, to " tion, and put his fword into his hand, 
 
 " perform her office fo carefully, as that " praying God, that he would be pleafed 
 
 " there might be no occafion for employ- " to give him grace to make ufe of it only 
 
 " ing a man-midwife. Since this, added " for his glory, and the defence of his 
 
 " he, would (hock female modefty." " people." A'latthieu fpeaks in the very 
 
 t On Thurfday night, about midnight, fame terms : "Mydeareft, fays he to the 
 
 X Perefixe fays, on the contrary, " That " queen, be of good cheer, for God has 
 
 " the labour was very difficult, and the " granted us what we wanted." This 
 
 _ " child fo much fatigued, that it was quite writer adds, that a fhock of an earthquake 
 
 *' purple when it was born, which pro- wasfelttwohoursaftermidnight.Tom.il. 
 
 *' bably inipaired its vital principles, and 1. iii. p. 4^1. 
 
 L 2 occafion
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIL. 
 
 occafion of inexpreffible delight to him, " Not fo much, faid he, for 
 " the near concern I have in this incident, as for the general good of 
 *' my fubjedls." He ordered me to fire the cannon of the arfenal ; 
 which was performed in fiich a manner, that the report was heard 
 even at Fontainebleau. On this occaiion it was not neceffary to 
 order public rejoicings : all his majefty's lubjedts, from the firft to the 
 meaneil, concurred in giving demonilrations of it, in which fear and 
 policy had no part. 
 
 The king's fatlsfadlion was only interrupted by a flight indifpofi- 
 tion, which he had drawn upon himfelf. La- Riviere -^ was his firil 
 phyfician, a man who had little more religion than thofe generally 
 have that blend it with the profelTion of judicial aftrology ; yet the 
 world did him the honour to iuppofe, that he concealed the principles 
 of a proteftant under the appearance of a catholic. Henry, who al- 
 ready felt a tendernefs for his fon, that filled him with an eager 
 anxiety to know his fate, having heard that La-Riviere had often 
 fucceeded wonderfully in his prédirions, commanded him to calculate 
 the Dauphin's nativity with all tlie ceremonies of his art ; and that the 
 exadt moment of his birth might be known, had carefully fought for 
 the moft excellent watch that could be procured. It appeared, that the 
 king thought no more of this defign till about a fortnight after, when 
 he and I being alone together, the converfation turned upon the pre- 
 didtions of La-Brofle, which I have formerly mentioned, concerning 
 his majefly and me, which we had found fo exaâly accompliflied. 
 Henry's inclination to make the experiment with his fon receiving 
 new ftrength by this difcourfe, he ordered La-Riviere to be fent for. 
 
 The phyfician, without taking any notice of it, had proceeded in 
 his work. " M. de La-Riviere, faid the king to him, we have been 
 *' talking of aftrology; what have you difcovered concerning my fon ?" 
 " I had begun my calculations, replied La-Riviere, but I left them 
 " unfiniflied, not caring any longer to amufe myfelf with a fcience 
 " which I have always believed to be in fome degree criminal." The 
 king immediately difcovered that this anfwer was not fincere, and that 
 he concealed his thoughts, either through an apprehenfion of offend- 
 ing his majefty, or from an efFeél of ill-humour, whim, or the cau- 
 tion of an aftrologer, who held it dangerous to difclofe his fecrets. 
 
 * La-Riviere fucceeded D'Aliboufl in the place of firft phyfician : he had been in the 
 family of the diike of Bouillon, who refigned him to the king. 
 
 « I
 
 Book XIL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ** I fee plainly, fiiid Henry, that you are not reftrained by motives of 
 " confcience ; you are not of the number of perfons that are fo very 
 " fcrupulous ; but, in reality, you are afraid of not being able to tell 
 *' me truth, or of making me angry; but whatever it be, I will know 
 " it, and I command you, on my difpleafure, to fpeak freely." La- 
 Riviere fufFered him.felf to be preffed ftill longer; and at 1 aft, with a 
 difcontented air, either real or dilfembled, faid, " Sire, your fon will 
 " live out the common age of aman, and will reign longer than you ; 
 " but his inclination and yours will be very different ; he will be 
 " obftinate in his opinions,., often governed by hTs own whims, 
 " and fometimes by thofe of others : it will be fafer then to think 
 " than to fpeak : impending ruin threatens your for'rrter fociety : all 
 " the effedts of your prudence will be deftroyed : he will perform great 
 " things, will be fortunate in his defigns, and make a great figure ia 
 " Europe : in his time there will be a vicilTitude of peace and war : 
 *' he will have children : and after him things will growworfe. This is 
 " all you can know from me,, and more than I had refolved to tell you." 
 The king, after muling a little while on what he had heard, faid to 
 La-Riviere, " You mean the proteftants, I know; but you fpeak thus 
 " becaufe you are well inclined towards them." '* I underftand, 
 " faid La-Riviere, what you would have, but I fhall fay no miore." 
 His majefty and I continued together a long time in converfation, 
 making reflexions on every word that had been fpoken by La-Riviere, 
 which remained ftrongly on the king's mind. 
 
 It was not poffible for me to ftay long at Fontainebleau ; but the 
 king continued to give me, with great kindnefs, an account of every 
 thing that happened. " You cannot imagine," fays he in one of his 
 letters, " how well my wife is recovered of her lying-in ; (he drefles 
 " her head herfelf, and talks already of getting up." In another, nine 
 days after her delivery, he fays, " The queen goes already into her 
 " clofet ; fhe has a conftitution furprifingly ftrong: my fon likewife is 
 " very well, I thank God : thefe are the befl: news I can fend a faith- 
 " ful and affedtionate fervant, whom I tenderly love *." Henry fent 
 his fon to Saint-Germain to be nurfed, on account of the goodnefs 
 of the air : and by one of thofe little ftrokes of popularity which fhew 
 the heart better than more oftentatious aftions, he would have him 
 fhewn to all Paris ; for which purpofe, he was carried openly through 
 
 *"The original of this letter of Henry IV. to M. de Sully is ftill extant; it is dated 
 ftom Fontainebleau, the 27th of Auguft, Cabinet de M, le duc de Sully. 
 
 the
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XII. 
 
 the midft of that great city. The Pari lians, by repeated acclamations 
 exprefled their pleafure at this fight. 
 
 The king had made a promife to the queen, that if fhe brought 
 him a fon, he would prefent her with the caftle of Monceaux. " My 
 *• wife," faid he, in a letter to me, " has gained Monceaux, by giv- 
 " ing me a fon ; therefore I defire you will fend for the prefid ent 
 " Forget, to confer with him about this affair, and take his advice 
 *' concerning the fecurity that muft be given to my children, for the 
 " fum which I pay for Monceaux." The city of Paris having like- 
 wife promifed the queen a prefent of a fuit of tapeftry hangings for 
 her lying-in, his majefty, in this letter, reminded me to demand it: 
 an infanta * was born in Spain, about the fame time that Providence 
 gave a prince to France. 
 
 The negotiation, fo many years depending with the grand duke of 
 Florence, wa-s concluded this year: that the reader may underftand 
 the occafion of it, it is neceffary he fliould know, that, under the 
 reign of Henry the third, Ferdinand de Medicis, grand duke of Flo- 
 rence, took advantage of the troubles that then raged in France, to 
 poffefs himfelf of the little ifles of Pomegue, Ratoneau, and If, with 
 its caftle in the neighbourhood of Marfeille. Henry, fully refolved to 
 make the grand duke reftore them, ordered d'OlTat, who was then on 
 the other fide of the Alps, to demand them, in the year 1598. The 
 grand duke not daring to ixfufe them abfolutely, reprefented only, that 
 he had expended great fums of money upon thefe ifles, which he could 
 not refolve to lofe: d'Offat of himfelf removed this obflacle,by engaging 
 that the king his mafter fliould indemnify him for thefe expences, by 
 paying him three hundred thoufand crowns, for which twelve of the 
 richeft and mofl confiderable perfons in France fliould be fecurity -|-, as 
 
 * Anna Maria Mauriette, afterwards which he wrote to his majefty, on the 5th 
 
 queen of France, born the 22cl of Septem- of May, 1598, immediately after the con- 
 
 ber. clufion of this treaty, and likewife in that 
 
 t This is, in effe£1r, the import of the to M. de Villeroi, of the 4th of Auguft 
 
 fifth article of the treaty that palTed on the following. He afterwards cleared himfelf 
 
 ift of May, 1598, between the king of more fully, in a long memorial, which is 
 
 France and the grand dulce of Tufcany^ by alfo inferted at the end of this collection, 
 
 the intervention of cardinal d'Offat, which However, we cannot think the reafons 
 
 may be feen at full length at the end of which M. Jo Sully produces againft this 
 
 the colledlon of this cardinal's letters, convention groundlefs, nor believe that the 
 
 The dtike of Sully does not here reproach duke of Florence would have broke the 
 
 M. d'Offat with any thing which he treaty without that condition. 
 
 had not already excufed in the letter 
 
 if
 
 Book XII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 if his majefty alone had not been iufficient to anfwer forfo fmall a fum. 
 The king, without greatly attending to tliis condition, ratified the 
 treafy ; and a fliort time after the chevalier Vinta was fent by the 
 duke of Florence to concludcj with Gondy, the bufinefs of the ifles 
 upon this plan. 
 
 The two agents did not go out of the council to feek for their fe- 
 curities, and the affair was propolad to me among the refl : this me- 
 thod of proceeding with a king, whofe power no part of Europe was 
 ignorant of, appeared to me fo uncommon, that I could not help 
 laughing at thofe who mentioned it to me. Villeroi took pains to re- 
 prefent to me the neceffity of difengaging d'Oflat from his word : I 
 replied, that there never had been any bankers in my family; for in- 
 deed, this was rather the bufinefs of bankers than of gentlemen. None 
 of the others, faid Villeroi, have made any difliculty about it. I be- 
 lieve it, anfwered I with fome indignation, for they are all either de- 
 fcendcd from traders or lawyers. Hereupon there arofe a difpute in the 
 council, which was reported to the king, who only fmiled, and faid 
 they had done wrong to mention it to me without firft informing him, 
 iince he had not acquainted me with it himfelf, " I am aftonifl:ied," ad- 
 ded he, " that he did not give a flill ruder anfwer: you cannot be igno- 
 " rant of his temper, and how highly he values himfelf upon the nobi- 
 *' lity of his birth : let this affair be concluded without his or any other 
 " perfons entering into any obligation : I gave no permifi!ion to the bi- 
 *' {hop of Rennes to agree to fuch an expedient." The grand duke did 
 not allow himfelf to be folicited upon this head; he let the king free 
 from the obligation of the twelve fecurities, out of regard to hisperfon. 
 The ad: for it was paffed on the fourth of Augufl 1 598, but the affair 
 was on neither fide concluded till the chevalier Vinta arrived in 1601. 
 
 I WAS likewife employed to fettle certain eftates in Piedmont, for 
 which the count of Soiffons was defirous of treating with his majefly : 
 they came to him by the death of the princefs of Conti, in right of 
 his wife who was of the houfe of Montaffié *. My report was not 
 very favourable for the count : I reprefented to the king, that tliefe 
 eftates, which had been too highly valued, were likewife fubiedl to fo 
 much litigation, and were fo difadvantageoully fituated, that thefe con- 
 fiderations ought greatly to leffen the price. The count of Soiffons 
 
 * The prince of Conti was firft married Piedmont : and the count de SoifTons had 
 to Jane de Coëme, lady Bonnetable, and married Anne de Montaffié, daughter to 
 widow of Lewis count de Montaffié in that Lewis by the faid Jane de Cocmc. 
 
 thought
 
 8o MEMOIRSOFSUL ETY. Book XII. 
 
 1 60 1, thought proper to diflemble the refentment he entertained againfl me 
 for this declaration. 
 
 Fresne-Canaye *was appointed ambaflador to Venice, and Be- 
 thune my brother to Rome, to the great mortification of the other mini- 
 fters, efpecially Villeroi and Sillery, with whom 1 had often difputes, 
 which the king had many times endeavoured to prevent. Thefe two 
 gentlemen had undertaken to exclede me from any concern in foreign 
 affairs, the cognizance of which they pretended belonged only to 
 them. The nomination to embaffies falling under this head, they 
 told his majefty, in my prefence, that, for the embaffy to Rome, they 
 had abler perfons to propofe to him than Bethune, who, they faid, 
 had no knowledge of the affairs of that court, and had yet performed 
 no confiderable fervice to the ftate. My brother had, however, already 
 been charged with the embaffy to Scotland, of which he had acquitted 
 himfelfwell; and it could not be denied that he was circumfpeél, 
 wife, and honed: ; qualities which, in my opinion, are not among the 
 lead that are effential to an ambaffador. What thefe gentleman faid, 
 therefore, was as falfe as it was contemptuous ; and this I made them 
 fenfible of in my anfwer, by fhewing them the value of thole fervices 
 which the ftate received from the military art, and which thofe gen- 
 tlemen feemed to place below all others. 
 
 Villeroi, piqued in his turn that I had not given the firfl; rank to 
 his, maintained his caufe with great heat and animofity. His majefty 
 found himfelf obliged to command us to be filent, telling us, that he 
 was offended at our holding fuch difcourfe in his prefence; and that, 
 without entering into a difcuffion of our fervices, we ought to be fatil- 
 fied that he was pleafed with them. I afked the king's pardon for 
 daring, after this prohibition, to add a few words to clofe the mouths 
 of perfons who fo unjuftly placed the lazy bufinefs of the law, and the 
 quiet employments of the cabinet, above the toils, the dangers, and 
 expence of the military profeffions ; and I truly fpoke my fentiments of 
 fuch partiality. " Well, well," faid Henry, interrupting me, " I 
 " pardon you all, and take your words, as I muft, but upon condition 
 " that, for the future, you will avoid thefe little debates ; and that 
 " when one of you recommends his friend to my favour, the others 
 " do not oppofe it, but fubmit to my choice : at prefent I determine 
 " in favour of the fieur de Bethune, whofe family, wifdom, probity, 
 
 * Philip Canaye de Frefne : Philip de Bethune, count de Selles and de Charoft. 
 
 -- ** and
 
 Book Xll. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY." 
 
 8i 
 
 *' and even capacity, I efteem, having employed him in many affairs 
 *' both of peace and war, which he has acquitted himfelf of worthily." 
 The king promifed Villeroi that, after my brother's return, he would 
 difpofe of the embaffy to Rome according to his recomm.endation. He 
 then put an end to his walk, which this quarrel had protradted to more 
 than two hours, and went to dinner. I went feveral times this year to 
 Fontainebleau, to receive his majefty's orders concerning affairs that 
 could no otherwife be communicated to him, and, being often, and 
 for a confiderable time at a diftance from each other, I received, as 
 ufual, a great number of letters from this prince : that in which he 
 mentions the maréchal d'Ornano*, who had given him fome caufes of 
 complaint, has fomething fingular in it. "I never, fays Henry, faw 
 " fo much obftinacy and ignorance together in one man, but I pro- 
 ♦' nounced him dangerous ; he has reached the fummit of infolence. 
 " Take care that he gives me no occafion to be convinced what he is, 
 " that is, unworthy of the honours that I have beffowed on him : his 
 " fidelity only could deferve them ; his many a6ls of difobedience will 
 " foon take away all claim to that charaéter : to fay the truth, I am 
 " quite tired of him." The fiâtes of Languedoc meeting this year, 
 the king wrote to me, that he muft transfer the place of their fitting 
 to the Lower Languedoc, " that my fervants, faid he, may not go 
 *' firrt: to thofe of the league." In another letter, he ordered me to 
 fend for fome foals of his breed of horfes -f- at Meun ; and in another. 
 
 1 60 1 . 
 
 • Alphonfo d'Ornano, fon to San-Pie- 
 tro de Baftelica, a colonel of the Swifs. 
 
 f " From his early years," fays Bran- 
 tome, fpeaking of Henry II. in his Vies des 
 hommes illuftres, torn. II. p. 42, " he was 
 " always very fond of the exercife of rid- 
 " ing, and kept always a great number of 
 " horfes in his grand fiables of Tournelles, 
 " which were the principal, as alfo at 
 " Muns, at St. Léger, and at Oyron, 
 " under the infpedlionof M. deBoifly maf- 
 " ter of the horfe, the moft valuable part of 
 " which was his breeding mares, wherein 
 " he took great delight." He adds, that, 
 this prince having one dayfhev/n his ftables 
 to the emperor's niafter of the horfe, the latter 
 told him, that his mafter had not near fo 
 fine a fet of horfes, extolling them very 
 highly, efpecially as the greatefl: part were 
 of his own breeding. The ^roubles, dur- 
 ing the laft reigns, were the caufe that the 
 king's breeding ftables had then fallen into 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 decay, and were in a worfe condition than 
 they were under Henry II. That of Meun, 
 or Mehun, in Berry, was the only place of 
 thofe before mentioned, where horfes were 
 bred for the king's ufe ; and thefe ftables 
 were very inconfiderable, as may be feen 
 from the archives of the fecretary of the 
 king's fhoufhold, which are kept atPetitf- 
 peres in Paris, where Meun is called Main, 
 apparently to diftinguifh it from another 
 Meun upon the Indre, that is alfo in Berry. 
 In 1604, the duke de Bellegarde, 
 mafter of the horfe, caufed Mark Antony 
 de Bazy, captain of the breeding ftables, 
 to remove the king's fet of mares to St. 
 Léger, a foreft belonging to the crown. 
 In 1 618, fome confiderable additions and 
 improvements were made ; and greater 
 ftill about 1665, when the late M. Col- 
 bert, minifter of ftate, enlarged the bounds, 
 made parks therein, and got together a 
 great number of ftoned horfes and young 
 
 M 
 
 to
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XII- 
 
 to give two hundred crowns to Garnier his preacher in Advent and 
 Lentj the reft, which contain only a detail of flight circumftances, I 
 fupprefs, although they are proofs of the extreme vigilance and atten- 
 tion of this prince to matters of the fmalleft confequence. 
 
 I SHALL comprife, in one article, with which the memoirs of this 
 year will be concluded, all that relates to maréchal Biron, of whofe 
 revolt there was at length the moft convincing proofs. After the 
 king had been at Lyons, and had there entertained very ftrong fufpi- 
 cions againft this maréchal, his majefty had a private converfation 
 with him in the convent of the Cordeliers, and appeared fo well in- 
 formed of all his tranfaâions with the duke of Savoy, that Biron, 
 either becaufe he then thought that, after fuch a difcovery, all he could 
 now do was to repair his fault, or that he fought only to deceive the 
 king, confefTed to him, that he had not been able to refift the offers 
 made to him by the duke of Savoy, joined to his promile of giving 
 him the princefs * his daughter to wife. He asked the king's par- 
 don for thefe proceedings, and protefted to him, with the utmoft ap- 
 pearance of fmcerity, that he would never again fuffer himfelf to be 
 intoxicated with fuch expedlations. 
 
 Henry thought he might depend upon a promife, which was ne- 
 verthelefs forgot in the inftant that it was made. Biron refumed his 
 firft defigns ; went, according to his cuftom, at different times into the 
 provinces, careffed all the malecontents he found amongft the gentry, 
 entertained them continually with the injuftice he received from the 
 king, and his credit and the correfpondence he carried on without the 
 kingdom. He entered into ftronger engagements than ever with Bouil- 
 lon, d'Entragues, d'Auvergne, and others ■f. He, who was pride and 
 
 colts, by means of Alain de Garfault, who veftiture of Burgundy, Franche Comté, 
 
 was then captain. It continued in this ftate and the County de Charolois : this was one 
 
 till 1 7 15, at which time it began to be fet- part of the grand projed: of both thefe 
 
 tied in Normandy, under the diredion of courts, which confifled in difmembring, in 
 
 Francis Gideon de Garfault, Lewis de this manner, the kingdom of France, and 
 
 Lorraine count d'Armagnac being then parcelling it out among the governors of 
 
 ir.afler of the horfe in France : fince this its provinces. The proof of this may be 
 
 lafl eftablilhment, it has every day more feen inVittorio Siri, Mem. rec. vol. L p» 
 
 the appearance of the fiables of the moft 103, 127, who likewife extols the fervices 
 
 powerful prince in Europe. which the count de Bethune, our author's 
 
 * The maréchal de Biron, by marry- brother, performed on this occafion, to 
 
 ing the duke of Savoy's third daughter, Henry IV. during his embafly at Rome, 
 was to have received from the king of f The author fays nothing, in all this 
 
 Spain, and that duke, the feigniory and in- account, of the confpiracy of the mare- 
 
 fiercenefs
 
 Book XII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 83 
 
 fiercenefs itfelf, laid fuch a reftraint upon his inclinations, as to appear 1601. 
 to the foldiers the moft humane and affable man in the world, and 
 drew the afifedtions of the mob by playing the hypocrite and the de- 
 votee ; for what appearance will not ambition afllime to attain its end ? 
 Hitherto, however, it might flill have been doubted, whether he had 
 not concealed his defigns within his own breaft, and if this condudl 
 was not an effe6l of that difpofition which is obfervable in many per- 
 fons, who, by their difcourfe, appear reftlefs, difturbed, and fond of 
 novelties, yet are far from any intention of throwing themfelves head- 
 long into rebellion. 
 
 Hence arofe Henry's fufpence concerning the conduâ: of maréchal 
 Biron, though he ll:ill continued to have him carefully obferved, and 
 could not help being moved at the accounts that were brought him, 
 of his conduâ in the lail journey he had taken to Dijon, where he 
 had pafled the end of the preceding year and the beginning of this. 
 Biron, who on his fide had his fpies at court, being apprehenllve of the 
 impreflion which his behaviour made on the king, thought proper 
 to write to me on that fubjecfl. His letter is dated the third of Ja- 
 nuary; it turned only upon the ill offices that were done him with 
 the king, and the injuftice even his majefty did him in believing him 
 capable of defigns he had never entertained. He excufed his journey 
 to Burgundy, on account offome domeftic affairs which made it abfo- 
 lutely neceffary; and alfured me, that he fhould leave that province in 
 two days : he concluded with entreating me to believe all that 
 would be told me from him by Prevot, one of his agents, whom he 
 had fent to me. This letter was too foon followed by inconteflable 
 proofs of his treachery, to make it be thought fincere ; and I was fo 
 far from believing his profeffions in it, that they only increafed my 
 fufpicions. 
 
 During the king's flay at Calais, he received flill clearer and more 
 circumflantial informations againfl Biron, doubtlefs becaufe this maré- 
 chal, believing himfelf lels fufpefted than before, took greater liberties 
 than ufual: but Henry, inflead of taking thofe meafures that in pru- 
 dence ought to have been no longer delayed, could notyet look upon this 
 man as incurable 3 and refolved, if pofîîble, to bring him back to his 
 
 chal Biron, his imprifonment, and the his: "The king does not at all hurt me, 
 
 procefs againfl him, but what is confirmed " for I know how to be revenged on 
 
 by the hiftories and memoirs of that time : " crowned heads, and even emperors." 
 
 they mention thefe extravagant words of Matthieu, torn. II. liv. 2. p; 333. 
 
 M 2 duty, 
 
 I 
 t
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIL 
 
 duty, by gentlenefs, kindnefs, and fuch diftindions as make theflrong- 
 eft impreffions upon the heart of an honeftman. Biron having demand* 
 ed a gratuity of thirty thoufand crowns from his majefty, the king 
 thought it very reafonable, and granted it immediately; and becaufs 
 that no obftacles fiiould retard the payment of it, this prince ordered 
 me to take proper meafures to fatisfy Biron without delay; accordingly 
 I paid him inftantly one half of the fum in ready money, and affigned 
 him the other half at the expiration of a year. 
 
 Biron thought there was a neceffity for coming to thank me fo? 
 this favour ; he told me, that he was more obliged to me for it than the 
 king, complaining to me that he had been forgotten and even defpifed 
 by this prince, now that he had no longer occafion for his fword, this 
 fword, faid he, that has placed him upon the throne. It was impoffible 
 for me to keep filence upon this occafion ; I reprefented to the maré- 
 chal, with a kind of reproach, that he accufed Henry fo much the 
 more unjuflly, as this prince, to whom alone he was obliged for this 
 gratuity, had not difdained to folicit himfelf for its payment : hence I 
 took occafion to fpeak with flill greater freedom to Biron ; I remon- 
 ftrated to him that, altho' he fliould even have proofs of his negledl, he 
 ought always to remember that he fpoke of his mafler, and of a maf- 
 ter who, by his perfonal qualities, ftill more than by his rank, en- 
 gaged the efteem and refpedr of his fubjeCts. I told him, that there 
 was nothing which kings were more fenlible of than difrefpedt to their 
 perfons, an envious defire to leffen the glory of their arms, and ingra- 
 titude for their benefits. Thefe terms were fufficiently plain, yet I went 
 farther, and if I did not tell Biron pofitively that I thought him both 
 ingrateful and a traitor, there was nothing to hinder him from conclud- 
 ing it by all my difcourfe. I exhorted him to encourage a nobler emula- 
 tion in his fouî, which might give him a title to real praifes; 1 dwelt 
 upon the difference there was between making one's felf beloved by 
 one's prince and country, and endeavouring to become the objedl of its 
 fear : a deteftable attempt, and almofl always fatal to thofe that make 
 it. I told him, that if he would join with me in mutual labours for tlie 
 glory of the ftate and the public good, we might, in fome degree, 
 make both depend upon us; he by his abilities for war, I by the 
 fhare I had in the government at home; and hence we fliould tafte the 
 refined pleafure of knowing ourfelves to be either the authors or inftru- 
 ments of every public benefit. I finifl:ied my remonflrance, by endea- 
 vouring to prevail upon him to go and return his majefty thanks for 
 the gratuity he had jufl received.. 
 
 To
 
 Book XIÏ. M E M O î R S O F S U L L Y. 85 
 
 To all this Biron, neither moved to gratitude by kindnefs, nor to 1601. 
 repentance by convidlion, anfwered only by exaggerating his own 
 merit £0 unfeafonably and in luch boaftful terms, that I was now con- 
 vinced of a thing that I had hitherto only fufpedïed, which was, that 
 the harflinefs of his manners and the inequality of his humour pro- 
 ceeded from a flight taint of madnefs, for which fo much the lefs al- 
 lowance was to be made, as that, hindering him from reafoning, it 
 could not hinder him from fpeaking and adting ill : what appeared to 
 me a complete proof of it was, that, after what I had juft faid to him, 
 having reafon to look upon me as a man in whofe prefence he could 
 not be too cautious, he was imprudent enough to let fomething efcape 
 him concerning the defigns that filled his head. I took no notice of it; 
 but he perceived the error he had been guilty of himfelf, and to repair 
 it pretended to acquiefce with my reafons, and to approve of my fenti- 
 ments : from that moment, I fo abfolutely defpaired of ever being able 
 to recal this man to his duty, that I thought mine obliged me to dif- 
 guife from the king nothing which I believed him capable of doing. 
 
 It was always a part of Henry's charadler, to be with difficulty per- 
 fuaded of the treachery of any perfon about him : he anfwered, that he 
 knew Biron perfectly well; that he was very capable of faying all that 
 was related ; but that this man, who, in confequence of his natural' 
 violence of temper, the efFeét of melancholy, was never contented, and' 
 exalted himfelf above every one elfe, was neverthelefs, a moment after, 
 the firft to mount his horfe, and dare all dangers for thofe whom he had 
 railed at fo much before ; therefore he well deferved fome indulgence 
 for a little intemperance of tongue : that he was afTured Biron would 
 never be induced to rebel againft him ; that if this fhould happen, as he 
 had already given a proof on thofe occafions where he had faved the- 
 life of this maréchal, and in the lafl place at Fontaine-Françoife, that 
 he did not yield to him in courage, he knew likewife how to fliew him 
 that he did not fear him. The king therefore made no alteration in 
 his behaviour to Biron, except that he gave him ftill greater demon- 
 ftrations of kindnefs, and loaded him with new honours, which he 
 koked upon as the only remedy for his defedion. 
 
 He was fent ambafTador to queen Elizabeth, with whom he had a 
 very extraordinary converfation *. He was imprudent enough not* 
 
 .J 
 
 * A particular account of this embalTy may be feen in Matthieu, torn. II. ]. 2. p.- 
 4126,. feq.
 
 86 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XII. 
 
 1 60 1." only to mention the earl of Eflex to this princefs, whom fhe had lately 
 
 »^ — -V ' beheaded, but likewife to bewail the fate of that nobleman, whofe 
 
 great lervices had not been able to preferve him from fo tragical an 
 end ; and Elizabeth had the complaifance, in anfwer to this im- 
 pertinent difcourfe, to juftify her condudl with regard to the earl, by 
 fhewing the neceflity fhe was under to punifli him : fhe told him, 
 that Eflex had madly engaged in fchemes which greatly exceeded his 
 abilities ; and that after many proofs, and a full convidlion of his re- 
 bellion, he might have flill by fubmifîion, obtained her pardon ; but 
 that neither his friends nor his relations could prevail upon him to 
 afk it. I know not whether the queen of England perceived any 
 marks of refemblance between the French ambafiador and the Englifli 
 favourite ; but the i-eafonable obfervations on the nature of royal heads, 
 and the duty of fubjedls, with which fhe concluded her difcourfe, 
 feemed to infinuate as much -, but Biron drew no advantage from it. 
 
 At his return from London, the king appointed him likewife ambaf- 
 fador extraordinary to Switzerland, to renew the treaty of alliance be- 
 tween France and the Cantons ; flill continuing to believe, that an 
 employment which would take off his thoughts from arms, and en- 
 gage him in a commerce with a body fo wife and politic as the Helvetic 
 Senate is, would fubdue at length all inclinations to fedition : but am- 
 bition, envy, and avarice, arepaflions that can never be wholly quelled; 
 and had the heart of Biron been thoroughly founded, it might probably 
 have been found tainted with all the three. No fooner was he returned 
 from his fécond embaffy, than, as if he had endeavoured to make 
 amends for the time he had loft, he laboured more alTiduoufly than 
 before to bring all his chimerical fchemes to perfection ; either perfua- 
 ded thereto by the duke of Bouillon and the count of Auvergne, who 
 had likewife formed their party, or having drawn them into his. 
 
 To ffrengthen their mutual engagements, thefe three gentlemen 
 fjgned a form of aflbciation, of which each kept an original : in this 
 uncommon piece, which was produced in the procefs againft maréchal 
 Biron, they reciprocally promifed, upon the faith and word of gen- 
 tlemen and men of honour, to continue united for their common fafety. 
 to and againfi all, ivithout any exception (thefe terms deferve a par- 
 ticular obfervation) to keep inviolably fecret whatever might be re- 
 vealed to any one of them ; and to burn this writing, in cale any ac-. 
 cident fhould happen to either of the aflbciates. There was no pro- 
 fpedof fucceeding in their defigns, but through the operation of Spain 
 
 and
 
 Book XII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 87 
 
 and Savoy; they therefore renewed their correfpondence with thefe 1601. 
 two powers, and on their fide, to fécond their endeavours, went about 
 picking up all the difafFedted perfons they could find amongft the 
 gentry and foldiers. To draw into rebellion many of the towns at 
 the greateft diftance from Paris, particularly thofe in the provinces of 
 Guienne and Poi(fl:ou, they took advantage of the fedition occafioned 
 by the eflablifliment of the penny in the livre, which I had oppofed fo 
 ardently in the aflembly des^Notables, and which I had not afterwards 
 the power to fupprefs ; however, it could not poflîbly be raifed accord- 
 ing to the original plan; it had been changed into a fubfidv of eight 
 hundred thoufand franks, of which one half was funk in the taille, 
 and the other in the cufloms. 
 
 BiRON and his aflbciates, to increafe the difcontent of thefe people, 
 already ftrongly incited by that impoft, perfuaded them, that to com- 
 plete their calamities, they would fhortly be burthened with a duty 
 upon fait; and many perfons were kept in their pay in each of thefe 
 provinces, to terrify the inhabitants with perpetual alarms. What go- 
 vernment can expeft to be free from thefe diilurbers of public 'tran- 
 quillity, if that of Henry the Great, fo wife, mild, and popular, was 
 not ? This evil, however, took its rife from the unhappy influence 
 the civil wars had on the manners of the people ; that was the poifon 
 which produced thofe turbulent fpirits to whom quiet was painful, and 
 the happiell condition, a languid inadtivity : hence arifes that refllefs 
 ambition, which keeps their reafon enflaved, makes them murmur at 
 heaven, and quarrel with mankind for torments they bring on them- 
 felves ; and raifes their malice againft princes, whofe whole power, fo 
 obnoxious to them, is not fufficient to gratify their inordinate defires. 
 
 Henry's eyes were at length opened with regard to the real cha- 
 rafter of Biron, which he had hitherto flattered himfelf he knew fo 
 well, and he began to fear he (hould be obliged to have recourfe to 
 the moft violent remedy to fllop the contagion : informations multiplied 
 every day, and came from perfons that could not be fufpeft- 
 ed; all agreed in the chief point of the confpiracy ; fome mentioned 
 the adl of afl!bciation, and, having feen it, related the very terms in 
 which it was conceived. Calvairac * gave the king the moft circum- 
 flantial and mod probable account that had been yet tranfmittcd to 
 him ; befides the public rumour, he informed him, that Biron and his 
 
 * John de SuJric, baron de Calvairac. 
 
 collègues
 
 88 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XIT, 
 
 1 60 1, collègues had received feveral thoufand pifloles from perfons who 
 
 > V — -* came from Spain ; that they expected fums ll:ill greater, and a fupply 
 
 efforces ; that the council of Madrid had agreed to it, on condition 
 that the rebels fliould begin by feizing fome flrong maritime places, on 
 the frontiers of Spain; that, conformably to this plan, enterprizes were 
 already formed upon Blaye, Bayonne, Narbonne, Marfeilles, and 
 In Upper Toulon ; and that the count of Auvergne was to wait only till thefe 
 Auvergije. vverc executed, to begin openly his attempt upon Saint-Flour. 
 
 All thefe informations made it abfolutely neceflary to examine the 
 matter thoroughly. The king came on purpofe to the arfenal, where 
 he found me bufy in completing the labour I had begun, to com- 
 municate to me what he had learned, and gave me the detail, lean- 
 ing upon the balcony over the great walk : he went afterwards to 
 Fontainebleau, whither I followed him ; and it was in this place that 
 we were to proceed to the lad: extremities with maréchal Biron. He 
 had for a long time made ufe of La-Fin * to carry on his foreign ne- 
 gotiations, a lively, cunning, intriguing fellow, whom Bouillon and 
 he often called their kinfman. La-Fin had been fent feveral times 
 to the king of Spain, the duke of Savoy, and the count of Fuentes; 
 but afterwards, upon fome difguft Biron had given him, he retired to 
 his houfe, where he remained unemployed. It was not thought im- 
 pofTible to gain him ; and for this purpofe his nephew, the vidame of 
 Chartres -f-, was made ufe of, who endeavoured to prevail upon his 
 uncle to come to Fontainebleau. In the mean time I returned to Paris, 
 to make preparations for a journey his majefty thought it neceflary 
 to take immediately into all thofe places through which Biron had 
 pafled, namely, Poidou, Guienne, Limofin, and efpecially about 
 Blois. 
 
 La-Fin having at length refolved to come to Fontainebleau, re- 
 vealed all that he knew concerning Biron's confpiracy. The king was 
 
 * James de La-P"in, a gentleman of Bur- " planted him in the marechal's favour ; and 
 
 gundy, of thehoufe of Beauvois-la-Nocle ; " in revenge to the count de Fuentes, upon 
 
 " the moft dangerous man, fays Perefixe, " the difcoveryof his attempting to betray 
 
 " and the greatell traitor in France: the Icing " the latter, for that he had caufed his fe- 
 
 " knevi' him vi'ell,and oftenfaidtothemare- " cretary to be arrefted : yet that he might 
 
 " chal, Don't fufFer that man to come near " the better deftroy the maréchal de Bi- 
 
 " you, lie's a rogue, he'll be the death of " ron, he pretended ftill to have the fame 
 
 " you. He endeavoured to accufe the mare- " attachment to him as before." 
 " chal de Biron, from a jealoufy he enter- f Pregent de La Fin, vidame de Char- 
 
 *' tained, that the baron de Lux had fup- très. 
 
 defirous
 
 Book XIL M E M O î R S O F S U L L V. 89 
 
 defirous that he fliould be detained and lodged at Mi- Voie, that 1601. 
 he might be feen by none but thofe who were fent to confer with 
 ]iim. His majefty judging by what he had firft declared, that my 
 prefence would be necelîary, wrote thefe few words to me: "My 
 " friend, come to me immediately, on an affair that concerns my 
 " fervice, your honour, and our mutual fatisfadion. Adieu, my dear 
 " friend." I took port immediately, and on my arrival at Fontaine- 
 bleau, I met his majelty in the midftof the large avenue to the caftle, 
 ready to go to hunt. I threw mylelf at his feet : " My friend," faid 
 this prince to me, preffing me in his arms, " all is difcovered ; the 
 " chief negotiator is come to zCk pardon, and to make a full confeffion : 
 ** in his accufation he includes a great number of perfonsof high 
 " rank, feme of whom have particular reafons to love me * ; but he 
 ** is a great liar, and I am determined to believe nothing he fays with- 
 ♦' out good proofs : he accufes one man, amongft the reft, whom you 
 " little think of; come, guefs who this traitor is." " That is not 
 " in my power, fire," I replied. After preffmg me fome time longer, 
 but to no purpoie, " You know him well, faid he, it is M. de Rofny." 
 " If the others are no more guilty than I am, replied I, fmiling, your 
 *' majeily need not give yourfelf much trouble about them." " I be- 
 *' lieve fo, faid the king; and to fliew you that I do, I have ordered 
 " Bellievre and Villeroi to bring you all the accufations againft you 
 <* and the others ; I have even told La-Fin, that I would have him 
 " fee you, and fpeak to you freely : he is concealed at Mi- Voie, and 
 " will meet you on the road from Moret ; appoint the hour and place, 
 " and none Ihall be prefent at your conference." 
 
 I COULD not imagine how my name happened to be found in this 
 wicked cabal ; whether it came from fome of Biron's people, whofup- 
 pofed me to be a friend of their mafter, or from Biron himfelf and 
 his affociates, who thought it was lawful for them to make ufe of it 
 to the Spanifti minifters, to fwell the number of their partifans; or of 
 the malecontents of the kingdom : it was not impoflible, that two let- 
 ters I wrote to the maréchal, through zeal rather than complaifance, 
 
 * We may, doubtlefs, rank among the " we have at leafl this advantage," faid 
 
 number of thefs, the charge which La-Fin M. do La-Force to Henry IV. throwing 
 
 brought againft Biron, of his having at- himfelf at his feet, " that there is nothing 
 
 tempted the king's life, and the Dauphin's, " proved as to his having made any at- 
 
 according to Chron. Septennaire, fmce his " tempt on your majefty's perfon." Vol. 
 
 friends made ufe of the proofs they had of 9129 of the MSS. in the king's library, 
 the contrary, to obtain his pardon : " Sire, 
 
 Vol. II. N might
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIL 
 
 might have involved me in the number of thefe confpirators; and the 
 rather becaufe, in alluiion to the converfation that palled between Biron 
 and me, which I have formerly mentioned, I told him plainly, that 
 there was nothing to hinder him from making himfelf ufeful and dear 
 to the kingdom, by thofe meafures I had marked out to him : I like- 
 wife told him, that although I was almoil always about the king's 
 perfon, yet I had never heard him exprefs any refentment againft him: 
 and I advifed Biron not to alTert fuch a thing publicly, becaufe the 
 world would not fail to believe, and to report, that he only feigned 
 to have received fome difgufl: from his majefty, becaufe his own con- 
 fcience reproached him with having deferved it. Thus what I faid 
 with an intention to bring Biron back to his duty, was interpreted to 
 my difadvantage. 
 
 Henry's opinion, as he has fince told me, was, that this accufation 
 of me did not take its rile either from Biron or any of his affociates, 
 but from La-Fin alone, at the inftigation of fome perfons, who hoped 
 by that means to accomplilh my difgrace : however that may be, it 
 made fo little impreffion on the king's mind, that his majefty, who 
 had lately given me the government of the Baftile, and intended that 
 the patent for it fliould not appear in my name, but only in that of 
 La Chevalerie, altered his opinion on this occafion, and caufed it to be 
 expedited under mine, knowing none, he faid, but me, by whom 
 he could expedl to be ferved with fidelity, in cafe he fliould have birds 
 in the cage. Accordingly, Villeroi was ordered to bring me the pa- 
 tent a few days after, which was the beginning of the following year. 
 
 I HAD a long converfation with La-Fin alone, in the foreft ; after 
 voril'^b'iii. which, Bellievre, Villeroi, and myfelf, examined, with great care, all 
 p. 482. the papers that contained any proofs againft the duke of Bouillon, 
 maréchal Biron, and the count of Auvergne; fuch as letters, memoran- 
 dums, and other writings of the fame kind. The names of many 
 perfons befides thefe three gentlemen were mentioned in them ; but 
 as it was probably with as little juftice as mine own, which was there 
 likewife, I lliall not, on fo flight a foundation, give them a place in 
 thefe Memoirs, which, to diftruftful perfons, might make them ftill 
 more liable to fufpicion than the depofitions of La-Fin. After this 
 examination we returned to his majefty, and a council being held, the 
 refult of it was, to keep every thing fecret, that Biron might not be 
 warned of the meafures that were to be taken to bring him to court, 
 that he might be arrefted with the greater fecurity. It was likewife 
 
 refolved.
 
 Book XH, MEMOIRS OF SULLY, 
 
 refolved, that his majefty fhould fet out iminediately on the journey 
 ■before mentioned. We fliall fee in the following year what thcfs 
 meafures produced. 
 
 It is neceffary to take fome notice of what happened this year in 
 the feveral ilates of Europe : the court of London v/as thrown into 
 confufion by a rebellion that was ftirred up by the Spaniards in Ire- 
 land ; Elizabeth fent to befiege Kinfale, the ilrongeft place that the 
 rebels were in poffeffion of, the earl of Tyrone, their leader, and 
 Don Alonzo del Campo, who commanded the Spanilli troops in Ire- 
 land, haftened to relieve it with all the forces they could get toge- 
 ther, which were cut in pieces by the lord Piercy. Alonzo remained 
 prifoner there, and Kinfale furrendered. 
 
 Very different reports were raifed concerning the deftination of the 
 fleet which was fitted out about this time by the king of Spain, but 
 nothing could be certainly known about it ; for after it had rode fome 
 time in the Mediterranean, it was attacked by atempeft, and was ob- 
 liged to re-enter the port of Barcelona, which it did in a very fliat- 
 tered condition : the command of this fleet had been given to prince 
 Doria. Probably it was defigned againft Portugal, where the true or 
 the falfe Don Sebaftian * llill continued to have a great number of par- 
 tifans. Some fecrets which he revealed, that it feemed could have been 
 only known to the king of Portugal ; certain natural marks upon his 
 body which he fliewed, and fome other circumllances of the iame 
 kind, confirmed his affertion. However, to confefs the truth, none of 
 thefe proofs appeared unanfwerable ; neverthelefs, the king of Spain 
 thought it the wifefl way to rid himfelf privately of this pretended 
 prince : fo that the truth was never known, or at leaft to a few per- 
 lons only, whofe intereft it was not to publifl:i it. 
 
 * There is fomeîhing furely very fur- might likewife be applied to M. de Sully) 
 
 prifing and uncommon in this perfedl re- than from any evidence they had, perfified 
 
 femblance of all the parts, features, and in fupporting the claims of this impoftor. 
 
 even the defeats of the body, which, ac- The Septennaire is very favourable to him, 
 
 cording to all the hiftorians, was between an. 1601, p. 217. See what has been fiiid 
 
 the real Don Sebaftian and this man, who is a little higher. The Spaniards were fo tho- 
 
 faid to have been a native of Calabria; and roughly convinced of their having difco- 
 
 it is no lefs difficult to guefs, how he could vered the cheat, when Ferdinand, grand 
 
 come to the knowledge of the circum- duke of Tufcany, had delivered hini 
 
 fiances of this king of Portugal's life, which up into the hands of the Viceroy of Naples, 
 
 were fo peculiar and fecret, as to aflonifh that they no longer fcrupled to expofe 
 
 all the world. The Portuguefe, ftill more him as a public gazing-flock, mounted 
 
 deceived through their natural aft'ccStion for on an afs; after which they fent him to 
 
 the blood of their kings, as alfo through the galleys. See Matthieu, torn. II. 1. iii. 
 
 their hatred for Spain (this laft motive p. 451. 
 
 N 2 A
 
 92 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XII- 
 
 1601. A Diet was convened at Ratisbon, with intention to make fome 
 
 ' r ' compofition between the popifh and proteltant rehgions, but this 
 
 came to nothing : upon the firfl queftion propofed, which was con- 
 cerning the authority of the holy fcriptures *, fuch heat was raifed 
 among the difputants, that an accommodation became impracticable 
 The papirts maintained, that their authority was derived wholly from 
 the confent of the church, that they might add the prerogative of in- 
 fallibility to the other rights with which they have fo liberally, and 
 with fo little reafon, inverted the Pope : the proteftants treated this 
 dodlrine with contempt and ridicule •\. 
 
 The war in Tranfylvania rtiill continued difadvantageous to the 
 Vaivodes, Battory, and Michael, who had revolted from the emperor; 
 they were defeated by Georgs Bafte, and Claufembourg was taken. 
 The duke of Mercoeur iignalized himfelf no lefs at the head of the 
 Imperial troops againrt: the Turks \ ; he took Albe-Royale in Hun- 
 Ferdinand of Z'^'^y^ ^ fortrefs ert:eemed impregnable ; and afterwards drove away the 
 Auftria. Turks from it, who had returned to befisge it. The arch-duke, lefs 
 By the chri- fortunate than Mercoeur, was beaten before Canife ; and the Knights 
 Chat'eau-^'^ of Malta took and deftroyed the city of Paffava in the Morea. 
 neuf. 
 
 Constantinople and the palace of the Grand Signor was in 
 no lefs commotion, through the difcontent of the Janizaries, who 
 proceeded fo far as to ftrangle, in the prefence of Mahomet III. him- 
 felf, feven of the favourites of his feraglio, and threatened to depofe 
 him : he was a man, indeed, whofe vices rendered him unworthy of 
 a throne ; he was cruel, treacherous, flothful, avaritious, and funk in 
 every kind of voluptuoufnefs. 
 
 * This queftion was publicly debated, among the falfe do£lrines of Calvin, the 
 
 during feveral fittings, between the catho- moft untenable, namely, that fcripture is 
 
 lie divines of Maximilian duke of Bavaria, the beft interpreter of fcripture ; or, what 
 
 and the proteftant divines of Ludovic count is far worfe, that its fenfe may be deter- 
 
 palatine of Neubourg, and of the eleiSlors mined by private perfons. This is the chief 
 
 of Saxony and Brandenbourg ; the two fourceofthat monflrous confufionof feéts, 
 
 firft of thefe princes aiTifled at it in perfon, with which the pretended reformation was 
 
 and were obliged to put an end to this dif- immediately over-run. 
 
 pute, the advantage in which, each of the J The duke of Mercœur, by his great 
 
 parties, as is always the cafe, afterwards exploits, acquired the reputation of one of 
 
 afcribed to themfelves. De Thou, Chron, the firft warriors of his time. See them, 
 
 Septen. for the year 1601. as alfo the other fads that are here fpoken 
 
 t This, however, will always be, in of, in the hiftorians. 
 the opinion of unprejudiced perfons, one 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 M E M O I 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XIII. 
 
 AG I TAT E D as the minds of the people were by all thofe do- j gQ2. 
 meftic infurreitions we have feen in the preceding book, yet 
 it did not hinder them from refigning themfelves, this winter, 
 to their accuftomed pleafures and fhews. By the queen's order, and 
 for her amufement, a magnificent interlude was compofed : the arfe- 
 nal was the place the king chofe for the reprefentation of thefe {hews, 
 on account of the conveniency its fpacious apartments afforded both 
 for the adors and fpedlators. At the time that this interlude was to 
 be played, the wound I had received in my mouth at the fiege of 
 Chartres happening to open again, I was not in a condition to give 
 the neceflary orders at the arfenal, and they had already pitched upon 
 another place for its reprefentation ; but the king chofe rather to wait 
 till I was cured, which retarded it eight days. 
 
 Towards the middle of Lent, the count of Schomberg, grand maré- 
 chal of the empire, and envoy from the court of Vienna, arrived at 
 Paris, into which he made his entry with a train of forty or fifty horfe : 
 the king ordered the fam; honours to be paid him that the maréchal 
 
 de
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Boor XIÎL 
 
 de * Bois-Dauphin had received at Vienna. The prince, fon to the 
 marquis of Brandenbourg, flaid likevvife fome time at Paris. It was 
 not ufual to defray the expences of perfons of his rank, efpecially, as 
 it was obferved by his majefty, if they did not follow the court : but 
 the king was refolved to fliew a particular refpeél to a prince, whofe 
 family, one of the moft illufirious in Germany, had always profeffed 
 ■a remarkable attachment for France ; and I was ordered to fend him 
 every day, in his majefty's name, prefents of the richell wines, and 
 provifions for his table. 
 
 When every thing was ready for the king's departure, and that 
 his majefty, in the feveral journeys he had made to Paris, had given 
 all the necelTary orders for fecuring peace and tranquility in that city, 
 and in the provinces he was going to remove from, as well as thofe 
 through which he was to pafs, he left Paris on the twentieth of May, 
 and came to Fontainebleau, from whence he took the road to Blois. 
 The queen and all her houfliold accompanied his majefly in this jour- 
 ney ; I likewife attended him-, but did not fet out till a few days 
 after : the king fent me notice of his arrival at Blois, and his inten- 
 tion of flaying there eight or ten days. This delay was no more than 
 necefîary for a regimen that was prefcribed him by his phyficians, to 
 cure a defluxion of humours which had fallen on one of his legs, and 
 for the time it lafled, as Henry wrote to me, might well be called the 
 gout. Blois likewife was the moft proper city he could chufe to dif- 
 cover the fecret praélices of maréchal Biron : Henry had many per- 
 fons in this province in whom he could confide, who applied them- 
 felves folely to the making thofe difcoveries, and almoff every hour 
 fent couriers to him with the intelligence they had procured ; by them 
 the king was informed that Biron's cabal extended to Anjou, the 
 higher Poitou, Xaintonge, Mirebalais, Chatelleraudois, Angoumois, 
 Perigord, Limofm, Marche, and Auvergne, and even took in the 
 higher Guyenne, and Languedoc ; that it was fupported by four or 
 five noblemen of the court, whofe names were not expreiîed, for fear 
 of advancing any thing that was yet doubtful : the connexions with 
 Spain, the fchemes for furprifing the frontier cities, and the argu- 
 ments they made ufe of to difguft the people with the prefent go- 
 vernment (the fame which I have already mentioned) made up part of 
 thefe advices, to which the following new informations were added. 
 
 * Urban de Laval, marquis de Sablé, who died in 1629. 
 
 , The
 
 Book XIII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 95 
 
 1602. 
 The feditious, to prepofTets the people with unflivourable thoughts 
 of his majefty's journey to Blois, which was doubtlefs a fource of un- 
 eafy apprehenfions to them, gave out every where that Henry had only 
 undertaken it with a defign to chaflife feverely thofe that had refifted 
 Jambeville, d'Amours, and the other commifîaries that had been fent 
 to exaél the penny in the hvre, upon the rivers and other places of 
 paflage, and to fettle it himfelf in fuch a manner, that, by a new re- 
 gulation of the rates, it fhould produce thrice as much, and to force the 
 duty on fait to be every where received by taking poffefllon of the 
 falt-pits, for which the proprietors were to have no other recompence 
 than fome rents ill paid from the town-houfe of Paris j and laftly, 
 to flop the murmurs which it was expeflcd the exa(fting of two tenths 
 would raife (which, they made them believe, Henry had obtained the 
 pope's permifTion to levy) and the revocation of the draw- backs 
 granted on the taxes of 1594, 1595, and 1596, which I have already 
 mentioned in the account of my journey into the feveral diftriéts. 
 
 Thus was this good prince reprefented throughout his whole king- 
 dom as a furious and implacable tyrant. They were never without 
 one fet of arguments to engage the catholic nobility in a rebellion 
 againft him, and another to fow fedition amongft the prote/lant officers 
 and gentry : to the firft they reprefented, that this treafure and this 
 formidable artillery, which the king was providing, were to be em- 
 ployed in depriving them totally of their privileges, and reducing 
 them to a ftate of flavery ; they perfuaded the fécond, that the perfe- 
 cution againft them was already begun, that the payment of their gar- 
 rifons, the funds for the prefervation of their cities, the penfions of 
 their leaders, their officers, and minifters, would be leiTened this year 
 by one third, and the next by two, after which there would be fo 
 much the lefs difficulty in depriving them of all their fortrefles, as 
 it was a point already agreed upon by the council, to exclude the pro- 
 teftants from all public offices and employments, by refufing to ex- 
 pedite the patents for them. 
 
 If the proofs againft the perfons of the confpirators had been as clear 
 as thofe of their plots, the king might have that inftant given free 
 courfe to his juftice; but, with regard to the dukes of Bouillon and 
 Tremouille, for example, there was as yet lefs certainty of their guilt, 
 than of maréchal Biron and the count of x'\uvergne's ; for at the moft 
 there were only fufpicions, though thofe indeed were very ftrong, 
 
 againft
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIII- 
 
 agalnfl; thcrn : the other lords of the court, whofe names, to the 
 number of eight, were found in the lift, might be well ranged under 
 a third clafs of perfons, whofe doubtful conduâ: required feme expla- 
 nation. The dukes of Bouillon and Epernon attended the king in 
 his journey to Blois, and his majefty was of opinion he might be able 
 to draw from themfelves a proot of their real fentiments, by attentively 
 obferving the air and turn of their countenance, during the recital he 
 made them of the news he received: he began firft with d'Epernon. 
 A juft regard to truth has fo often reduced me to the neceffity of fpeak- 
 ing diladvantageoufly of this nobleman, that it is with a real fatisfac- 
 tion I feize this opportunity of fhewing his innocence, and giving hioi 
 the praife he defer ves. 
 
 D'Epernon hearing whifpers about the court of intn'gues and ca- 
 bals, eafily apprehended that, as it is ufual to judge of the prefent by 
 the paft, his name would not fail to be mentioned amongft thofe that 
 were called enemies to the ftate ; for which reafon he took the pre- 
 caution to renew to his majefty at Fontainebleau his affurance of fi- 
 delity : thefe afturances were all the proofs he had to offer, and unfor- 
 tunately Henry, who had been long prejudiced againft him, did not 
 give much credit to them. Notwithftanding this ftep, he ftill con- 
 tinued to fufpeâ him, and becaufe d'Epernon in fpeaking to him had 
 referred to me, the king wrote to me at Paris an account of what 
 had pafi'ed between him and the duke, letting me know at the fame 
 time, that d'Epernon feemed to have an intention to make up matters 
 with me, and he ordered me to make the firft advances to him, to the 
 end that, if the crime with which he was charged fliou'd appear to be 
 yet only intentional, his majefty might not have any caufe to reproach 
 himfelf with having fuff'ered the duke to rufh intoadlual treafon, when 
 there needed only good advice and kind treatment to prevent him. 
 
 I OBEYED the king's orders, and from that moment became con- 
 vinced of the duke of Epernon's innocence : he faid the fame to the 
 king at Blois as he had done to me, and did not deny his having 
 heard of fome commotions and fecret intrigues, but faid that thefe 
 were always fo general, and fometimes fo full of contradidlion, that he 
 could not imagine that any credit was to be given to them ; that thofe 
 who were faid to be the authors or favourers of thefe plots having 
 never given him the leaft intimation of them, he had treated as a fic- 
 tion, a projedl which appeared to him wholly extravagant, the prefent 
 lituation of affairs rendering the execution of it abfolutely impofiible ; 
 
 but
 
 Book XIIÎ. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 but whether real or not, he offered the king to continue about his per- 
 fon, as a fecurity for his own fidelity, during fix months j and if that 
 time was not fufficient, he fwore to him that he would not quit him 
 till his fufpicions were entirely erafed. The king could have no ob- 
 jedlion to fo reafonable a propofition, and began, as well as I, to 
 believe that the duke of Epernon was guiltlefs. 
 
 The duke of Bouillon difcovered far lefs fincerity : on the firfl: men- 
 tion his majefi:y made of the plot to him, he treated it as a calumny 
 invented by fpies and informers, againfi: the nobility of the kingdom, 
 to exaggerate their own fervices, and appear at leafl to gain the money 
 that was given them to exercife this employment : to this reproach, 
 which tacitly attacked his majefty, he added an application of a pafiage 
 in the NewTeftament, "Itisimpofiible but that ofiences will come, but 
 " woe unto him thro' whom they come," a paflage, which, if taken in its 
 true fenfe, might have been with more jufiiice applied to Bouillon 
 and his adherents. Bouillon did not fl:op here; he added, that it was 
 true he was told, that the catholics, as well as the proteflants, com- 
 plained of their being opprefied with imports, and that in proportion as 
 the king's riches and happinefs increafed, they became poor and mi- 
 ferable; that, befides thefe general complaints, he had, in a certain 
 place, heard proteflants fay, that fooner or later it would be their de- 
 iliny to be looked upon as the plague and nulance of the fi:ate ; that 
 both they and their children would be hated, perfecuted, and pro- 
 fcribed ; that they would be excluded from all honours and employ- 
 ments, and that the kingdom would never be quiet till they were to- 
 tally extirpated : he added, that the more credit was given to thefe 
 reports, becaufe that perfons of the greatefl: abilities in the kingdom, 
 not being admitted to the council, nor confulted on affairs relating 
 either to the difference of religions, or to the new imports that were 
 eftabliflied, they could not inform the people of the true motive of 
 thofe refolutions that were taken there, nor could the people attribute 
 them to any thing but a defign to enflave them. 
 
 It was fufficiently plain that the duke of Bouillon, by talking in 
 this manner, fought to infinuate to the king, that all thefe reports of a 
 rebellion had no other foundation than the cries of the people opprefled 
 with a multitude of taxes ; and that this feeming difcontent was put 
 on to conceal from his majerty his real fentiments : but the infolence 
 and the feverity of his expreffions rtiewed plainly enough that he could 
 not refift this opportunity of difcharging fome part of his malice ; he 
 
 Vol. II. Ô even
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIII- 
 
 even added, with the fame lubtihy and with equal chagrin, that they 
 had endeavoured to perfuade himfelf, that his majefty intended to abo- 
 liili the privileges of his vifcounty of Turenne, and to purchafe the 
 rights and claims of the houfeof Mark upon Sedan; but to this, as 
 well as to every thing elfe, he had only replied, that he was perfuaded 
 the king would never a(5l in fuch a manner, on account of the fervices 
 he had at all times received from the proteftant bodyj he finiflied by 
 protefting to his majefty, that, although all that had been told him 
 concerning the feditious and traiterons attempts in the kingdom fhould 
 be as true as he believed them falfe, yet it fhould never leflen his duty 
 and fidelity. 
 
 The king, diffembling to the duke of Bouillon the opinion he con- 
 ceived of him from this difcourfe, made him a propofal of the fame 
 nature with that which the duke of Epernon had of himfelf fo frankly- 
 made, and which he expetfted would throw him into great confufion: 
 he told the duke, that he was fatisfied with this alTurance, and that he 
 would no longer preferve any remainder of dillruft of him, provided 
 he would give the fame fatisfaftion that Epernon had offered, which 
 was not to remove from the court while this affair continued in agita- 
 tion ; and that he might depend upon it he would not keep him about 
 his perfon without communicating to him all his defigns, and calling 
 him to his councils, as he feemed to defire, that he might be himfelf a 
 witnefs of his folicitude to relieve the people,, and be able to give both 
 the proteftants and catholics an inconteftable proof of the purity of his 
 intentions. Bouillon preferved an uncommon prefence of mind under 
 this blow; he broke out into an exclamation of joy and furprile at the 
 fentiments his majefly difcovered for him; and as to the propofal he 
 made him, he told him that he would go and put himfelf into a condi- 
 tion to fatisfy it, not for fix months only, but for his whole life, if ne- 
 cefTary, by taking a journey throughout all his eftates, that nothing 
 might afterwards interrupt the long ftay he intended to make at court. 
 In this manner, by appearing to do all that his majefty required, 
 he referved, neverthelefs, the power of doing only what he pleafed 
 himfelf, and of making a plaufible excufe for the fudden departure he 
 was meditating. 
 
 Henry, comprehending his defign, refolved to call a fecret council 
 to deliberate upon the meafures that were neceffary to be taken in this 
 conjundure. The count of Soifîbns, the chancellor, Villeroi, MaifTe, 
 and myfelf, were all that were prefent at this council : all other affairs 
 
 were
 
 Book XIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 were poflponed till Defcures was heard, who had been fent by his ma- 
 jefty to invite maréchal Biron to court, and whofe report was fuch that 
 it Was unanimoudy refolved to arreft this maréchal and the count Peter Fou- 
 of Auvergne as foon as they arrived. The king afterwards de- g^"» lord ot 
 manded if it would not be proper to do the like by the dukes of Bou- I^^^'^"'^'^^- 
 illon and Epernon, before they left the court. Almofl all thecoun- 
 fellors were of this opinion, and the mofl diftinguifhed amongll them 
 ■qualified it no othcrwife, than by faying that Biron was the only one to 
 whom mercy might be afterwards extended, becaufe that ading no- 
 thing by himfelf he would be eafily reduced to reafon, when he was 
 feparated from thofe who hurried him on to his ruin. I took particular 
 notice of this advice upon account of its Angularity : mine, however, 
 was diredlly oppofite ; I could not approve of the arrefting of Epernon, 
 or even of Bouillon : if in fuch cafes iufpicions were to ferve for proofs, 
 it was likewife neceflary, I faid, to arreft all whom La-Fin had accufed, 
 and myfelf the firft ; that in cafe they fhould afterwards be found in- 
 nocent, they would, by this precipitate adlion, lofe an opportunity of 
 feizing Biron and Auvergne, whofe treafons were manifeft, fince it 
 would be impoffible to arreft them all at the fame time, and their 
 flight would put it out of our power to prove any thing againft the 
 prifoners. The arrefting of Bouillon and Epernon, I added, would 
 have this farther ill confequence, that, whether guilty or innocent, 
 his majefty could not difpenfe with himfelf from treating them as 
 traitors, through a juft fear of what their refentment only of fuch a pub- 
 lic outrage might induce them to aél againft him. The king yielded to 
 this advice, and the council broke up, it being already dinner time. 
 His majefty, being deftrous of conferring with me alone upon what 
 had been debated in the council, bid me fnatch a foldier's dinner, and 
 come back to him before the court filled again. 
 
 When I went down into the hall, where I was waited for by a 
 crowd of people who attach themfelves to men in power, I faw the 
 duke of Epernon advancing to meet me, who, with the fame air of 
 confcious innocence which I had before obferved in him, told me, that 
 fuch long and fecret councils alarmed a great many pcrfons, but he 
 was not of the number, becaufe he had nothing to reproach himfelf 
 with. I replied, that he had then nothing to fear, the king being 
 more difpofed to pardon the guilty, who confelTed their crimes, than 
 to punifti the innocent on fufpicions only. " I perceive," added I, 
 " many people who are leaving the court; but thofe whole confciences 
 *' are clear need not have recourfe to that expedient." " I am one 
 
 O 2 " of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 *'' of thefe," added Epernon, •' and I am refolved not to leave the 
 " court while thefe difcontents continue." *' You cannot do better, 
 *• monfeigneur," replied I ; " and I promifeyou, that, on this occalion, 
 " you fhall not lofe the merit of havLng taken fo good a refolution." 
 
 When I came home, I ordered my maitre d'hotel not to furniHi my 
 table as ufual, but to ferve me up any thing that was ready. Nicolas * 
 came in jurt as I was fitting down to table : " Come wafli immediately," 
 faid I, without telling him of the orders I had jufl given, " and take 
 *' your place." He was greatly aftoniflied to hear me, after I had 
 drank two glaffes and eaten a hafly morfel, afk for the fruit, and, 
 at the fame time order my horfe to be got ready : he who loved good 
 cheer as well as mirth, was not pleafed at this order. " Pardieu, mon-^ 
 " fieur," faid he, " I am not furprifed that you pafs for one of the 
 '* wifeft noblemen in France j I don't know any one who can drink 
 ** three glaffes during the whole time you are at dinner." " Well, 
 " well, monlieur Nicolas," replied I, ** do you make an end of your 
 " dinner, as for me I ha.ve bufinefs that calls me elfewhere." 
 
 I RELATED to his majefty what d'Epernon had faid to me a little 
 time before.. The king agreed with me that d'Epernon had no in- 
 ducement to engage in an affair that was carried on by perfons, whole 
 religion and difpofition were different from his, by which likewifci 
 while he had no advantages to hope for, he ran the hazard of being 
 flript of his eflates and employments. D'Epernon had judgment 
 enough to know that the fcheme of thefe rebels was likely to be a fatal 
 one. " Not„" faid the king, " that probably in his heart he is not 
 *' glad of thefe diforders, that he may become more necelTary to me j 
 " but he knows by experience fuch defigns are often blafted." His 
 majefty charged me to make another effort to prevail upon the dukes 
 of Bouillon and Tremouille to ftay at court, but to wait till he went to 
 Poitiers, becaufe he might then receive intelligence that would deter- 
 mine him. I.ufed my utmoft endeavours for this purpofe, in the pre- 
 fence of meffieurs de La Noue, de Confiant, d'Aubigne, and da 
 Preaux, but all were ineffedlual. 
 
 + Simon Nicolas was the king's fecre- " more acceptable to company, according 
 
 tary, " a poet, a facetious man, and an old " to the corrupt manners of thofe wretched 
 
 " ' fFender, fays the Journal of Henry the " times. He died two years after in the 
 
 " I Vth. believing in God only for interefl, " 70th year of his age, in his lafl: illnefs ex- 
 
 " and, for this reafon, he became the " prefling himfelf with infamous impiety." 
 
 During
 
 bed-chamber 
 to the kinç. 
 
 Book XIIl M E M O I R S O F S IT L L Y. loi 
 
 During their majefties flay at Blois, an affair of a very differen f 1602. 
 nature was in agitation at court, which I am under fome perplexity '— - v ' 
 in relating, for it made too much- noife to be palfed over in filence ; 
 yet I am not at liberty to enter into an explanation of it here, lefl I 
 fhould betray the fecret confided to me only by the king and queen, 
 whom it peribnally concerned ; the medium therefore which I fliall 
 obferve, is to recount, only fo much, of it as got air, and came to the 
 knowledge of the courtiers. 
 
 It was reported that the king and queen had fome difference 
 together, which was confirmed by the king's fending Armagnac for Firft gentle- 
 me fo early in the morning, that he was ftill in bed, as well as the man of the 
 queen, and,, contrary to their ufual cufiiom, each in their feveral apart- 
 ments. It was obferved that I had been feveral times backwards and 
 forwards between them, and I had been feen kneeling three or four 
 times before the king and queen, as if I was endeavouring to obtain 
 fome great favour of them. As nothing in fuch cafes efcapes the in- 
 quifitive courtiers, each formed particular conjedlures upon thefe cir- 
 cumftances, as alio that with the names of the king and queen, they 
 heard thofe of the duke and duchefs of Florence and Mantua, Virgil 
 Urfin, Don John, Bellegarde, Trainel, Vinti, Joannini, Conchini, 
 Leonora, Gondy, Catherine Selvage, and the marchionefs of Verneuilj 
 other perfons, they faid, were hinted at, under the covert name of 
 the colour of tan. They endeavoured to difcover fomething by my 
 wife, having learned that Conchini, who had often bufinefs with her, 
 and who publicly paid her the fame ref'pedt as a fervant to his mif- 
 trefs, and often addrelfed her by that title, had been feveral times fent 
 by the queen to bring her, and that fhe paffed many whole after- 
 noons fliut up with her majefty in herclofet, when fhe was alone, or 
 when only Leonora was with her. 
 
 But that which afforded mofl matter for difcourfe, was that, at the 
 time when thefe difputes ran highefl. La Varenne came one morn- 
 ing to acquaint me, that the king waited for me in the new gallery 
 which he had lately caufed to be built at Blois, over thofe that were the 
 length of the garden below : it is that in which there is the odd re- 
 prefentation of a hind with a flag's horns. It was obferved, that his 
 majefty ordered two Swifs, who underflood not a word of French, to 
 be placed centinels at the end of this gallery which was not yetclofed 
 up, and that, during two hours and more which we continued together,.
 
 102 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XIII, 
 
 1602. we feemed to talk with great earneftnefs and aftlon. They might, 
 notwithftanding the diftance, hear fome of our words, from which 
 they could draw no lights -, but it was not the fame with thofe which 
 his majefty fpoke when he went out; thefe they underftood and care- 
 fully remembered. " No more need be faid of it. I will regulate my 
 " whole condudl by your advice, faid the king, that I may be no 
 " longer reproached with obftinately following my own will ; but re- 
 " member, that we may probably both repent it one dav, for you 
 " cannot but be affeéled with any misfortunes that happen to me. 
 *' I know the difpofition of thofe perfons who foment our differences, 
 " they will be the caufe of great uneafinefs to the fbate : gentlenefs 
 *' and indulgence are laudable qualities, I confefs i but you cannot de- 
 " ny alfo, that their extremes are dangerous." It was not difficult 
 for them likewife to diftinguifh the latter part of my reply to the king : 
 ** It was indeed, a part of prudence, I told him, to forefee and to 
 " prevent bad accidents, but it was equally neceffary to avoid haften- 
 *' ing them by ufelefs precautions." On this they founded their fu- 
 fpicion, that the king had a delign to proceed to fome violent meafures 
 againft certain perfons of the queen's * houfhold, and who were moft 
 in her confidence. 
 
 From Blois the king came to Poitiers ; he afterv/ards (hewed him- 
 felf in the Limofin and Guienne : his prefence produced every where fo 
 good an effedt, that he found no oppofition to his will, not even to the 
 eftablifliment of the penny in the livre -f- : he might have afterwards 
 continued this impoft, and the colle(fting of it would have met with no 
 difficulty ; but, fatisfied with the fubmilTion of his people, he took that 
 opportunity to change it into a fmall fubùdy, and afterwards to fupprefs 
 It entirely. The edict of revocation exprelTed, that his majefty was 
 wholly induced to it by the obedience of his fubjeds. Henry, pleafed 
 
 •" This is fpeakiug very plainly ; and the Mother and Son, torn. I. p. g. that 
 
 as- the other Memoirs ot that time all this prince had threatened her both with 
 
 agree with this notion, it can i'carce be t;.e one and the other. It is probable 
 
 doubted, that Henry had not only taken a that M. de Rofny thought this laft courfe 
 
 reiblution to clear the court of thefe in- rather too violent, as, in faft, it was, all 
 
 formers, who exaiperated the queen's mind circumftances confidered. 
 
 againft him, but likewife to make this f La Septennaire fays, that M. de Rofny 
 
 princefs fenfible of her indifcretion, by for- was fent for this purpoic by his majefty to 
 
 bearing to fee her, and obliging her to live Rochelle ; and that he was commiffioncd by 
 
 itt a diftance from him in one of his pa- the Rochellers to make remonftrances to 
 
 laces, and perhaps by fending her back to the king, for fupprelîîng the pancarte or 
 
 Florence. We may fee, in the Hiftory of tariff of this impoft. 
 
 with
 
 Book XIII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 103 
 
 with the luccefs of his journey*, returned again to Fontainebleau, 1602. 
 whither he was foon followed by maréchal Biron. 
 
 The confternation his party was thrown into by the king's journey, 
 convinced him that his affairs were not fo far advanced as he had been 
 willing to believe; this made him take a refolution to go to court, 
 which feveral other motives contributed to confirm. His treaty with 
 Spain and Savoy was not yet upon fuch a footing, as could give him 
 hopes of having an immediate fupply of what troops and money he 
 had occafion for. Too glaring an oppofition of the king's will might 
 raife fufpicions of his treafonablepradtices, which hitherto he imagin- 
 ed had efcaped notice ; nor was it unlikely, as the baron de Lux, his 
 friend and confidant, reprefented to him, that the king, upon his re- 
 peated refufals to appear before him, would march diredly to him 
 with an army, as to a declared rebel ; which would be a fatal llroke 
 to the maréchal, who was neither in a condition to defend himlèlf, 
 nor to retire into any of his fortrefi!es, which were unprovided with 
 ammunition of every kind, particularly of artillery. 
 
 I HAD prepared Biron for this flroke, by the precautions I took 
 fome months before : I reprefented to him, that it was necefiary all 
 the pieces of cannon in the fortified places of Burgundy fliould he caft 
 over again, and the powder new beat. The attention with which I 
 applied myfelf to all the duties of my employment, as grand mafter, 
 was alone fufficient to have made this propofal pafs unfufpeded ; but 
 that I might not give the leaft umbrage by it to the maréchal, I was 
 the firll; to offer him to fupply the deficiencies, by furniHiing him 
 with plenty of every thing that was necefi^ary from the arfenal of 
 Lyons, which I had lately filled with great care. I confented that 
 Biron fhould difpatch fome of his foldiers to Lyons, to efcort the 
 boats that were to be loaded with the pieces of cannon I was to fend 
 him, and that he fliould receive them before he fent away thofe he 
 already had. He was ignorant that I had taken fuch meafures every 
 where, that the boats from Lyons which went up the Saone very 
 flowly, were flopped by the way, till thofe that came from Burgun- 
 dy had got beyond the places under his jurifdi<ftion ; and when both 
 were in my power, my boats proceeded no farther. 
 
 * During this journey to Poitiers, fays çeedings were held, except at Blois : all 
 la Septennaire, which laftecl near two which was owing to tlie public and private 
 months, the court feemed melancholy, the difquicts of Henry, of which mention has 
 king penfive; no councils, no judicial pro- already been made. 
 
 BlRON
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 BiRON did not perceive the artifice I had made ufe of till it was 
 out of his power to prevent it : he difcovered fo violent a rage againft 
 me, and boafted fo pubhcly that he would poignard me, that the king 
 wrote to me never to go out without a good guard. I had likewife, 
 as if without defign, pofted the light horfe upon the paflage of the 
 Loin. But all this, which Biron probably believed to be done only to 
 mortify him, could not open his eyes : De Lux and he drew no 
 other inference from the impoffibility they were now under of defend- 
 ing themfelves, but that it was neceilary they fhould deceive the king, 
 till by foreign affiftance they had provided for their fecurity. Defcures 
 and Jeannin adled in fuch a manner with them, as to increafe this 
 confidence ; and La-Fin liad not only given Biron * the flrongefl af- 
 furance that he had not betrayed him, but likewife, that he had 
 fought for an interview with the king with no other view than to found 
 him, and that he had found him very far from gueffing the truth. 
 This he again confirmed to him at Fontainebleau, where, as he pafled 
 him, he faid thefe words; " Courage, my mafter, and fpeak boldly." 
 The council had likewife fo carefully kept the fecret, that the court 
 v/as wholly unacquainted with what was defigned againfi: Biron ; and 
 d'Epernon hearing of his arrival at Fontainebleau, fent him fuch of- 
 fers of fervice as are ufual amongft perfons of high rank -f- ; in which. 
 
 * The maréchal de Biron imagined that 
 he had feen the treaty that was made with 
 Spain flung into the fire ; but La-Fin de- 
 ceived him, by burning, inftead of it, a 
 piece of wafte-paper. 
 
 t The duke d'Epernon did not deny, 
 that upon this occafion he had performed 
 all the offices of a friend to maréchal de 
 Biron : " When he converfed with hi n 
 *' upon this affair, fays the hifforian of 
 " his life, he did not do it in ambiguous 
 •' terms, as others did, but with great 
 " opennefs and fmcerity: He acquainted 
 " him with La-Fin's treachery, and fnew- 
 " ed him all the proofs of it, and exhorted 
 *' him to throw himfelf upon the king's 
 •' mercy. This clears the duke d'Epernon. 
 " Du PlelTis-Baufibnniere, a gentleman of 
 honour, and very much attached to the 
 duke (it is the fame whom he fent to 
 meet the maréchal) was the perfon em- 
 ployed to ufe all forts of arguments to 
 prevail with him to ask the king's pardon : 
 
 
 " hence this gentleman, afTured of his own 
 " and his patron's innocence, could never 
 " be induced to retire into a foreign coun- 
 " try, after that the king, who was not 
 " ignorant of this ffep, had caufed the 
 " maréchal de Biron to be arrefted ; in 
 " which he did the duke d'Epernon acon- 
 " fiderable fervice. And he afterwards 
 " gave him a fécond piece of advice, which 
 " proved very fuccefsfal, and that was, to 
 " confefs freely to his niajefly all his pro- 
 " ceedings with the maréchal Biron, with 
 " what views and intentions he had treat- 
 " ed with him." The fame hiftorian, in 
 this account, throws in fome hints, which 
 difcover the very bottom of the duke d'E- 
 pernon's fentiments, and which at the fame 
 time ferve to fhew his charaâer : " The 
 " duke d'Epernon, fays he, and Biron, 
 " having gone together to the Louvre to 
 " pay their compliments after dinner, his 
 " majeffy being told beforehand of their 
 " coming, placed himfelf at a window, to 
 
 after
 
 Book XIIÎ. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 after what had pafTed at Blois, he was guilty of great imprudence, as 
 he has fince confefTed himfelf. 
 
 Ï05 
 
 1602'. 
 
 I HAD taken a tour to Moret when Biron arrived at court ; the king 
 fent me notice of it in the following billet : " My friend, our man is 
 " come : he afteds great modefi:y and referve; hafte hither fpeedily, 
 *' that you may advife us what is to be done : Adieu, my dear friend." 
 I returned immediately, and found the king walking before the pavil- 
 lion where I was lodged, with Prallin *, whom he left to come to 
 me. He took my hand, and continuing his walk, told me, that he 
 had in vain endeavoured, by every method he could think of, to ex- 
 tort from Biron ■f a confeffion of his crime, although he was fo little 
 capable of concealing his thoughts, that he read them plainly in his 
 countenance. His majefty afterwards laid open to me his moftfecret 
 fentiments with regard to the maréchal ; he flill felt for him all his 
 former tendernefs, and beheld him not with refentment, but compaf- 
 
 " obferve, through the glafs, their mo- 
 " tions and countenance. A friend of the 
 " duke d'Epernon, who was about the 
 " king, gave him notice of this, that he 
 " might regulate his behaviour according- 
 " ly. But he adted quite contrary to what 
 ■" he was advifed ; and being more and 
 " more confirmed in the teftimony he re- 
 " ceived from his conibience of his inno- 
 " ccnce, and filled with a juft and high in- 
 " dignation to fee his fidelity fufpefted, he 
 " walked on with an upright countenance, 
 " and his eyes direâed towards the win- 
 " dow whtre he knew the king leaned. 
 " This his niajcfty took particidar notice 
 " of, and made thofe about him do fo too. 
 " The king afterwards made a match at 
 " tennis, in which the count de Solfions, 
 *' with the king, played againft the duke 
 " d'Epernon and the maréchal." It is at 
 this match that the hiftorians of that time 
 make the duke utter a good faying, telling 
 the maréchal, " that he played well, but 
 " qhofe his fide badly." Hift. de la vie 
 du duc d'Epernon, an. 1602. p. 205. 
 
 * Charles de Choifeul, marquis de Praf- 
 lin, captain of the firll company of guards, 
 died a maréchal of France in the year 
 1626. 
 
 t The king, wearied out with his ob- 
 flinacy, fuddenly left him, faying, as he 
 went away, " Well, I muil learn the 
 " truth elfewhere : Adieu, baron de Bi- 
 " ron." Thefe words were like lightning 
 before a clap of thunder, that flruck him 
 to the ground ; the king thereby degrading 
 him from thofe many high dignities to 
 which he had advanced him. The fame 
 day, after fupper, the count de Soiflbns al- 
 fo exhorted him, in the king's name, to 
 own truth to him ; and concluded his re- 
 monftrance with this fentence of the wife 
 man, " The angerof kings is the forerun- 
 " ner of death." Peref. ibid. After dinner, 
 fiiys le Septennaire, he came to wait on 
 the king, who was walking in his grand 
 hall, where his majefty, {hewing him his 
 ftatue in relievo triumphing over the van- 
 quifhed, fays to him, " Well, coufin, if 
 " the king of Spain had feen me thus, 
 *' what would he fay ?" To which he 
 lightly made anfwer, ''Sir, he would fear 
 " you but little." All the lords that were 
 prefent took notice of this prefumptuous 
 anfwer, and the king looking fl:ernly at 
 him, Biron, who obferved it, explained his 
 meaning, by adding, " I mean, Sir, that 
 " ftatue, but not this perfo.n. 
 
 Vol. il 
 
 fion ;
 
 io6 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book Xlir. 
 
 1602. fion : ardently he wifhed, that I would fugged to him the means by 
 - ' which, without incurring any danger, he might avoid treating him as 
 a ftate criminal : but this was not eafy to be done, confidering the 
 dirpoHtion Biron was known to be of; if it was dangerous to fiiffer 
 him to efcape, when he fliewed no figns of repentance, it was no lefs 
 fo to releafe him upon his word, after letting him know that he had 
 proofs of his treafon. 
 
 The king once more refumed a refolution fuggefled to him by the 
 natural fweetnefs of bis temper, which was, to endeavour to reftore 
 the maréchal to a right way of thinking ; but as he had not been able 
 to fucceed in this attempt himfelf, he ordered me to undertake it, and 
 promifed me to avow all I fliould fay to Biron to engage his fubmif- 
 fion, provided that I gave him no hint of what La- Fin had faid, to 
 prevent the defign of arreting him, to which he mufl have recourfe if 
 the maréchal perfifced in his obilinacy. " If he opens himfelf freely 
 " to you, faid the king, upon the confidence you muft endeavour to 
 " infpire him with of my favourable intentions towards him, alTure 
 *' him, that he may come to me without fear, and confefs all ; and 
 *' if he difguifes no part of the truth, I promife you, upon my royal 
 " word, I will pardon him chearfully." 
 
 I WENT to the caftle to fee the maréchal, who was in hismajefly's 
 chamber, talking to La-Curée at the head of the bed. I had a fuffi- 
 cient number of attendants with me : and the maréchal, feeing hi? 
 people make way at my approach, advanced to falute me, but did it 
 very coldly. I thought 1 ought to begin, by endeavouring to foften 
 tbe refentment I knew he entertained againft me : '' How is this ! 
 " monfieur, faid I, embracing him, you falute me with the gravity 
 •' of a fenator, contrary to your ufual cuftom; you muft not be thus 
 " referved, embrace me a fécond time, and let us talk freely." When 
 we were feated, and out of the hearing of any perfon in the room, 
 " Well, monfieur," faid I, in an obliging tone, " what a ftrange man 
 " are you ! have you yet paid your refpeéls to the king ? how were 
 " you received by him ? what has he faid to you ? you know his dif- 
 " pofition is frank and open, he likes others to be lincere with him; 
 *' I am told you behaved in a very referved manner to him, which 
 " v/as far from being feafonable, nor did it fuit with either his temper 
 " or yours : I am your kinfman, your friend, and your fervant, take 
 " my counfel, and you will find it will be ufeful to you ; tell me 
 " freely what you have upon your heart, and depend upon it I will 
 
 ** procure
 
 Book XIII. MEMOIRS OF S U L L V. 
 
 lay 
 
 *' procure you fatisfadlion; he not apprehenfive that I vvilldeceive you." 1602. 
 
 To all this Biron contented hitnfelf with replying in a cold and indif- ' 
 
 ferent manner, " I have waited on the king with all the reverence and 
 " refpedt that I owe him ; I have anfwered all his queflions, which 
 " were only on general matters ; nor had I any thing more to fay to 
 *' him." " Ah! monfieur, replied I, it is not thus that you ought 
 " to aft with the k-ing : you know the goodnefs of his heart, open 
 " yours to him, and declare freely to him, or to me, if you had ra- 
 " ther it fliould be fo, all your grievances ; and I promife that, before 
 " night, you fhall be fatisfied with each other." " I have nothing 
 *' more to fay either to the kfng or to you than what I have already 
 " faid, returned the maréchal ; but, if his majefty entertains anv fuf- 
 " picion of me, or thinks I have given him any caufe of complaint 
 '' againft me, let him or you acquaint me with the occafion of thefe 
 •■* fufpieions and difgufts, and' I will give you fatisfa<ftion." *' The 
 " king," faid I, in my eagernefs to fave him, '' is offended at your 
 " coldnefs ; for as to other particulars, added I immediately, he is 
 " quite ignorant ; but let your confcience be your judge, and a6l in 
 " the fame manner as if you knew we were informed of your mod 
 *« fecret adlions, nay even your words and thoughts ; for I proteft to 
 " you, upon my honour, this is the moft certain way to obtain what- 
 *' ever you can defire from the king. The method I recommend to 
 " you I always follow myfelf : if it ever happens that I commit any 
 *' little fault, I acknowledge and exaggerate it to the king, who then 
 **^ grants me all I wifh : if you \vill believe me and take my counfel, 
 *' dear maréchal, purfued J, you and I fhall govern the court, and be 
 *' at the head of affairs." " I am walling to believe you," replied 
 Bifon with the fame coldnefs, " but I have nothing to accufe myfelf 
 " of; I feel my confcience perfectly at eafe, fmce the confeffion I 
 " made the king at Lyons." Although I had probably faid but too 
 much already, yet I could not hinder myfelf from making him ftill 
 feveral other inflances, which he received no better, and foon after 
 withdrew to his own lodgings. 
 
 The king entering that moment, I repeated fo him all that I had 
 fliid to Biron, and his anfwers. " You have gone rather too far, faid 
 " this prince to me, and have faid enough to create fome fufpicion in 
 " him, and even to induce him to fly. Go into that gallery," added 
 his majefty, after reflecting fome moments upon the blindnefs and 
 obftinacy with which the maréchal hurried on to his ruin, *' and wait 
 
 Pa " for
 
 io3 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. BookXIIL 
 
 1602. " for me there; I would talk to my wife and you alone." Accordingly 
 he returned a fliort time afterwards with the queen, and fliutting the 
 door of the gallery, he told us, that the double obligation he was 
 under, as a king and father, to watch over the fafety and happinefs 
 of the fcate, leaving him no other part to take but that of arrefling 
 maréchal Biron and the count d'Auvergne, all that now remained 
 was to confider how to do it fecurely *. His majefly was of opi- 
 nion, that we fliould wait till the maréchal and the count were retired 
 each to his rcfpedlive lodging, and that then foldiers fhould be fent 
 to invefl them. I propofed that they fhould be in the king's clofet till 
 the night v^-as far advanced; and that, after the greater part of the 
 courtiers, weary of waiting for his majeily's retiring, fliould be with- 
 drawn, they fliould then be feized as they went out of the king's 
 apartment. " I do not fee how this can be done, replied Henry, 
 " without having my chamber and clofet filled with blood ; for they 
 *' will not fail to draw their fwords, and defend themfelves. If this 
 " fliould happen, I had rather it were in their apartment than mine." 
 I thought it of mofl confequence, upon this occafion, to avoid, as 
 much as pofTible, all noife and confufion ; but the king continuing- 
 firm in his firft propofal, took leave of me, bidding me go home to 
 fupper, " and at nine o'clock, faid he, let your horfes be prepared, 
 " and you and all your people be booted, ready to mount and fet out 
 " when I fend for you." 
 
 I WITHDREW to mypavillion, where, after giving orders conform- 
 able to thofe I had received from his majefly, I went into my clofet, 
 from whence I could fee all that pafîed about Biron's apartment, which 
 was in the pavillion oppofite to mine. I read and walked about alter- 
 
 * It would not have been done, if the poignard in my breaft, provided you were 
 
 maréchal de Biron had taken advantage of now fafe in Burgundy. To this he made 
 
 the notice that was given him. A certain anfvver, Suppofe 1 were there, and that I 
 
 perfon put a letter into his hand, as he was were to have four in mine, upon receiv- 
 
 going to wait on the king after fupper, in ing the king's orders, 1 would iiiiaiedia- 
 
 the name of the countefs de Roufi'y his tely come hither. Not",' ithftanding this, 
 
 fifler; and, as he inquired what news, he went into the king's chamber, where he 
 
 upon finding that the bearer made no an- played at primero with the queen, and in 
 
 fwcr, he doubted fomething elfe was the the midft of his game, the fieur dejMerge, 
 
 matter; and, after opening the letter, he a gentleman of Burgundy, was obferved to 
 
 found notice given him that, if lie did not whifper fomewhat in his ear, which the 
 
 make his retreat in two hours, he would be maréchal not rcganiing, the count d'Au- 
 
 arrcfted, and direflly fliewed it to one of vergne came alfo, and twice touched him 
 
 his friends called De Carbonnieres, who on the fide, telling him, it is not fafe for. 
 
 feid to him. Then, adieu, fir, I v/ifh I had a us to be here. Sept. ibid. 
 
 nàtelyj
 
 FooK XIIL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 nately, without negle^ing to oblervo what was doing on that lido 
 where" I expefted foon to lee the attack begun, and to receive new 
 orders from the king. The clock ftruck nine, ten, and eleven, yet 
 nothing was done; at length midnight came, yet all was quiet : I am 
 afraid, laid I, returning into my chamber, where all my domillics 
 waited for the fcene that was preparing, lome at play, fome in conver- 
 fation, and others aflccp, I am afraid, faid I, that tliey have not ta- 
 ken their meafures right, and have fuffered the birds, which with ib 
 little dithculty they might have taken, to cfcapc, and which will not 
 be eafily entrapped again. I then ordered them to faddle my horfcs, 
 and pack up my baggage, while I went into my clofet, and wrote a 
 few words. 
 
 I CONTINUED there half an hour, after which I heard a rioife at the 
 door of my pavillion next the garden, and a voice that cried, " Mon- 
 lîeur, the king fends for you." I looked out at the window, and knew 
 the meflenger to be La Varcnne, who went on fiying, " Monficur, come 
 *' immediately, the king wants to fpeak with you, and to fend you to 
 •* Paris, to give the neccllary orders there, for mcfllcurs de Biron and 
 *' d'Auvergne are made prifoners." " And where were they taken, laid 
 " I*." "In the king's clofet," he replied, " God be praifcd, faid I, that 
 the king has followed that advice." I ran direftly to his majcfty's apart- 
 ment. " Our men are feized, fxid he to me, mount your horle, and go 
 " and prepare tlieir lodgings in the Bafulej Khali fend them in a boat to 
 " the gate of the arfenal next the river: make them land there, that 
 " they may not be feen, and carry them without any noifc tlirough 
 " the midil of your courts and gardens. When you have made pro- 
 " per difpofitions in the arfenal for their reception, if you can before 
 " they arrive, which they will do foon after you, go to the parliament 
 •' and the town-houfe, and declare there what has happened; tell them 
 *' that, at my arrival, they Ihall know the reafons for this proceeding. 
 
 as he came 
 
 . v^.. ^u. jv.., .v.j..,v.., ^..v^,. .« .:iJig s name: deliver mc yc 
 
 Sir, rejoins Vitry, the king has fo com- " Here take it, replies the count, it has. 
 
 " manded .me." " Pray, fays the mare- '* never killed any but wild boars; if you 
 
 " chal again, let me fpeak to the king." " had acquainted me fooner of this, I 
 
 *< No, Sir, returns Vitry, the king is re- " would have been ill bed and adcep two. 
 
 " lired to reft." Praflin waited at the " hours ago. 
 fame time for the count d'Auvergne at the; 
 
 *' which. 1
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 " which they will find to be juft." All thefe orders were happily and 
 exadly executed. At the very moment the prifoners landed at the ar- 
 fenal, rny wife was brought to bed of that daughter of mine who 
 bore the title of mademoifelle de Sully. 
 
 I GAVE the care of the prifoners to the foldiers of the king's guards 
 joined to my own, and ported them in fuch a manner that they might 
 be faid to be guards upon each other. 1 likewife placed a guard upon 
 the baftion oppofite to the windows in the prifoners apartment, and 
 another upon the terrace of the tower ; fo that, as I wrote to the king, 
 it was impoffible they fhould efcape, unlefs by the interpolation of 
 angels. The repeated advices I received from his majefty obliged me 
 to take all thefe precautions. A few days after the detention of the 
 prifoners, the king wrote to me, that he was informed, there was a 
 fcheme laid to procure their efcape, ordering me to watch them care- 
 fully, for that 1 fliould anfwerfor them. I confented to this condition, 
 relying on the fidelity- of my foldiers, who, to make an efcape prati- 
 cable, muft have been corrupted every one. Another time the king 
 fent me notice, that the plot which was formed for delivering Biron and 
 d'Auvergne, was alfo againft my perfon : a boat full of foldiers was in 
 the night to come up the river, and the men were to land at the fleps 
 of a gate behind my apartment which looked upon the river, that they 
 were to force open this gate with a petard, to do the fame by the fécond, 
 and get into my chamber while I was in bed, and carry me to Franche- 
 Comté, freflà horfes being in readinefi for them at the end of every ten 
 leagues ; and that, when in pofleffion of my perfon,. they were to deal' 
 with me by way of repriiàl, as Biron fhould be dealt with. This lafb 
 information, although fo circumftantial, appeared to me as frivolous as 
 the reft : I thanked his majefty, however, for giving it me. He had 
 the goodnefs to command me to be ftricflly attentive to my own fafety, 
 afluring me, that, if the defign which, was laid againft me Ihould fijc- 
 ceed, he would not hefitate a moment to purchafe me at the price of 
 freeing the prifoners, and, if there were occafion, by a ftill greater con- 
 ceflion. To fatisfy him, 1 placed a fmall guard likewife at tins gate. 
 
 The firft prefident, the prefident de * Blancmefnil, and the two 
 counfellors de Fleury and de Thurin, were named by the parliament 
 to interrogate the prifoners, whom, for tliis purpofe, I ordered to be 
 
 * Achilles de Harlay, the firft prefiJent ; bert de Thurin, counfellor of the grand 
 N'choLs de Potier, fieur de Blancmefnil, chamber. 
 prefident ; Stephen de Fleury, dean ; Phili- 
 
 carried
 
 BûokXIîî. memoirs of sully, 
 
 carried into a fmall pavillion in the midft of the great walk of the ar- 
 fenal : as it was neceffary likewife that they fliould be examined in full 
 parliament, I caufed a covered boat to be prepared for them, in which 
 they were carried thither and brought back again, without being feen. 
 The hiftory of this trial, and all the particulars of the event I am now 
 relating, are known to every one ; and that maréchal Biron *, feeing 
 Miron, the lieutenant-civil, at the foot of the fcaffbld, gave him a 
 caution againft La- Fin, took his leave of the elder Rumigny, entreat- 
 ing him to bear his refjsefts to madcmoifelle de Rumigny, which, he 
 faid was all the prefent he had to make her; and many circumftances 
 of the like nature. The fudden fallies of rage, the terrors and weak- 
 nefl'es which this man -f-, who, amidfl the greateft dangers of war, had 
 
 lïr 
 
 1602. 
 
 * The particular account of this affair, to 
 which the author here refers, is t6 be found 
 in all the hiftorians, and in many other 
 writings. 
 
 t Thefe inward agitations had almoft: 
 
 deprived him of his fcnfes, and e;ave great 
 
 'trouble to the afliflants, efpecially to the 
 
 executioner, who durfl not let him fee his 
 
 fword, and who )'et took his opportunity 
 
 fo well, by amufuig the maréchal, that he 
 
 made his head fly olT at one blow, which he 
 
 gave fo dextrouily that it was fcarcely feen. 
 
 1 cannot forbear mentioning, to the honour 
 
 of learning, that maréchal Biron the father 
 
 was as remarkable for erudition, as the 
 
 fon for ignorance ; he could fcarcely read. 
 
 The following account of him, from the 
 
 Chronologie Septennaire, will ferve to fi- 
 
 nifli his charafler. The author, after ob- 
 
 ferving that he had almoft all the qualities 
 
 nectitiry to make a great warrior, namely 
 
 that he was brave, fuccefsful, indefatigable, 
 
 fober, and temperate, adds, " He was par- 
 
 " ticularly fond of fplendor, prowd, and of- 
 
 " tentatiou.s, and even has been often 
 
 " known to defpife the pleafurcs of the ta- 
 
 " ble and live abflemiouflv, that he mic^ht 
 
 " gratify his fantaftic paflioii for glory ; he 
 
 " v.'as daring in battle, and immeafura- 
 
 " bly ambitious : he was fo prefumptuous 
 
 " as to believe that neither the king nor 
 
 " France could do without him ; he was 
 
 " alfo become fo malevolent and flandcr- 
 
 " eus, that he fpoke ill of all princes ; he 
 
 " has been often heard to ridicule the 
 
 *' mafs, and make a jeft of the pretended 
 " reformed : there are numberlefs inftan- 
 " cesgivenof his having but little religion; 
 " he relied very much on the predictions of 
 " aftrologcrs and divines." The author 
 after this gives an account of an adventure 
 that happened to him as he was going to 
 confult, under a borrowed name, the old 
 aftrologer La Broffe, the fame of whonv 
 M. de Sully fpeaks fo often in his memoirs. 
 " This good man, fays he, who was then 
 " in a little tower or garret that ferved him 
 " for a ftudy, faid to him, Well, my fon, 
 " I fee the perfon for whom this horofcope 
 " is caft will arrive at great honours^ 
 " through his diligence and military bra- 
 " very, and might come to be a king, but 
 " there is a caput algol that keeps him fioni 
 " it." " And what is the meaning of 
 " that, fays the baron de Biron." "Don't! 
 " afk me the meaning of it, returns La' 
 " Broffe ?" " No, fays the baron, but 
 " I muft know." After many alter- 
 " cations between them. La Broffe at 
 " length faid, " The meaning is this, my 
 " friend, he will do fo much that he (hall 
 " have his head cut ofF." Upon this, the 
 " baron fell upon him and beat him cruelly, 
 " and afterwards leaving him half dead, 
 " came down from the garret, taking the 
 " key of the door with him." This ac- 
 count is filled with other pretended predic- 
 tions that were made him, and to which 
 I think no man of fenfe would have fhewfi. 
 any regard ,- 
 
 acquired.
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 acquired the charafter of intrepid, fliewed at liis execution, have fur- 
 niflied matter for much diicourfe, and doubtlels will not be forgot by 
 hiftorians : as for me, I have nothing new to relate, except, perhaps, 
 fome circumftances that regard me perfonally. 
 
 While preparations were making for trying the two ftate prifoners, 
 they often defired to fpeak with me * : two confiderations hindered 
 me from giving them this fatisfaâion j firft, becaufe it would be to no 
 purpofe to hear the prayers and folicitations of Biron, whofe death was 
 too neceffary for the good of the flate, and too firmly refolved by the 
 king, to give hopes of obtaining his pardon ; and fecondly, having been 
 comprehended myfelf in La-Fin's depofitions, I was not willing to 
 give either weak or malignant perfons room to fufpeâ: that I had ufed 
 any endeavours with the prifoners to keep them filent with regard to 
 me, or that 1 had any occafion to fpeak to them. It was my 
 defign, on the other hand, thar, if any fuppofed me to have had the 
 leafl connexion with Biron, thty fliould think that, by thus refufing 
 to fee him, I fhould make him refolve to live no longer on terms, of 
 civility with a man whom, upon that fuppofition, he muft, for many 
 reafons, regard as a traitor. He reverenced my innocence, and if he 
 fpoke of me, as he often did, it was only to praife the counfels I had 
 given him, and to condemn himfelf for not following them. 
 
 Deffunctis, grand-provoft of the Ille-de-France, took down in 
 writing all the converfations in which maréchal Biron had men- 
 
 * He requefted the fieur de Baranton, others who were prefent, that they were 
 
 M. de Prailin's lieutenant, to wait on M. unable to fpeak for ibme time, and fat 
 
 de Rofny from him, and tell him that he liftening in tears. At length M. de Rofny 
 
 defired to fee him ; but, if that favour could broke filcnce and faid, " I cannot fee him 
 
 pot be obtained, he earneftly begged of " nor intercede for him, it is now too late ; 
 
 him to intercede with the king for his life, " had he been perfuaded by me, he had not 
 
 a piece of fervice which he expected from " been in this melancholy fituation, for he 
 
 him, as he always had a great efteem for " ought to have declared the truth to his 
 
 him, and found him to be his friend, and " majefty from the time of his arrival at 
 
 fuch a friend that, had he been perfuaded by " Fontainebleau ; and fince he did not fo, 
 
 him, he would not have been in the place " he has taken from the king the means of 
 
 where he then was ; that there were per- " giving him his life, and from all his 
 
 fons more guilty than himfelf, but that he " friends that of interceding for him." 
 
 was the moft unfortunate of them all ; flat Chronologie Septennaire, ann. 1602. See 
 
 he was content to be confined between fc Ui' the whole of this afF.;ir in the hiftorian 
 
 bare walls and chained down. The carneft Matthieu, torn. II. liv. iii. p. 482 to 534, 
 
 entreaties which the fieur de Baranton where an account given of wht relates to 
 
 made in his name fo greatly affcdltd M. de the duke de Sully is conformable to that in 
 
 Rofny and hh lady, the fieur Zamet and our Memoirs. 
 
 tioned
 
 :Book Xin. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ■tioned my name, and gave the manufcript to me fome time after- 
 wards. By that I learned that Biron, when he came out of the 
 chapel, where he had made his confeiTion to the fieurs Garnier and 
 Maignan dodlors of the Sorbonne, afked if there was no perfon there 
 belonging to monfieur de Rofny ; and being told that the younger Ar- 
 naud was there, he called him and faid, " Monfieur Arnaud, I de- 
 *' fire you will carry my lall: farewel to monfieur de Rofny, and tell 
 " him, that to-day he lofes one of his befi: friends, and the moft af- 
 *' fedtionate kinfman and fervant he ever had : I have always highly 
 *' efteemed his merit, and valued his friendfhip. Alas !" faid he, 
 after raifing his voice and fliedding fome tears, which obliged him to 
 keep his face covered with his handkerchief, " had I believed him, I 
 " fliould have avoided this fate : tell him, I befeech you, that I re- 
 *' commend my brothers to him, particularly my brother* Saint Blan- 
 ** card who is his nephew, and that I intreat he will give my youngeft 
 *' brother fome poft about the dauphin, and that he would tell them, 
 " that, although I have failed in my duty and obedience, yet that 
 " they ought faithfully to perform theirs, and continue always firm 
 " in their attachment to the king; but that he would not let them 
 " come immediately to court, left they fliould fuffer any reproaches 
 *' on my account." Another time Biron, talking of me, faid, "The 
 *' king has, in monfieur de Rofny, a faithful fervant, and a wife and 
 *' prudent counfellor; his majefty has done well to make ufe of him; 
 " for while he continues to diredl his councils, France will be happy, 
 *' and I might have been fo likewife, had I governed myfelf by his 
 *' advice." On any other occafion I fliould have avoided inferting, in 
 thefe Memoirs, fuch difcourfes in my praife ; but on this I did not think 
 myfelf at liberty to make the leail alteration in the marechal's words. 
 I was ignorant of his having given thefe public tefliimonies of his 
 efleem for me, when I joined with the reft of his relations -f in im- 
 
 * John de Gontaut, felgneur de Saint then at St. Maur des Foffe's, but they could 
 
 Blancard, had married mademoil'elle de obtain no other favour than that which our 
 
 Saint-Genies, niece to M. de Sully. The author fpeaks of here, Henry comforted 
 
 maréchal de Biron had no other brothers them by reminding them of the example 
 
 living ; he muft therefore comprehend un- of the conftable de Saint Paul, allied to the 
 
 der that name his brothers-in-law. houfe of Bourbon, who was beheaded for 
 
 t Meffieurs de Saint Blancard, de la a fimilar crime, and the prince ot Condé, 
 
 Force, the count de Roufl'y, de Chateau- who would have undergone the fame fate 
 
 neuf, de Themines, de Salignac, and de had it not been for the death of Francis II. 
 
 Saint Angel, went three days after the ar- &c. MS. Biblioth. royale, vol. 9129, where 
 
 reft of maréchal de Biron, to throw them- likewife may be feen a colleftion of pieces 
 
 felves at the feet of his majefty, who was relating to the maréchal de Biron's procefs. 
 
 Vol. n. Q^ ploring
 
 114 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XIIL 
 
 1602. ploring a favour for him, a flight one indeed, it was only to change 
 the place deftlned for his execution ; accordingly, inftead of the Grève, 
 which was named in the fentence that was palfed upon him, his ma- 
 jefty permitted the maréchal to be beheaded in the court of the Baflile. 
 
 The death of Biron entirely difconcerted all the fchemes of the- 
 cabal. Lavardin, who had been fent at the fame time by his ma- 
 jefty into Burgundy, at the head of a body of troops, took pofleffion of 
 -all the places there which had been held by maréchal Biron, without 
 ftriking a blow, and fent Senecé to inform the king that this province- 
 bad fubmitted. The government of it was given to the dauphin, to^ 
 whom M. Le Grand was made lieutenant. The proceedings againft 
 the confpirators flopped here ; and, except Fontenelles *, whom Henry 
 thought it neceffary to punifli for an example to others, although he 
 was not one of the principal criminals, he pardoned all the reft. The 
 number of the confpirators was very great, and, upon examination,, 
 many of the moft confiderable courtiers -f were involved in the guilt. 
 I ftrengthened as much as pofllble the king's inclinations to lenity : I 
 forewarned thofe whom I knew to have had fome fliare in the confi- 
 dence of Biron, and reprefented to them fo plainly, that all they had 
 now to do was to throw themfelves at the king's feet, and implore his 
 pardon, that almoft all purfued this method : the fecrecy which I pro- 
 mifed them will not permit me to mention their names here, and, far 
 from having any caufe to repent of a ftep of which the king and my- 
 felf only were witnefl'es, they were foon convinced that his majefty 
 not only took care to Ihew he had no refentment againft them, but 
 likewife appeared to hold them in higher efteem than before. Herbert, 
 who was fecretary to the party, and had been feveral times fent into 
 Milan, and throughout all Italy, by maréchal Biron, was likewife ar- 
 refted. 1 was ordered to interrogate him in the prefence of the count 
 d'Auvergne, and to receive his depofitions, the king having promifed 
 him a pardon, upon condition that he fincerely declared all he knew. 
 
 * Guy Eder de Beaumanoir, baron de " own name; but hiftory could not con- 
 Fontenelles, was a gentleman of Brittany. " ceal it." M. De Thou, liv. 128, fpeaks 
 He was convidled of having intended to de- of him as of a fellow, who had been em- 
 liver up the fort of Douarnenes to the Spa- ployed in Brittany by the league, 
 niards, for which he was drawn upon a t According to Siri, there was fome- 
 fledge, and broke alive in the Grève. " The thing more than mere fufpicions againft the 
 " king, fays M. de Perefixe, in confidera- conftable de Montmorency, and even 
 " tion of his family, which was very illuf- againft the duke de Montpenller. Mem. 
 " trious, granted to his relations that, in rccond. vol. I. p. 103. 
 
 the arret, he Ihould not be called by his 
 
 The
 
 Book XIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 The principal difcovery he made, and that which gave the fullefi: con- 
 vidlion of the perfidy of Spain, was, that Roncas and Alphonfo Cazel 
 had been fent by that court at different times with large fiims of money 
 to maréchal Biron. To convince Herbert that his majefty had no defign 
 to deceive him, before I began to examine him, I delivered his par- 
 don, figned by the king, into the hands of the count d'Auvergne. 
 
 The baron de Lux was not excepted out of the general amnefly ; 
 his perplexity, when he heard of the imprifonment of his friend, had 
 been very great, becaufe he found it equally dangerous to leave, as to 
 ftay in the kingdom ; he was flill undetermined what to do, when 
 La Plume came from his majefty with an order to attend him, pro- 
 mifing him his pardon, at the fame time, if he would endeavour to 
 deferve it by his obedience and repentance. De Lux, fenfible of his 
 guilt, was now more alarmed than before ; yet he told the meffenger 
 that he was ready to obey the king's orders, provided he would affure 
 him that he fhould not be expofed to the fliame of a public examina- 
 tion, nor be confronted with his accufers ; that he fhould be con- 
 tinued in his poft *, and permitted to retire from court after his con* 
 feffion : he was afraid of being detained, under pretence that it was 
 either not full enough or infincere. There being no letter from his 
 majefty, De Lux appeared contented with a promife under my hand 
 that he fhould receive no harm. 
 
 The king having granted all that the baron De Lux demanded, he 
 came to Paris, and meeting his majefty as he was going to hunt, threw 
 himfelf at his feet, and was beginning a long fpeech, when the king, 
 who had not leifure to hear him then, flopped him fliort, by faying, 
 " Go to monfieur de -Rofny, and I will talk to you afterwards." This 
 order, the tone with which De Lux fancied it was given, and the 
 place to which he was fent, raifed fuch apprehenlions in his mind, that 
 he was upon the point of making his efcape. However, he came to 
 the arfenal, but under fuch terrors, that, infcead of liftening to any 
 thing I laid to him, he was continually looking round him ; and his 
 apprehenfions were increafed when he faw his majefïy's guards enter 
 and file off in the court of the arfenal, the king having fent them thi- 
 ther, becaufe he intended to pafs by the arfenal in his return from the 
 chace. De Lux now thought himfelf loft. " Ah ! monfieur, faid he 
 '* to me, I came hither upon the king's word and yours ; do you in- 
 
 * He was governor of the caftle of Dijon, and the town of Beaune. 
 
 Q__2 " tend
 
 ii6 M E M O I R S O F S U L L y. Book XIII. 
 
 1602. " tend to detain me." " Why do you a{k me this queftion, mon- 
 " fieur, laid I." " The guards faid he, which I perceive entering in- 
 " files, perfuaded me that it is not the king who is coming, but that 
 " they are probably fent for me." Without giving me time to un- 
 deceive him, he entreated me to allow him to fpeak to the king be- 
 fore he was confined, promifing, and I believe very fincerely, to con- 
 ceal nothing from him. " I have obferved your uneafinefs, replied I, 
 " but be not afraid, I have no orders to arreft you ; fpeak freely to 
 *' the king, fwear to be faithful to him, and keep your oath ; you will 
 *' then have nothing to apprehend -, had the duke of Biron aifled in 
 " that manner, he would have been now alive." That moment a 
 meffenger informed me that the king was returned to the Louvre, and 
 defired to fpeak with me ; the evening was fo far advanced before the 
 chace was ended, that, inflead of coming to the arfenal, as he had 
 propofed, he went diredly to the palace. This meflage relieved the 
 baron De Lux from his terrors. 
 
 The next day he had a conference with his majefty, which lafted 
 above four hours ;- he gave no caufe for accufing him of indifcretion in 
 concealing his accomplices, but named fuch a prodigious number of 
 perfons, that Henry, glad to find in fuch general accufations a pre- 
 tence for believing none and for making himfelf eafy, treated all thofe 
 whom De Lux accufed, and who were continually about him, no lefs 
 favourably than before. It is certain, however, that many of them were 
 acquainted with maréchal Biron's defigns, but the hope of remaining 
 unnoticed amongft the crowd, determined them not to own their 
 connexions with him, notwithftanding all the advances and promifes 
 which I made them. The conftable had indeed kept up a fort of in- 
 timacy with Biron, which in prudence ought to have been avoided ; 
 but, as I was perfuaded that it was merely perfonal, and extended no 
 further, I thought myfelf obliged to juftify him to his majefty, oa 
 whom his aflurances of fidelity made fo little impreflion, that he could 
 not help regarding him with an eye of fufpicion : I may fay with 
 truth, that my endeavours did not a little contribute towards reftoring 
 him to the king's favour ; and this prince had no reafon to repent of 
 his clemency, to him or any of the others *, except only the count of 
 Auvergne, to whom it is time to return. 
 
 * It is not certain that Henry the IVth clearing of which becomes more and more 
 
 never had reafon to repent of this indul- difficult : but by fuppofmg what is very 
 
 gence. As to the afiafTination of this prince, likely, namely, that the blow which took 
 
 there remains a great many doubts, the off Henry IV, did not proceed from the 
 
 The
 
 FooK Xlir. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 117 
 
 The nature of that crime which he, as well as the duke of Blron, 1602. 
 had committed, and the equality of the proofs againft them, made 
 it highly probable that their punifliment would be alike ; how- 
 ever, their fates were very different ; the king not only gave him his 
 life, which he caufed to be intimated to him by the conflable, but alfo 
 foftened, as much as potTible, the inconvenience of his imprifonment : 
 he permitted him to agree with the lieutenant of the Baftile for his 
 table, difcharged him of the expence of the officers and foldiers ap- 
 pointed for his guard, and reduced them afterwards to five, comprehend- 
 ing the exempt, upon my reprefentations that a greater number was 
 ufelefs. At firft, indeed, he was not allowed to walk upon the ter- 
 rafles, but afterwards he was indulged in all his defires ; and at length 
 wholly * difcharged from his confinement. He had been fo little ac- 
 cuftomed to be treated as a criminal, that when he was told the king 
 had granted him his life, he faid, it fignified nothing, unlefs he gavs 
 him his liberty likewife. 
 
 Those who praife alike the good or bad aâions of kings, will not" 
 want arguments to juftify Henry in this different treatment of two 
 equally guilty ; they will alledge, as it was then reported at court, 
 that the fervices his majefiy might expeiSl from the count of Auvergne, 
 in difcovering to him the plots of the Spanifli party againft France, 
 made it necelfary to pardon him for his own intereff. For my own 
 part, I am too candid not to confefs, that on this occafion the king 
 gave no proof of his clemency, but of his paflion for the marchionefs 
 of Verneuil, fiffer to the count of Auvergne ; which was the fole 
 Gaufe of the indulgence he fhewed to the count. However, I con- 
 cealed my thoughts with great care, and, during two years, never 
 mentioned a word to the king upon the fubjedl, being perfuaded, 
 that all the arguments I could ufe at the time would have no force 
 againft the prayers and tears of a miffrefs ; and when the thing was 
 done, it was. to no purpofe to fliew him his error. It was not till after 
 
 confpiracy here fpoken of, we may ftill be- who boldly concealed themfelves among the 
 
 lieve that this cataftrophe had not happen- crowd, fufficiently (hews, that the fpirit of 
 
 ed, if the confpirators had been profecuted revolt was not extinguiflied by the death of 
 
 with more feverity : in this cafe it muftbe its head. 
 
 allowed, that Henry IV. and M. de Rofny * In the beginning of Odlobcr. " It was 
 
 were deceived by their too great lenity, of " not, fays le Septennairc, without having 
 
 which the prince became the vi£tim. What " firft made an open confeflîon to meiîieurs 
 
 the author fays four lines higher of thofe " the chancellor, de Sillery, and Rofny." 
 
 the:
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 the count of Auvergne had, by new inftances of ingratitude, obliged 
 his benefadlor to proceed againfl: him as a criminal, that I jufl hinted 
 my thoughts of his former condudt, and then I was forced to it by 
 the king himfelf. 
 
 One day, when the king and I were alone, the converfation turned 
 xipon this fubjeft ; and Henry, after viewing me filently for fome time, 
 at length told me, that he had been often greatly furprized at my not 
 afking him his reafons for preferving the count of Auvergne. I re- 
 plied, that I had thought it my duty to keep my conjedlures on that 
 head to myfelf, among which there were two that appeared to me to 
 be the moll: probable, but that I never chofe to explain myfelf to his 
 majefty, for fear of offending him. Henry anfwered immediately, with 
 his ufual vivacity, that he could eafily guefs, that one of the motives 
 to which I attributed the favour he had lliewn the prifoner, regarded 
 the marchionefs of Verneuil ; and allured me, that that alone had been 
 but fufficient to have commuted his punilliment into a perpetual im- 
 fonment ; but that he was abfolutely ignorant of the fécond, to which 
 I fuppofed his deliverance had been owing, and preffed me repeatedly 
 to tell him what it was. I confefled to him, that it had been always 
 my opinion that his majefty would not inflii5t a Ihameful death upon 
 a man who would be always confidered as the uncle of his children, 
 in cafe he fhould have any by the marchionefs of Verneuil. Henry 
 fwore to me, that he had not hitherto carried his refleélionsfo far, al- 
 though that confideration, if it had occurred to him, would have had 
 great weight with him ; and he infifted upon my gueffing, in my turn, 
 the true reafon that had induced him to fet Auvergne at liberty : he 
 again repeated to me, that the felicitations of his miilrefs, the intrea- 
 ties of the conftable, his three daughters, and of Ventadour, who had 
 all thrown themfelves at his feet, had not had fo great a Ihare in that 
 refolution as I imagined, they having contented themfelves with afking 
 only the life of the prifoner. And at length, after all this winding, 
 he declared to me, that his chief inducement to pardon Auvergne was 
 the great promifes he made him, and the air of fincerity with which 
 they were accompanied : he then related to me all that had palled be- 
 tween himfelf and Auvergne, when the latter implored the favour of a 
 conference with him : he told me, that the count, after many affurances 
 of a fincere repentance, and proteftations of inviolable fidelity for the 
 future, had promifed him, with the moft facred oaths, if he would re- 
 ftore him to liberty, to get him intelligence of the mofi: fecret rcfolu- 
 tlons that were taken in the council of Spain ; to accomplilh which, 
 
 he
 
 Book XHI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Fie had only to refume, in appearance, his former engagements with 
 that court, well knowing how to deceive them, and to make them 
 take for true, what on his fide would be only feigned : but that this 
 difllmulation might not, in Spain, draw upon him the puniihment of 
 a traitor, it was neceflary that his majefty fhould not reveal to any of 
 his minifters what he then faid, nor take umbrage at his journeys to 
 Spain, nor the packets he (hould receive from thence. 
 
 The king, after this recital, added, that it was with difficulty he 
 could bring himfelf to believe the promifes Auvergne made him, or 
 fuppofe that he could fall fo low, as to take up the trade of a fpy, and' 
 become a double traitor ; but that after the count had affured him he 
 really meant to perform all he had engaged for, although he hated 
 him more than ever, yet he was determined toexpeft the effeél of his 
 promifes, and make ufe of him to procure fuch intelligence concern- 
 ing the proceedings of Spain, as he could obtain by no other means ; 
 and in this expectation, he had promifed Auvergne fecrecy, and the 
 other condition he had demanded. 
 
 The conclufion I came to, from what the king told me, was, that 
 he was every way deceived by the count of Auvergne, or rather, I re- 
 peat it again, betrayed by his paffion for his miftrefs : this was the 
 fafcination that clofed his eyes upon the artifice of Auvergne ; and, 
 after having prevailed upon him to fpare his life, fnatched from him 
 likewife the grant of his liberty, and that upon fo flight a foundation, 
 as does little honour to the prudence of Henry. It is not clear, in- 
 deed, whether Auvergne had not then an inclination to keep his 
 word, but by fuffering himfelf to be feduced a fécond time, became 
 once more a traitor to his prince. 
 
 It muft likewife be confefTed, that he was ingenious, fubtle, pe- 
 netrating, and naturally eloquent j qualities very fit for the part he 
 had undertaken to aft : but, not to mention his ambition, his inclina- 
 tion to debauchery, and other dangerous paffions, he had in his heart 
 fuch a fund of malice and perfidioufnefs, that it was eafy to fee he 
 would reiume his former difpofitions ; but he refumed them with fo 
 much addrefs, that the king did not perceive when it happened, tak- 
 ing it for granted, that it did not happen the very moment he found 
 himfelf fecure. He often conferred with his majefty concerning the 
 king of Spain, and related very bad things of him, the better to play 
 his part ; but all he faid niight be reduced to matters of little confe- 
 
 quencej.
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 qiience ; while, to the court of Spain he gave very exadl and very ma- 
 terial informations of every thing that paffed in France. I fhall re- 
 turn to him again in another place. 
 
 The prince of Joinville *, to whom Henry likewife extended his 
 clemency, was a young man of a different charadter ; nothing could 
 be more light, more whimfical, and more unfteady ; he had engaged 
 himfelf with bad company, among whom, to be in the fafhion, and 
 to appeara man of confequence, it was neceflary that he fhould have 
 correspondences without the kingdom ; this was fufficient to ruin him 
 entirely. His majefly being informed that he carried on his intrigues 
 with Spain by the count of Chamnite, governor of Franche-Comté for 
 the king of Spain, and oii,e of his minifters, he ordered him to bear- 
 refted : as foon as he found himfelf in cuflody, he, like all the others, 
 declared, that he was ready to make a full confeffion, provided it 
 was to the king in perfon, and that I fhould be prefent. I had left 
 Paris in the evening, to vifit my new acquifition of Sully, and to trace 
 out the plan of fome buildings there, to render it more habitable than 
 it was at prefent. I was jufl arrived, and preparing to fit down to 
 iupper, when I heard his majefty's poflilion blow his horn, and im- 
 mediately fufpedled my ftay at Sully would not be long. He gave me 
 a billet from the king, which contained only an order to come to him, 
 without explaining himfelf any farther. Believing the bufmefs to be 
 of the utmofl importance, I fet out fo early the next morning, that I 
 only faw Sully by the light of the flambeaux. When I was made ac- 
 quainted with the affair, I thought it my duty to intercede for an unex- 
 perienced youth, who was drawn into errors by his raflinefs and folly. 
 Joinville being brought before us, confefTed all he was defired to do. 
 The king entering immediately into his charadter, treated him as he 
 deferved ; he fsnt for his mother, the dutchefs of Guife, and the duke, 
 his brother, and taking them into his clofet, " Here, faid he, is the 
 ** prodigal fon himfelf. I fliall ufe him like a child, and pardon him 
 ** for yours and monfieur de Rofny's fake, who has entreated for him ; 
 *' but I do it upon condition that you will all three reprove him fe- 
 *' verely ; and that you, nephew," added he, turning to the duke of 
 Guife, " will anfwer for his condudt for the future : I giv-e him to 
 " your care, make him wife, if it be poflible." 
 
 * Claude de Lorraine, fourth fon to Henry diike of Guife, who was killed at Blois ; 
 he was afterwards duke de Chevreufe, and died in 1657. 
 
 This
 
 BookXIII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 121 
 
 This change was not Co eafy a thing to efFeél on a young man of i6o?. 
 lively paffions, incapable of inftrudtion, and whofe difpofition had al- 
 ready taken its bent : he was fuffered to remain in prifon for fome 
 months, where at firft he was obftinately fullen, then infolent and fu- 
 rious, and at laft, through mere wearinefs, promifed to behave well, 
 if he was taken from thence. The' king confented to his removal, and 
 he was told, that he might go and live in the caflle of Dampierre. Join- 
 ville was not much better pleafed with this place than his prifon, and 
 reprefented to the king, that he could not refide in a caftle which was 
 not furnifhed. Unfortunately for him, the king knew this to be a 
 falfliood : having often hunted near that caftle and Chevreufe, which 
 is but at a fmall diftance from it, the keeper of thofe two houfes had 
 offered to accommodate him with apartments and beds there ; and he 
 had been told by the duchefs of Guife, that Dampierre was as wellfur- 
 niflied as Chevreufe. This behaviour of Joinville's fo incenfed the 
 king againft him, that he reproached me for the too great intereft I 
 took in the affairs of that family, and ordered me to concern mylelf 
 lefs with them for the future. And now his maiefly, inftead of re- 
 voking his fentence, declared that the prilbner fliould be again examin- 
 ed before he was enlarged ; which renewing his former fears, he pro- 
 mifed to make a fuller confelîion than he had yet done; but being, as 
 he faid, apprehenfive that his majefly was ftill angry with him, he 
 again entreated that I might be the perlon to whom he fpoke. 
 
 The duke of Bouillon took care not to return from his eflates, as 
 he had promifed the king; therefore, after Biron was arrefted, his 
 majefly judged it necefl'ary to write to him., to fee if upon this occa- 
 fion he would not give fome proof of his connexion with the pri- 
 foner : he informed him, that maréchal Biron had been conviâed of 
 confpiring againfl the flate; and that when he came to court he would 
 {hew him the proofs of his treafon, and acquaint him with all the par- 
 ticulars of it; latisfying himfelf with thus infinuating that he expeél- 
 ed the performance of his promife, without giving him a diredl order 
 to come. The duke of Bouillon eafily comprehended the defign of 
 this letter, and anfwered it no otherwife, than by fending a gentle- 
 man of his retinue immediately to his majefly, to congratulate 
 him upon the danger he had efcaped. By this perfbn he fent a 
 letter to me, in which he carefully avoided faying any thing from 
 V/hich the leaft advantage could be taken, either becaufe he had 
 already learnt that his alTociate was feized, or that his iniagina- 
 VoL. II. R tion
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 tion fuggefted to him immediately the behaviour which it was pro- 
 per tor him to aflume. He told me, that never had any one's afta- 
 nifliment equalled his, when he learned that the ftate and the king's 
 perlbn had been in danger ; that his fidelity, and the readineis he 
 fhewed to go to every place where his duty and the king's fervice 
 called him, would, he hoped, convince his ma'erty, that he fhould 
 never have the like rcafon to beapprehenfive of him ; and that he would 
 exped the king's orders, and my good advice, that he might obey 
 the one, and follow the other. The whole letter was conceived in 
 terms fuch as thefe : he could not, however, hinder himfclf from 
 hinting fomething in favour of the accufed, but in a manner fo ge- 
 neral as could not hurt him. After expreffing his wiflies, that this 
 event might not give his majefty any difturbance, he added thefe 
 words, " nor alter the natural fweetnefs of his difpofition." 
 
 The king, when I fiiewed him this letter, thought he might 
 make ufe of it to draw Bouillon to court, for he durll not fend him 
 an abfolute command to come, left by a refufal he fliould lay him 
 under the neceffity of punifhing him for his difobedience by the force 
 of arms, which he neither chofe nor could conveniently do ; he there- 
 fore told me, that fince Bouillon afked my advice concerning what it 
 was proper for him to do in this conjundture, I fhould reply, that it 
 was true, the king had been informed he was not wholly unacquaint- 
 ed with the duke of Biron's intrigues, but that this ought to 
 ftrengthen his refolution of coming to his majefty, either to juftify his 
 innocence, or, by confeffing his fault, to obtain a pardon for it ; and 
 that I {hould aflure him, that I would give him my vi^ord, or if ne- 
 ceffary become his furety, that fo far from having any thing to fear, 
 he fliould be received by the king with open arms. Henry knowing 
 my delicacy on thefe occafions, prevented my fcruples, by telling me, 
 that he would engage his royal word that Bouillon fliould be treated 
 in whatever manner I promifed him ; and, not fatisfied with this ver- 
 bal affurance, he gave me a writing conceived in thefe terms : " I 
 *' promife to M. de Rofny, that if the duke of Bouillon comes to 
 " court upon his letters, and the promifes he fhall make him, I will 
 " obferve them all faithfully, or give the duke free leave to retire 
 '* where-ever he pleafes ; and neither in his journey to or from the 
 *• court fhall he receive any difturbance ; for all which I engage my 
 ** faith and royal word to the faid fieur de Rofny. Given at Paris, 
 " June 24, 1602."
 
 Book XlII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 123 
 
 I WROTE to the duke of Bouillon, and without tellino- him of the 1602. 
 
 engagement his majefty entered into with me concerning him, preHed 
 him in the firongeft terms, and by every argument I thought could 
 have any weight with him, to come and fettle for fome time at court. 
 This letter Bouillon received almoft at the fame time with the verbal 
 anfwer the king fent him by his deputy, and took occafion, from his 
 majefty's not having himfelf prelled him to come, to tell me in anfwer, 
 that the advice I gave him being inconfiflent with the king's orders, he 
 could not govern himfelf by it, whatever inclination he might have to 
 do fo ; and that he would content himfelf with fending to court, as his 
 majefty required, a perfon who fliould give as fatisfadlory an account of 
 his conduct as he himfelf could do, and ought to be equally depended 
 upon. This perfon was a gentleman named Rignac, who accordingly 
 came to court about the fame time that I received Bouillon's anfvv'er to 
 my letter, and whofe expences were all defrayed, as if his journey had 
 been of great importance, becaufe, in appearance, he came by his ma- 
 jefty's orders : but the duke of Bouillon, inftead of coming himfelf, 
 removed ftill farther from court, and went to Caftres. 
 
 I AM not furprifed that my arguments had on this occafion fo little 
 weight with him, fmce he regarded me as his enemy, and did not 
 fcruple to call me fo in public; nor was the king ignorant that this 
 "Was his opinion, having informed me of it himfelf in a letter dated 
 the 28th day of December this year : nor was I more furprized at the 
 manner in which the duke of Bouillon adled with his majefty. As foon 
 as he perceived (which was no very difficult matter for him to do) 
 that the king had recourfe to diftlmulation with him, he fuppofed it 
 eafy enough to impofe upon his majefty and his council without rifking 
 any danger; for this purpofe, all that was neceffary was, to anfwer, 
 in * appearance, always with great fubmifllon, without taking any of 
 thofe meafures which they durft not formally prefcribe to him. This 
 artifice fucceeded fo well, that he made ufe of it a long time. Nothing 
 could be conceived in more modeft or refpe(fi:ful terms, than the letter 
 he wrote on this fubjedl to Du-Maurier ; and which, after his majefty 
 had perufed it, was given to me, to be communicated to the chancellor 
 
 * The duke de Bouillon's letters to the of having been concerned in maréchal de 
 
 king we find in the 3d torn, of Villeroi's Biron's plot, his refufing to come and wait ■ 
 
 Memoirs d'Etat, p. 158, & fcq. See like- upon the king, and his flight to Caftres. 
 
 •wife thereafons which the hiflorians of his Liv. v. p. 222, Se feq. 
 life adduced, to clear him of the accufation 
 
 R 2 and 
 
 <w—
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIH. 
 
 and the duke d'Epernon, with whom, by the king's orders, I treated 
 this affair methodically. The king ftrongly interefted himfelf in it, 
 and had a conference with Conftant and Saint-Aubin about the 
 duke of Bouillon, which lafted a whole afternoon, but it produced 
 nothing. 
 
 The came which upon this occafion was played by the king of 
 Snain and the duke of Savoy was ftill more uncommon. All the fo- 
 reign powers in alliance with Henry, more efpecially England and 
 Scotland, whole ambaffadors were flill at Paris, congratulated his ma- 
 iefly, upon his having fo happily crulhed this dangerous confpiracy. 
 Philip and Charles-Emanuel appeared more eager than any of theothers 
 to compliment the king upon this event: unlefs fear was their mo- 
 tive, it is not eafy to guefs what could oblige them to have recourfe tQ 
 fo grofs an artifice. Henry was more fmcere with them ; he fignified 
 to them, that he was well informed of the part they both had la 
 the plot ; all the blame of which they threw upon the count of Fuentes, 
 as boldly as if it had been pofllble to have perfuaded him that this Spa- 
 niard would have dared, without their permiiTion, to ad: in concert 
 with Biroa and the other confpirators. 
 
 The king, fomedays after the execution of maréchal Biron, coming, 
 to the arfenal, I had a converfation with that prince that well deferves 
 to be related : " You fee," faid he to me, after making fome refledions, 
 as ufual, upon the ingratitude of meffieurs de Biron, d'Auvergne, de 
 Bouillon, and three more of the moft confiderable noblemen of the 
 court, whom he had pardoned, and whofe names he mentioned, " you 
 " fee that thofe on whom I have beftowed the greateft favours, are the 
 " fame perfons by whofe ambition and caprice I have fuffered the 
 " moft." He then obferved to me, that thefe fix men had, at diffe- 
 rent times, received larger fums from him, than the five kings his pre- 
 deceffors, except Henry IIL who had been accufed of fuch great pro- 
 digality, had given to their favourites. Henry added, that to filence 
 thofe who always unreafonably enumerated the fervices of thefe fix 
 gentlemen, he would have me draw up a memorial of all the rewards 
 they had received from him fince they had entered into his fervice j 
 in which he did not pretend to include any thing but thofe prefents 
 which his liberality only had induced him to make them, and not 
 fuch poffeflions as they had acquired by his affiftance, and enjoyed 
 through his protedion; fuch, for example, was theprincipalityof Sedan, 
 for which Bouillon was doubly obliged to him, having firft procured, 
 
 and
 
 Book XIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 125- 
 
 and then fecured him the pofTefllon of it, as has been feen, on an oc- 1602. 
 cafion fufficiently perplexing. 
 
 The king, vvhofe fole view in entering upon this fubjecfb was to 
 make a particular application to me, told me, that by this difcourfe, 
 which might have fome relation to the prefent ûate of my fortune, he 
 had no intention to give me a leflbn, being too well perfuaded of my 
 fidelity to think there was any occafion for it ; but that having ferioufly 
 reflected upon the manner in which it was neceflary he Hiould behave 
 to me, that he might not expofe himfelf to the mortification of feeing 
 the confidence he had in me leffened, he thought prudence required 
 that he Hiould take two precautions, with refpedt to me, in the re- 
 wards my fervices and family deferved from him : " One of thefe pre-- 
 " cautions, faid the king, has a reference to the world, the other to 
 " myfelf : firft, that thefe rewards fliould neither fucceed each other 
 " fo rapidly, nor in themfelves be fo exceffive, as to render you the 
 " objedt of public hatred, always ready to break out againfl: firft mini- 
 " fters : and the fécond, that thefe eftates and thefe honours ftiould be 
 " of fuch a nature, as, if it fliould happen that through religion, or 
 " any other motive, you fhould be capable of violating your duty, 
 " they may not put you into a condition of giving any umbrage to 
 " your benefadtor himfelf, or, after his death, of difturbing the tran- 
 ** quillity of his fucceffor, or of putting the ftate in danger: in one 
 " word," faid this prince, after giving me to underftand, that as he 
 fpoke without any difguife, he would permit me to tell him my fenti- 
 ments freely likewife, " I would take from myfelf the leaft occafion 
 " of fufpicion againft you, that my friendlliip for you may continue 
 " unalterable. I daily experience fo many inftances of ingratitude, 
 " which I never expedled, that, contrary to my inclinations, I anx 
 *' obliged to be diftruftful. Do not imagine, therefore, that I will 
 " put you in pofiefllon of great cities and ftrong fortrefies, which, in 
 " the high credit you are in, and the great abilities you are mafter of^ 
 " might make you independent of me, and enable you, whenever you 
 " pleafed, to throw the kingdom into confufion. I cannot do more 
 *• for you than ought to be done for a fervant, however faithful he 
 ** may be, by a prince who has his honour, his reputation, and the 
 '* intereft of his people, at heart." 
 
 Henry, without giving me time to reply, added, that till proper 
 opportunities offered for completing my fortune, he, from this mo- 
 ment, would join to my falaries and penfions, which were but fufficient 
 
 ta-
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 to anfwerthe expences of my table and houfe, an extraordinary gra- 
 tuity of lixty thoufand livres a year; that by uniting this fum to my 
 own eflale I might purchafe more lands, build upon them, furnifli 
 and embellifh my new houfes, and more advantageoufly fettle my 
 children ; telling me gracioufly, that he flill referved to himfelf to 
 give me other proofs of his friendfliip and liberality: " And this, 
 *' purfued he, 1 fhall do with the more willingnefs, as I am afilired 
 *' you will not fquander thefe funis foolifhlyon entertainments, dogs, 
 ** horfes, birds, and milfreffes." 
 
 During this long difcourfe of Henry's, my mind was agitated with 
 various thoughts, which made me liften to him in filence ; the reflec- 
 tions it occafloned left me ftill more moved with his freedom, and the 
 confidence he repofed in me, than difcontented with a caution which 
 many others in my fituation would have thought exceflive. The king 
 having commanded me to be very fincere in my reply, I told him, that 
 although I had at this moment an abfolute certainty in my ov/n mind, 
 that neither his majeffy, nor his fucceffbrs, nor the ftate, fliould ever 
 have any caiife for thofe apprehenfions of me which his wifdom had 
 fuggefted, yet I myfelf did not think he carried it too far; it being, 
 in my opinion, one of the chief maxims of government, that a prince 
 ought never to deliver himfcif up blindly to one perfon, whatever fer- 
 vices he may have received from him, lince it is next to impoffible 
 that any one fliould be able to anfwer for the wifdom and juftnefs of 
 his counfels for the future; therefore, inftead of thinking myfelf in- 
 jured, I found caufe, in all his majefty had faid, to admire his pru- 
 dence, and to acknowledge his goodnefs, fince whatever bounds he 
 lliould prefcribe to his favours, they would always equally exceed my 
 exped:ations and my fervices. 
 
 As I could not doubt but that the malignant infinuations of the 
 courtiers, who were jealous of my favour with his majefty, had 
 fome (hare in thofe fears he exprelTed of me, I feized this opportunity 
 to explain myfelf on an article, which from this moment I forefaw J 
 (hould be under a neceffity of returning to more than once. I begged 
 his majefty would permit me to reprefent to him, that he ought not 
 to give faith to the poifonous reports of informers, without having 
 firft had good proofs of my crime, and given me an opportunity of 
 defending myfelf. I allured him, that he would find me fincere 
 enough to confefs my faults, which alone deferved that he fhould treat 
 me in this manner; and that he fhould be convinced that what my 
 
 enemies
 
 Book XIIL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 enemies imputed to criminal views, could but at moft amount to a 
 failing, which I would not fcruple to confefs that inftant, and for which 
 I had Ibme occafion for his indulgence ; and this was, that, through 
 impatience of any ohftacle or delay in any refolution that I judged 
 neceffary to be taken, fome words of complaint or anger might efcape 
 me againlT; the too cji'y diipofition of his majefty, of which my ene- 
 mies would not fail to take advantage, although the purity of my in- 
 tentions might be eafily perceived in the words themfelves which 
 ferved for a foundation for the calumny. 
 
 What I then faid to the king, I now repeat to my readers, and 
 not thro' an affcilation of modefly, which may hold the place of juf- 
 tification; I am confcious I have no occaiion for it, but becaufe that, 
 however irreproachable my condudt may have been, I have neverthe- 
 lefs, been more than once obliged to clear myfelf to the prince whom 
 I ferved : if this confeffion does not hinder them from denying 
 me that juftice I have merited, it will not make them judge lefs fa- 
 vourably of Henry if they attend to the conjun>5lurcs and maxims 
 of the times in which we both lived : and at all times, there is nothing 
 againll: which it is fo difficult to defend one's felf, as the fecret machi- 
 nations of envious courtiers : what effedl might they not be expedted to 
 produce in the mind of a prince who could colledt a thoufand exam- 
 ples of treachery, difloyalty, and difobedience to himfelf, and hardly 
 one of real attachment ? Tojudge clearly of the fentiments which Henry 
 entertained for me, we muft not confider him in thofe moments when 
 the remembrance of fo many inflances of ingratitude, awakened by 
 the mod artful impoftures, opened his heart in fpite of him to diftrull 
 and fufpicion ; but when recovered from thofe impreflions which the 
 plots they endeavoured to comprehend me in had made on his mind, 
 he gave me the fincereft proofs of his tendernefs and efteem. The 
 world therefore may judge as it pleafes of thofe little difgraces which 
 I have been obliged to fuftain during the courfe of what will be called 
 my glory and profperity, and which probably any other might have 
 fuppreffed, for the honour of having it faid, that he diredled as he plea- 
 fed the inclinations of his mafter ; on this fubjedl I fhall ufe neither 
 difguife nor concealment, for truth is my guide, and inftruélion is 
 my end. 
 
 The duke of Luxembourgh having had a caufe brought before the 
 parliament this year, the advocates that pleaded for him had the al- 
 
 furance
 
 MEMOIRS OF S U L L Y. Book XIII. 
 
 furance to exadt fifteen hundred crowns for their fees. The duke com- 
 plained of this extortion to the king, who ordered the parhament to 
 ifTue out an arret, by which the lawyers fees were reduced and fet- 
 tled, and they obliged to give receipts for all the money they received, 
 and a general receipt for what papers were put into their hands, that 
 Ordonnance they might be conftrained to deliver up thefe, which they generally 
 deBlois, art. ^Qp^ jj]] their demands were fatisfied. The necefTity of putting a 
 curb to the avarice of thefe people had always appeared fo flrong, that 
 the States had already given the fame orders, but to no purpofe. The 
 parliament granted the arret that was demanded of them, but the law- 
 yers, inflead of fubmitting to it, went, three or four hundred of them, to 
 return into the public regifler the enfigns of their office, which pro- 
 duced a total ceffation of law proceedings. There was almoft a gene- 
 ral murmur throughout Paris, particularly among pragmatical cox- 
 combs and badauds*, a fet of wretches with which the town is crowded, 
 ■who, taking upon them to be wifer than the king, the peers, and the 
 ilates of the kingdom, decided againft them in favour of the advocates -f-, 
 and found fome abettors, even at court, who, with fo much power 
 and art exaggerated an evil, petty in itfelf and eafily remedied, that the 
 king was ftunned with their clamours, and began to be in pain about 
 the confequence. 
 
 While this affair was yet in agitation, his majefly being one day 
 in his clofet converfing with fome of the courtiers, and relating the 
 continual folicitations that were made him in favour of the advocates, 
 " Faith, Sire, I am not furprifed at it," faid Sigogne, railing his voice 
 and alTuming the air of one in a violent pafTion ; " thefe men make 
 " it plainly appear that they know not how to employ their time, fince 
 *• they diflurb themfelves fo niuch about a trifle : to hear their excla- 
 " mations, one would think the flate, without thefe bawlers, would be 
 " ruined ; as if the kingdom under Charlemagne, and fo many other 
 *' great kings, during whofe reigns neither advocates nor attorneys were 
 " heard of, was not in as flourifhing a condition as it is at prefent 
 " when we are devoured by thefe vermin." Sigogne afterwards, to 
 prove that the eflablifhment of advocates in France was not very an- 
 
 * Such as are ftiled cockneys at London, of thefe Memoirs, he propofes the means of 
 
 f Matthieu, in relating this incident, confiderably diminifhing the number of 
 
 torn. II. liv. iii. p. 478. feems, in liice man- procefles ; and 'tis for tiiis that endeavours 
 
 ner, to take the part of the advocates, and ought, indeed, to be chiefly ufed for bufi- 
 
 yet, for all this, every good man muft be of nefs, to remedy the ahufes of wliich he 
 
 the duke of Sully's opinion. In the fetiuel complains. 
 
 cien-t
 
 Book XIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 cient, produced the regiller of the chancery, of which the firrt: paper 
 is intituled, " A permiffion fo plead caufes by an advocate;" and per- 
 ceiving that he was hftened to with pleafure, he added, that this fci- 
 ence w?s eft'abiifned to the ruin of the nobihty and the people, and the 
 defî:ru(3ion of trade and agriculture. " There is not, faid he, any artill:, 
 ** or even any iimple labourer, that is not of more ufe to the com- 
 *' munity, than t'lis fwarm of men, who enrich themfelves by our 
 ** follies, and the artifices they have invented to fliflc truth, throw 
 ** down all right, and darken reafon. If we are fo blind," continued 
 he with a vivacity truly diverting, " that we will not, and fo un- 
 ** happy that we cannot do without them, nothing remains to be done 
 " but to command them to refume the exercife of their employment 
 " within eight days at fartheft, upon the conditions prefcribed by the 
 •' court, on pain of being obliged to return to the fliop or the plough 
 " which they have quitted, or elfe to ferve the ftate in Flanders with 
 ** a mufquet upon their fhoulders. I'll anfwer for it, if this method 
 " be taken with them, we (hall foon fee them run with eagernefs 
 " to refume thefe magnificent enfigns, like vermin towards a heap 
 " of wheat.'^ 
 
 There was not one in the company who could forbear fmiling at 
 this lively fally of Sigogne's, and the king was among the firft, and 
 confefTed that his arguments were very convincing ; but v.'hether it was 
 that he fufFered himfelf to be overcome by the folicitations * that were 
 made him, or alarmed by the fears of the confequences that might 
 attend hisjoining this new diforder to thofe troubles by which the king- 
 dom v/as then agitated, or that, as he afterwards declared, he had re- 
 ferved to himfelf the making one day fuch a general regulation in this 
 affair, that not only the advocates, but the attorneys and the wholebody 
 of the law fhould be comprehended in it, he confented that the 
 arret fliould, for this time continue without effedl : and thus was this 
 ludicrous bufinefs terminated ; for refledtions upon which, I refer the 
 reader to Sigogne's own words : fo the world was left to think that it 
 was I who made him fpeak them -f*. 
 
 * The medium made ufe of by the fame time allow them to make fuch remon-' 
 
 king's people, who underhand favoured ftrances as they fhould think reafonable, 
 
 the advocates in this afi'air, was, that the with regard to the exercife of their feveral 
 
 king fhould fend new letters to the parlia- employments, and as they were particularly 
 
 mcnt, whereby the advocates were ordered afliircd that they might aft as before, they 
 
 to refume and continue their funilions, on had no difficulty to fubmit thereto. De 
 
 condition, however, of obeying the arrets Thou, liv. cxxviii. Sept. an. 1602. 
 of parliament, and the ordinances of the f Lc Journal d'Henry IV. relates a lit- 
 
 fiates. But, as thefe letters did at the tie piece of hillory which I fliall fct down 
 
 Vol. II. S This
 
 130 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 1602. This naturally leads me to take notice of the great law-fuit com- 
 
 menced this year by the third eftate of Dauphiné againfl: the clergy 
 and nobility, upon the manner in which the taxes were fettled and 
 affized in this province : myfelf, together with thirteen other com- 
 miffioners, chofen amongft perfons of the higheft diftindtion in the 
 kingdom, were named to take cognizance of it, but it was fix years 
 before it could be decided ; the animofity between the parties con- 
 cerned was fo great, that there was a neceffity for fending a fécond 
 time to take information upon the fpot. I took a more fpeedy me- 
 thod to bring a man, named Joufleaume, to juftice j he had been a 
 receiver-general in the revenue, and, becoming a bankrupt, had 
 carried off a great deal of the royal money. I caufed him to be 
 feized at Milan, whither he had retired, and he was hanged on a 
 gibbet. All crimes that draw along with them the ruin of a multi- 
 tude of families, cannot be too feverely puniflied. The king again 
 fhewed himfelf folicitous for the intereft of his finances, in the affair 
 of the receivers and treafurers-general of Burgundy ; fome draughts 
 had been made on them for the charges of garrifons and works of for- 
 tifications, which they had not paid, either through negligence, or 
 with a bad defign. I advifed his majefly to fend thither a commif- 
 fary on whofe probity he could depend ; he did fb, and he began by 
 fufpending thofe men from their employments, and himfelf perform- 
 ed the duties of treafurer. The money that was expended upon this 
 occafion was raifed out of the falaries of thefe receivers and treafurers, 
 " That I, faid Henry, may not pay the penalty for the fault they 
 " have committed againft my fervice and their duty." 
 
 here. Henry one time hunting on the fide him have a piece of their roaft-meat, or to 
 of Grosbois, dropt his company, as he fre- give him leave to fit at one end of their ta- 
 quently did, and came by himfelf to Cre- ble, upon paying for it ; both which they 
 teil, which is a league on the other fide of refufed him. Upon this, Henry fent pri- 
 the bridge of Charenton, and that at noon- vately for Vitry, and eight or ten more of 
 day, and as hungry as a hunter. Going his attendants, whom he ordered to feize 
 into an inn, he inquired of the landlady if thefe folicitors, and carry them away to 
 fhe had any thing for him to eat ? To which Grofbois to have them well whipped, to 
 fheanfwered no, and that he was come too teach them more complaifance to gentle- 
 late, taking him only for a private gentle- nicn another time. " This the faid fieur 
 man. Henry then afked her, For whom is " Vitry favv puntSually and fpeedily per- 
 this roaft-meat I fee at the fire ? For fome " formed, fays the author, notwithftand- 
 gentlemen, replies (he, that are above, and " ing all the arguments, entreaties, and 
 whom I take to be folicitors. The king " remonftrances of the lawyers." 
 
 fent, in a civil manner, to aflc them to let 
 
 To
 
 Book Xm. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 13Ï 
 
 To prevent the exportation of gold and filver coin I found a me- 
 thod lefs tedious and levere thanpuniihments and confifcations, which 
 was only to raife their value *, there being no reafon why they fliould 
 
 1602. 
 
 * The crown called ecu d'or au foleil, 
 which was valued at fixty ibis tournois, was 
 raifed to fixty five ; that called ecu pifto- 
 let of fifty-eight fols, to fixty-tvvo, and fo 
 of the other goUl fpecies ; tfie filver franc 
 of twenty fols was raifed one fol and four 
 deniers, and the refi: in proportion. It 
 was in the month of September that this 
 double ordonnance pafl'ed, about the raifing 
 the value of money, and the re-eflablifhing 
 of reckoning by livres; for the reckoning by 
 crowns had only taken place about twenty- 
 five years before, that is, fmce the ordon- 
 nance of 1577, which had abrogated the 
 reckoning by livres. Matthieu very highly 
 approves of both thefe regulations of the 
 duke of Sully's, tom. II. liv. iii. p. 540. 
 Le Blanc, on the contrary, fays, p. 351. 
 372, et feq. that, whatever cogent reafons 
 they might have had for abrogating this 
 famous ordonnance of 1577, it was very ill 
 done, either with regard to the money it- 
 felf, becaufe the gold and filver fpecies 
 were afterwards raifed as much in feven 
 years alone, as they had been during the 
 ipace of feventy-five years before ; or with 
 regard to commerce, becaufe that goods 
 and merchandife were proportionably en- 
 hanced in their prices. The opinion of this 
 laft writer feems, to me, to be grounded 
 upon ftronger reafons. The reckoning by 
 Of owns had been in favour of thofe who 
 had their revenues in fdver, thofe who im- 
 proved their money in the public funds and 
 otherwife, and thofe who fold goods upon 
 credit payable at a certain time : the or- 
 donnance of 1577 fecured the efFeâs of a 
 confiderable number of the natives ; and 
 befides, if there had been any con- 
 fufion found in the coin, this neither 
 was, nor could be, the caufe of it, but only 
 the mifcrable condition into which the ci- 
 vil wars had reduced France. The duke 
 of Sully proje£ted thefe two regulations 
 here fpoken of, to prevent thefe diforders, 
 which were, according to him, the too 
 
 great plenty of foreign fpecies that, in com- 
 merce, occupied the place of our own ; 
 fecondly, the enhancement of the price of 
 merchants goods ; and laflly, the expor- 
 tation of the gold and filver coin to our 
 neighbours. It was equally eaiy to have 
 made him fenfible, that his complaints, in 
 all thefe refpefts, fignified nothing, any 
 more than the remedy which he applied to 
 them. We have already fhewn, a little 
 higher, in what fenfe it is that this quantity 
 of foreign coin, which abounds in our com- 
 merce, is an advantage; and if it could be 
 called an evil, the augmentation of the 
 nominal value of coin, to wit, in reckon- 
 ings, to which he has recourfe, would be 
 more proper to heighten than lefTen it. 
 
 As to the raifing of the price of goods, 
 the fame augmentation could not but 
 make way for it fliil more ; and the reafon 
 for obviating it, which he draws from the 
 computation by livres, will appear, to 
 every one, very infufficient, and even fri- 
 volous. Moreover, it appears to me, that 
 the enhancing of the price of goods follows 
 as a neceflary confequence and efFeâ of the 
 multiplication of gold and filver in Europe, 
 fince the difcov^ry of America. In order to 
 prevent it, we mufl have prohibited all 
 commerce, not only with Spain, whofe 
 mines furnifli us now with thefe metals, 
 but alfo with all our own neighbours, 
 among whom they circulate as well as 
 among us. A flate that fhould be conduc- 
 ted by this principle, would, among the 
 other fiâtes of Europe, make the fame 
 figure, as the republic of Lacedemon did 
 with refpe£l to the reft of Greece. The 
 only thing to be attended to, and which is 
 of very great confequence, is, that all the 
 merchandife and goods, and generally 
 whatever conftitutes a part of commerce, 
 fhould rife at the fame time and in the fame 
 proportion in value. If the produâion of 
 manufaftures be enhanced without raifing 
 the price of corn, for example, then agri- 
 
 S 2 
 
 fe.:
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIL 
 
 be carried out of the kingdom, but that they would pafs for more in 
 the neighbouring countries than at home. At the fame time, I fettled, 
 over all the kingdom, the way of reckoning by livres, inftead of crowns, 
 as had been till then the practice : by fome this may be thought an 
 
 culture is negleiled. If the wages of jour- 
 neymen be not proportioned to the one and 
 the other, thofe people can no longer live 
 and pay the taxes. As to the exporting of 
 coin out of the kingdom, which feems to 
 hav€ been the chief view of the duke of 
 Sully, it is true, that the augmentation of 
 its current value in reckoning might, in 
 fome meafare, prevent it, in annihilating 
 or diniinifiiing the profit of the dealers in 
 bullion; and, apparently, this was the only 
 reafon that determined him. The narrow 
 views of his age, with regard to the finan- 
 ces, and ftill more as to commerce, did 
 not allow him to fee that he deflroyed a 
 ilight corruption by one a great deal more 
 confiderable, nor fuffer him to go up to 
 the fourceof the evil: he would have per- 
 ceived that the advantage of commerce, 
 and conlequently the greateft quantity of 
 gold and filver, will remain in that nation 
 which fhall have made all others depend 
 moft upon them for riches, either natural 
 or acquired ; and that as long as the 
 ballance of trade fliall be in favour 
 of fome one neighbouring nation, this 
 prohibition of exporting gold and {ilver, 
 is neither reafonable, nor praticable. At 
 prefentjwhen we begin to fee a little more 
 clearly into theib matters, there is no one 
 but agrees, that all thefe regulations, and 
 this whole train of reafoning, did not rerxh 
 the end propofed. Though the exigency 
 of circumftances, which is almoft endleis, 
 does not permit either the providing agr.ïnû, 
 or the (ubjefting every thing to a iingle 
 rule, we may, however, aver, that on the 
 article of money and commerce, theie are 
 two general and very fimple maxims which 
 may be looked upon as invariable ; and thefe 
 are, to avoid, with the greateft care ima- 
 ginable, meddling with the coin, and en- 
 deavour, continually, to render the French 
 as laborious, induftrious, and frugal as pof- 
 fible. The frequent variations in the coin 
 give mortal wounds both to domeftic and 
 
 foreign trade, by the extinflion of credit, 
 the fliutting up of private purfes, the em- 
 barrafTment and difadvantage of exchange, 
 and the ruin of eilates : all this is palpable 
 and obvious. To this we may add, that the 
 king, who appears to be the only one who 
 gains by fuch proceedings, to put the cafe 
 impartially, always lofes confiderably more 
 thereby than he gains ; befides, that the 
 infolvency of his fubjeéts is an evil which 
 he always fhares with them, and even feels 
 much longer than they do ; all his expen- 
 ces incrcafe with the coin, fo as not to be 
 diminiihed even when that does. 
 
 The other principle has ftill lefs need of 
 proof. It feems, that nature has referved 
 to France, the fovereignty of trade, from 
 the advantage of her fituation, and the 
 goodnefs of her foil, which obliges a great 
 part of her neighbours to have recourfe to 
 her for all thofe things that fupply the firfl 
 and ellential necefiaries of lile : fhe has 
 no more to do than to fhare, at leaft 
 equally with them in the commerce of all 
 thofe things that ferve but for mere con- 
 veniency, or which luxury has introduced 
 into Europe. If the conlumption of the 
 latter fliould exceed the produce of the for- 
 mer, we fliall complain unjuftly of our con- 
 dition ; for to pretend to hinder the expor- 
 tation of our materials of gold and filver to 
 foreigners, when it is we that are indebted 
 to thef; foreigners, is endeavouring to 
 m-ake the eftedl ccafe, without removing 
 the caufe ; but to fût a Frenchman to com- 
 merce that is carried on hy fea, to nianu- 
 faiftures and arts, to hinder him as much as 
 pcffible from expending too much on things 
 'that come from abroad, and which are but 
 fuperàuities, and, on the other h.and, to 
 increafe his proper riches, by encouraging 
 the cultivation of his' lands ; this is what 
 we may truly call promoting tlie intL-reftof 
 trade. Befides Le Blanc and Matthieu, 
 confuit on tile fubjeâ: of this note De 
 Thou, liv. cxxix/Le Grai«, liv. viii. 'Pete- 
 
 ufelefs
 
 Book XîîI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ufolefs refinement, fince all the ways of reckoning mufl come to the 
 fame thing at lafc : I am, however, of opinion, experience having 
 fhewn me, that the cuflom of talking always of crovv'ns, for want of a 
 .denomination of a nioney ^lore convenient for petty traffic, had im- 
 
 Exe, and other writers of th^t time, in ci- 
 der to find out the hiftory of thefe regula- 
 tions of the finances and commerce ; for 
 -in reality the reafonings of thefe writers on 
 "this whole matter are but little fatisfaiSo- 
 ry : we might well fay of ihcm >\'hat the 
 duke of Sully faid of the parliament of Pa- 
 ïis, " They are mafters of arts which none 
 " of them know any thing of." Mem. 
 pour l'hift. de France. 
 
 As M. de Sully treats no mgre of mo- 
 ney, I will fupply that part from the fame 
 JjIeiiKiirs, torn.. II. p. 275, & feq. ;ho' 
 this waiter fçems not. even to ijnderftand the 
 ûv.ts of the queflion, and fpeaks not very 
 favourably of the king and his minifters. 
 " At that time," fays he, fpeakingof^ll 
 the deliberations which were entered into 
 upon this fubjeft in i6og, " there was 
 " brought upon the carpet, and propofed 
 *' to the council, a new edift for the 
 " coin, which they vi'anted to diminifh 
 " and alter, that is, to raife its value, 
 " and by the fame means to ruin the 
 " people. Every one murmured at this 
 *' propofal : the king alone finding his 
 " account in it, laughed at it, and at all 
 " the world, even at his own miniflers, 
 " and their remonftrances, as he did at 
 " the firft prefident of the mint (William 
 *' Le-Clerc) who being difconcerted in his 
 " fpeech, having been twice interrupted 
 *' by his majefty's breaking into a fit of 
 " laughter, which made him ftop fliort in 
 " the middle thereof; and upon his ma- 
 " jelly's obferving it, he fays to him, Go 
 " on, Mr. prefident, for I am not laughing 
 " at you, but at my coufin, the count of 
 " Solfions, who is near me, and tells me, 
 *' that he fmells a fhoulder of mutton. 
 " This feccnd ftroke ftruçk him quite 
 " dumb. lUppn which, the ,kii\g falling 
 -" into a fit of lajghter, went away and 
 " left him. A native of Perigord, who 
 " was one of the principal pcrfons that 
 
 " had communicated this projc£l of the 
 " ediit to the king, prefled much for its 
 " being put in execution. The king, who 
 " very well knew the iniquity of the edift, 
 " feeing himfelf continually teafed by this 
 " rude contractor, at length alked him 
 " what countryman he was ; to which he 
 V anfwered, I am a native of Perigord. 
 " Ventrefaintgris, replies the king, I al- 
 " >va>ys thought fo ; for in that country 
 " they are all falfe coiners. — On Saturday, 
 '^' the 5th of September, the court being 
 *' niet on the editde monies, rejected it 
 "entirely; Ncc dcl/cmus, nee poffuinus, we 
 " neither ought nor can, concluded they 
 " with one voice. The gentlemen be- 
 *' longing to the mint were fent for; a- 
 " mong whom one of the reformed reli- 
 " gion, called Bizeul, fpoke his fentiincnts 
 " very freely, for which he was highly 
 " commended ; and M. le Premier prefi- 
 " dent faid. Non in parabolis ijh- kcutits ejl 
 " nobis. It muft beobferved, that as foon 
 " as the people belonging to the coinage 
 " had entered the chamber, the firft pre- 
 " fident faid to them. Sit down and he 
 " covered, and you fhall fpeak prefently. 
 •" On Tuefday the 8th, in the evening, 
 *' M. de Sully went to fee the firft prcfi- 
 " dent, in order to prevail on him to pcr- 
 " fuade the court to pafs the edidfs ; but 
 " in this he found him inflexible : and as 
 " the prefident reprefented to him the in- 
 " juftice of it, M. de Sully anfwered, The 
 " king ought not to look upon that as un- 
 " juft which fuits his affairs. — On Tuef- 
 " day the 15th of September, the king 
 " fent his letters patent to the court, to 
 " prolong the parliament for eight days, 
 " during which time they were ordered 
 " to fet about the regifteringof the .edicts, 
 " two of which were in a manner rcvo- 
 " ked ; and as to the others, it was hoped 
 " they would die of themfelvcs." 
 
 perceptibly
 
 134- M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XIIL 
 
 1602. perceptibly raifed all that was bought or fold to more than its real 
 ' value. 
 
 The intereft of commerce was ftill more concerned in the news 
 the king received from feveral parts of the kingdom, that thofe who 
 had been employed to feek for mines, had difcovered a great number 
 of* gold and filver ones. This report was fpread at court with fo 
 many appearances of probability, that every one reprefenting to him- 
 felf the diredlion of this new labour as a fource of immenfe riches, 
 there was net one who did not ufe his utmoft endeavours to procure 
 the grant of it. Monfieur Le Grand obtained the office of fuperin- 
 tendant, and Béringhen that of comptroller general. This gave oc- 
 cafion for La Regnardiere, a buffoon whofe jefts were equally fatiri- 
 cal and agreeable, to fay, " that they could not have made a fitter 
 '♦ choice of a man for the direârion of the mines, than one who was 
 " himfelf a compofition of mines ■f." The improvement and work- 
 ing of filk, of which I (hall have more occafion to fpeak in the follow- 
 ing year, commenced in this, and an edidt was publifhed for the plant- 
 ing of mulberry trees. 
 
 Among all thefe different ediârs, none made fo much noife as that 
 againfl duels :|:. His majefty went fo far as to make death the punifh- 
 ment of thofe who difobeyed ; in which, I confefs, he atfled contrary 
 to my advice. I have too plainly declared my thoughts of this pernt- 
 
 * Le Septennaire mentions the places " profit, that M. De Thou had reafon for 
 
 where thefe mines of all forts were dif- " difTuading them from meddling with . 
 
 covered : " In the Pyrennees mines of talc " them ever fmce that time." liv. cxxix. 
 ■ " and copper, together with fome of gold f The jefi lies in the word mhics, which 
 
 " and filver; in the mountains of Foix, in French fignifies grimace and affectation. 
 *' mines of jet and precious ftones, and % This edifl, in which duelling is de- 
 
 " even carbuncles, tho' but hw ; in the clared to be high treafon or /dZf majcfiéy . 
 
 " landsof Gevaudan, and in theCevennes, was paffed at Blois in the month of June, 
 
 " mines of lead and tin ; in thofe of Car- and is a very fevere one : this is the 
 
 •' caffonne, mines of filver ; in thofe of edift which firfl gave the conftables and 
 
 " Auvergne, mines of iron ; in the Lyon- marechals of France a power of pro- 
 
 " nois near the village Saint-Martin, of hibiting violent methods, and appoint- 
 
 " gold and filver ; in Normandy, filver ing the reparation of the injuries re- 
 
 " and very good tin ; at Annonay in the ceived. This the parliament reitricfled, in 
 
 " Vivarais, mines of lead ; in La Brie the regiftring, to thofe rencountei's alone 
 
 *' and Picardy, mines of marcafite of that concerned the point of honour, and 
 
 *' gold and filver. Some of thefe mines, excepted all other crimes as debts, af- 
 
 " but efpecially thofe of gold and filver, faults, he. M. de Sully, in the courfe of 
 
 " are very difficult and troublefome to thefe Memoirs,- handles this afFair of duel- 
 
 *' work, and at the fame time of fo little ling at greater length. 
 
 cious
 
 Book XIIL M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 135 
 
 cious and favage abufe, to fear the accufation of having endeavoured 1602. 
 to tolerate it ; but I forefaw, that an excefs of feverity in the means 
 would be the principal obftacle to the execution. When it becomes 
 neceflary to declare the will of the fovereign to the fubjeâ:, it is of the 
 utmoft importance to examine carefully, whether the thing to be for- 
 bidden is of fuch a nature that the fear of death may prevent dif- 
 obedience; for otherwife thofe extremities are, in my opinion, 
 lefs efficacious than degradation or di(grace, or even than a pretty 
 high fine or forfeiture. If the pradice of duelling be ferioufly 
 attended to, it will be found to be of this nature ; for it is commonly 
 perfons of quality, and even of the greatefl diflindtion, who are guilty 
 of it j for whom folicitations are fo much the more ardent and fuccefs- 
 ful, as the punifhment with which they are threatened is great and 
 infamous : it is not therefore to be doubted, that many pardons will 
 be granted, the example, and the hope of which, are fufficient to 
 encourage others to infringe the law. It often happens, that thofe 
 punifliments are moft regarded, for which a pardon dare not, nor 
 cannot be implored. 
 
 Besides thofe embaflies I have already mentioned at the beginning 
 of this year, the king received a folemn deputation from the thirteen 
 Swifs Cantons : forty-two deputies from that nation came to Paris to 
 renew the alliance *, which had been the occafion of maréchal Bi- 
 ron's journey to thofe Cantons. I was appointed, together with Sillery, 
 De Vic, and Caumartin, to treat with them j but, not being able, oa 
 account of my other employments, to attend this bufmefs conftantly, 
 I fatisfied myfelf with getting exaâ: informations from Sillery of all 
 that pafled at their meetings. The only difficulty I ftarted, was con- 
 cerning the three millions that were granted them, befides the forty 
 thoufand crowns to which their ufual penfion was raifed : I could have 
 wiffied that they had dedudled certain funis paid on their account, 
 during the campaign in Savoy, and on fome other occafions : as for the 
 reft, thefe gentlemen thought good chear, and deep drinking with 
 them, the moft eflential parts of their reception. The king prefented 
 them with gold chains and medals, and fent back the pope's chamber- 
 lain, who came to compliment him in the name of his holinefs, 
 loaded with prefents : he gave his confent to the alliance which the 
 republic of Venice made with the Grifons againft Spain. 
 
 * See all the ceremonies of entries, au- tennaire, ann. 1602. Matthieu, torn. II. 
 dicnces, and performances of oaths, which liv. iii. p. 471, See. 
 were obferved on this occafion, in le Scp- 
 
 The
 
 i^ô • MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIÏ. 
 
 1D02. 
 
 The great armaments and other warlike preparations which that 
 crown was making for the following year, kept the crown of France 
 in continual attention to their motions, and were the caufe that Henry, 
 who held it for an inconteftable truth, that it was by the military power 
 alone a ftate could be rendered flourifliing, not only rejefted the pro- 
 pofal I made him to dilband part of his troops, particularly to'lelTeii 
 the number of his guards by twelve or fifteen hundred men, but alfo 
 that he took a refolution to make a new levy of fix thouTand Swifs ; 
 and it was with great difficulty that I prevailed upon him to defer this 
 levy till the month of September. He was more folicitous than ever 
 about the payment of his army, and I was obliged to the conflable for 
 having folicited with great earneflinefs the payment of my company 
 of gendarmes. And at laft he determined to take another journey to 
 Calais, which was the moft confiderable of all his majefty made this 
 year, except that into the provinces. 
 
 Henry took his route through Verneuil * towards tlie latter end of 
 the month of Auguft, leaving his queen in the fame condition (he was 
 the preceding year, that is, far advanced in her pregnancy, for flic 
 lay in of Madame her eldeft daughter, in November -f-. He re- 
 commended to me with great earnefi:nefs to be afliduous about her, 
 and endeavour to make her approve of this journey; as likewife to 
 procure her every kind of diverfion that might alleviate her concerri 
 during the firfi; days of his abfence. He never wrote to me without 
 making inquiry about the ftate of her health, and the manner in which 
 fhe pafTed her time: and it may be truly faid, that he never omitted 
 giving her every inftance of relpeft and tendernefs that was able to 
 make her forget the uneafmefs flie received from his amours. It was 
 about this time that he legitimated the fon he had by the marchionefs 
 de Verneuil |, which was among the number of thofe things that gave 
 the greateft oifence to the queen. Henry was detained a little time at 
 Monceaux by a fever, occafioned by a cold he got in walking late in 
 • the evening to fee his mafons work ; the remedy he made ufe of was,, 
 to go to the chace next day. As foon as I had acquainted him at 
 Boulogne, that every thing relating to the queen was in fuch a fituation 
 
 * VerneuH, near Senlis, a caftte which born on the 22d of November, 1602, and 
 
 he had given'to his mil^refs, mademoiftlle married to Philip IV. of Spain in 1615. 
 ii'Entragues, and from which (he took the J Henry de Bourbon, duke de Verneuil : 
 
 title of marchionefs of Verneuil. he was at firft bifliop of Metz, and after- 
 
 t Elizabeth, a daughter of France, was wards mairied Charlotte Seguier, 
 
 as
 
 Book XIII, MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 as he wiflied, he wrote to me to come to him in this city, with the 
 prefident Jeannin, whom he expedled to have occafion for. 
 
 It was from this place that his majefty was a witnefs of part of the 
 event and exploits of the campaign between the Spaniards and the 
 Flemifli, without having any inclination to difirm, whatever adu- 
 rance might be given him by the king of Spain, till he had feen what 
 turn affairs would take in the Low Countries ; where, however, they 
 ftill continued to be on the fame footing as before. The fiege of 
 Oflend was not carried on with fo much vigour by the befiegers, as it 
 was fuftained by the befieged. Prince Maurice ofNaflau, after con- 
 tinuino; fome time at Berg;, uncertain of what he fliould next under- 
 take, went on the 19th of September to invefl Grave, and entrenched 
 himfelf, not doubting but he fliould receive fome oppofition in this 
 enterprize. Accordingly the admiral of Arragon, in the abfence of 
 the arch-duke Albert, who was detained by ficknefs at BrufTels, en- 
 deavoured, by means of a bridge which he threw over the river, to 
 beat up one of the quarters of the befiegers, and to fuccour the place; 
 but he did not fucceed : and he had even the mortification to find, 
 that many of his Spanifli companies mutinied, and, after feparating 
 from the main body of his army, poflefl'ed themfelves of Hoeftrate 
 and Dele. He took fuch wrong methods to engage them to return, 
 that they came to a refolution to apply to the prince of Orange, who 
 gave them the city of Grave for a retreat, which he had taken, and 
 which thefe Spaniards reftored to him, when the ravages and violences 
 they committed upon the territories of the arch-duke obliged him 
 to treat with them, and to accept of very flrange conditions from 
 them *. 
 
 The council of Spain, through adefire of carrying on the war, re- 
 folved to make new and more vigorous efix)rts. A fquadron of twelve 
 large gallies and pinnaces, fitted out at Sicily with great care, manned 
 with a fufficient number of foldiers, and plentifully fupplied with all 
 neceffary provifions, failed for this purpofe out of the Spanlfli ports, 
 to cruife in the channel : the command of this fquadron was given to 
 Frederic Spinola, coufin to the marquis of that name, whoconduiSed 
 the fiege of Oftend ; he flattered himfelf that he fhould become mailer 
 of the fea, and complete the ruin of the Flemifli. But this proved 
 
 * See in the hiftorians the particulars of all thefe expeditions, vi'hich arc here only 
 'briefly related. 
 
 Vol. II. T a vain
 
 138 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XI1Î. 
 
 1602. a vain hope; of twelve veffels, two of them perifhed ere he had quit- 
 ted the coafts of Spain ; the ten others, meeting with a Dutch fqua- 
 dron,, were almoft all either taken or funk > the laft that efcaped, 
 and in which Spinola himfelf was, happened to run a-ground within 
 view of Calais, but fo difabled by the cannon, and in fuch a fl-iattered 
 condition, that the flaves who rowed it having revolted and fled, the 
 general found himfelf obliged to land alone, and with great labour, at 
 Calais, from whence he went to Bruflels, to complain to the arch- 
 duke of the fca and the winds. 
 
 Spain made herfelf amends for thefe misfortunes by the acquifition 
 of the marquifate of Final, which was taken by the count of Fuentes. 
 There was not the leaft fliadow of a pretence for this ufurpation ; this 
 little flate, which is on the coaft of Geneva, being inconteftably a fief 
 of the empire ; neverthelefs, when the emperor, to preferve, in appear- 
 ance at leafl, the right of the empire, offered to fend commiflioners 
 to difcufs this affair upon the fpot, his offer was rejedled with con- 
 tempt by the king of Spain *. He ufed the fame violence with regard 
 to Piombino, a fief likev.'ife of the empire, which afforded him a con- 
 venient port ; and had likewife the fame views upon Embden, when 
 he undertook to fupport againft the inhabitants -f- the lord of this city, 
 although he was avowedly a proteftant; but in this he did not fuc- 
 ceed ; the citizens of Embden maintained their liberty againft both 
 the one and the other, and joined themfelves to the ffates. 
 
 The duke of Savoy fucceeded no better in the attempt he ordered" 
 d'Albigny:}:tomake upon the city of Geneva. This expedition ended 
 unfortunately for the aflailants, although they had opened themfelves 
 a paffage into the city, by applying foldiers to the walls, and above 
 two hundred of them had already entered, after cutting the centinel's 
 throat, whom they had forced to tell them the watch-word, which- 
 ferved them to get clear of the patrole till they had found their way 
 through the firft guard ; and now they thought themfelves fecure of 
 the city : but the citizens, deriving new ftrength and courage from the 
 extremity they beheld themfelves in, tharged them with fo much 
 fury, that they drove them back, and forced them to abandon their 
 city. Some of thefe Savoyards threw themfelves off' the walls, to ef- 
 
 * The marquis of Final, by his impor- an. 1598, and their conclufion, an. 1602. 
 tunities, obtained a penfion during his life. % Charles de Simiane d'Albigny. De 
 
 f He was called count d'Ort Frife. See Thou, liv. 129. Septen. an. a6o2. Mat- 
 the origin of thefe troubles in Chron. Sept. thieu, ibid. 544. 
 
 cape
 
 Book XIII. MEMOIRS OPSULLY. 
 
 cape the rage of the enemies ; many others were taken, and hanged 
 without mercy. Spain entered very deep into that black defign, 
 which was followed by a peace between the duke of Savoy and the re- 
 public of Geneva *. 
 
 The revolt of Battori from the emperor continued the war in 
 Hungary : the duke of Nevers -j- went thither, in expedlation of fuc- 
 
 * The treaty was concluded the follow- 
 ing year at Rarnilly, through the mediation 
 of the Swifs Cantons. Siri, ibid. p. 200. 
 
 t Charles de Gonzague, dukeof Mantua, 
 
 de Nevers, de Cleves, and de Rhetel, who 
 
 died in 1637. See howla Chronol, Septen. 
 
 relates an aflion, of which M. de Sully 
 
 fpeaks with a kind of contempt. " The 
 
 " duke of Nevers thinking by his own 
 
 *' example to recal the courage of thofe 
 
 " who withdrew from danger, and to in- 
 
 " duce others to come on, went diredlly 
 
 " to the breach, trampling over the dead, 
 
 " the wounded, and even thofe that were 
 
 " flying ; but he received there the fhot of 
 
 " a large arquebufe that was fired amidft 
 
 *' a great number of other arms, from one 
 
 " of the angles of the faid breach, that 
 
 " {truck him juft on the left fide, pene- 
 
 " trating into the breaft, near the heart 
 
 " and lungs ; but it was condu£led fo 
 
 " providentially, that, neither breaking or 
 
 " hurting any noble part, it gained him 
 
 " as much lafting honour, as it fhewed a 
 
 " great miracle in his prefer/ation." Let 
 
 us likewife hear this writer concerning the 
 
 death of the duke de Mercœur : "• Having 
 
 " an inclination, lays he, to return to 
 
 " France, in order to prepare for fome 
 
 " greater expedition againft: the Turks, he 
 
 " went from Vienna to Prague, where he 
 
 " took his leave of the emperor : but 
 
 " while he was at Nuremberg he was 
 
 *' feized with a peftilential fpotted fever. 
 
 '< No fooner was the hoft brought him, 
 
 " than the moment he faw it, though in 
 
 " a languifliing and weak fiate of body, 
 
 " yet of a vigorous and found mind, having 
 
 " more faith than life (the device of the 
 
 " dukeof Mercœur being, plus fidei quam 
 
 *' vitœ) he threw himfelf out of bed, and 
 
 ^' falling prollrate upon the ground, adored 
 
 " his Saviour, uttering the moft devout 
 " ejaculations." The whole of what this 
 author adds concerning the afts, fayings, 
 and fentiments, of the duke of Mercœur, 
 till the moment of his death, is quite af- 
 fefling, and ferves fufRciently to form a 
 high elogiumof his character : " His fu- 
 " neral oration was pronounced in the 
 " church of Notre Dame at Paris, by mon- 
 " fieur François de Selles, coadjutor and 
 " bifhop elect of Geneve. The Turks 
 " imagined that the affairs of the Chri- 
 " flians did not profper but where-ever this 
 " prince was." After the elogium of his 
 family, the hiflrorian paffes to that of his 
 virtues : " He was one of the moft tem- 
 " perate men in the world as to diet, lb as 
 " only to eat when obliged through necef- 
 " fity, and he drank almoft nothing but 
 " water : he was no lefs abftemious in 
 " other temporal enjoyments ; humble in 
 " the poffeflion of all thofe high honours 
 " and great favours heaven had heaped up- 
 " uponhim,and neverabufing any of them ; 
 " for he was equally acceffible to rich and 
 " poor; moderate in his recreations; he 
 " had a great contempt for idle aflemblies ; 
 " fo that what time remained for amufe- 
 " ment he employed in reading ufeful 
 " books. He had an exaft fkill in pra£li- 
 " cal mathematics ; he alfo was eloquent, 
 " and would gracefully deliver his elegant 
 " fentiments not only in French, but like- 
 " wife in the German, Italian, and Spa- 
 " nifh tongues, in vv-hich he was more than 
 " moderately skilled ; and yet he never 
 " employed his elocution but to enforce 
 " things that were ufeful, praifc-worthy, 
 " and virtuous." The defcription which 
 this writer afterwards gi\es, with regard to 
 his performing the duties of religion and 
 thofe of his ftation, his piety, his prudence. 
 
 T2 
 
 ceeding
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIIî. 
 
 ceeding to the pofl: and reputiition of the duke of Mercosur ; but lay- 
 ing liege to Buda after Pefl had been taken by the Chriftians, the 
 Turks, who on their fide had, at length, won Alba regalis, haflened 
 thither with fuch numerous forces, that they forced them to raife ths 
 liege ; and the duke of Nevers retreated very much wounded. An 
 aftion of George Bafte, the imperial general, has been very much 
 and very defervedly applauded. The rebels in Battori's party having 
 feized Biftrith, Bafle retook this place by a capitulation, which dur- 
 ing his abfence was violated by fome German foldiers. As foon as he 
 was apprifed of it at his return, he hanged up all thofe foldiers, and 
 out of his own money fatisfied the inhabitants for the damage they 
 had received. The rebels were fo greatly affedled with the gencrofity 
 of this action, that they all fubmitted to the emperor, and demanded 
 no other fecurity than the general's word. 
 
 and his other virtues, form altogether a for religion made him undertake a confpi- 
 
 picture which may ferve for a model to the racy againft his fovereign. Matthieu, ibid', 
 
 great of our times, if we except that an 456, fpeaks of him in the feme raanaer. 
 immoderate ambition and iniftaken zeal 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XIV. 
 
 TH E city of Metz had been, for feme time, fliaken with thofe 1603. 
 inteftine divifions, which broke out in the beginning of this {yW\J 
 year. The duke of Epernon, who was governor of it, and 
 of the whole country of Meffin, had placed Sobole * and his brother 
 as his Ueutenants there ; who made fuch an ill ufe of their authority, 
 that they were foon hated by the whole body of the citizens. This 
 hatred was flrengthened by the difference of their religions ; and there 
 was fuch a general outcry amongfl the citizens and country people, 
 againft the lieutenants, that d'Epernou was obliged to go himièlf to 
 Metz, to hear the complaints of both parties, and to endeavour to 
 conciliate them to each other. Sobole complained, that the city re- 
 fufed to furnifli the troops with victual, and the city, in their turn, 
 threw the whole blame upon Sobole. Some difputes had alfo rifen 
 concerning a certain Provençal prifoner at Vitry ; which, through 
 rancour and a defire of revenge, occafioned feveral other matters 
 lefs confiderable ; and thefe heats had already proceeded fo far as to 
 make a revolt be apprehended. 
 
 * Raymond de Comminges, lord of Sobo'e, and his brother, gemkmen of Guicony. 
 
 Thiu
 
 142 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y, Book XIV. 
 
 The duke of Epernon was foon convinced that the two Soboles * 
 had not juftice on their fide, at leafl, with regard to the firft com- 
 plaint, which was indeed the chief, and by them made the occafion of 
 a quarrel, with no other view, than to afford them a pretence for open- 
 ing the magazines of the citadel, which was never permitted but in 
 cafe of a war or a fiege, and tl)is to make themfelves maflers of them. 
 D'Epernon would have been glad to have pacified matters, without 
 being obliged to deprive his two creatures of their pofts j for he well 
 knew, that this was an exertion of authority, which he would have 
 fbme difficulty to fupport himfelf in, the two brothers being at the 
 head of a party, flrong enough to oppofe the governor as well as the 
 citizens. 
 
 Things were in this flate, when the king received advice of 
 what was doing at Metz : he lent me notice that he would come to 
 the arfenal to confer with me, and defired that I would have a fupper 
 prepared for him, and fix other perfons whom he fhould bring with 
 him. He made me follow him alone into the great flore-houfes of 
 cannons and arms, and, beginning, as ufual, to difcourfe about the 
 fituation of affairs within the kingdom, with refpeft to the malecon- 
 tents, he told me the news he had jufl received from Metz. Henry, 
 without anyhefitation,refolved upon taking a journey thither, upon his 
 refleding that if Metz, a city fb very lately difmembered from the 
 empire, fliould unfortunately happen, in the prefent conjuncture, to 
 feparate itfelf from France, it would be a difficult matter to recover iu 
 Several other political motives made this journey abfolutely necelTary, 
 befides that of taking from the duke of Epernon a citadel, which he 
 might make ufe of to very bad purpofes, and a conliderable extent of 
 country, wherein, under the reign of Henry the third, he had be- 
 haved more like a fovereign prince than a governor; and, upon a fup- 
 pofition that he fliould one day carry his great defigns into execution, 
 there would be a necefTity for having, in this country, fo important 
 by its fituation, a governor from whom he could promife himfelf more 
 afîiflance than he could expert from d'Epernon. It was probable at 
 leafl that fome favourable opportunity would offer to join Lorrain to 
 France, and in that cafe it imported his majefly highly to go himfelf 
 in perfon, and procure a perfed knowledge of this flate, and give the 
 
 * Sobple. accufed the city of Metz of the king of Spain. This acciifation ap- 
 holding intelligence with the count of peared to be falle. Vie du duc d'Epernon, 
 Mansfield, in order to furrender jtfelfto p. 217. 
 
 government
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 government of that province, which was upon its confines, to a man 
 on whom he could depend. This journey hkewiie would be of ufe to 
 him, affording him an opportunity of becoming acquainted with fome 
 of the princes of Germany, and of founding their inclinations with re- 
 fpedl to the houfe of Auftria, to know if he might expedt any afliftance 
 from them in an advantageous conjuncture, and even to attach them 
 to himfelf, by reconciling them to one another, for he was not igno- 
 rant that many differences fubfifted amongil them. 
 
 It was agreed between us, that his maiefty fhould fet out without 
 lofs of time, to the end that, by appearing at Metz with his whole 
 court (for it was refolved that the queen fliould accompany him) at a 
 time when the two faftions not having yet proceeded fo far in their 
 inlblence as to embrace a party contrary to the king, both the one 
 and the other fliould think of nothing but of juftifying their conduâ, 
 and fubmitting to his determination. The king would not even flay 
 till the coats of his guards-, for about this time they were to be all 
 new cloathed, were ready ; but leaving me at Paris to correfpond witli 
 him, ordered only Villeroi among his lecretaries of flate to attend him, 
 and left Paris the latter end of February, notwithflanding the rigour 
 of the feafon, which made the roads very bad for the ladies to travel, 
 and took his rout by La-Ferté-fur-Jouarre, Dorman-liir-Marne, Eper- 
 nai, Chalons-fur-Marne, and Clermont : the court flopped at Verdun, 
 and four or five days after arrived at Metz by Frezne-en-Verdunois. 
 
 Henry's arrival put an end to all difputes, and nothing was talked 
 of but fubmifBon and obedience: not but Sobole, who was fenhble 
 this affair would be terminated by his expulfion, had ambition and re- 
 folution enough to maintain himfelf in the citadel in fpite of his ma- 
 jefty, and difclofed his thoughts to his particular friends; but the mofl 
 prudent amongft them reprefented to him, that, if he engaged in fuch 
 a dafign, he would be irretrievably ruined ; fo that, fubmitting to the 
 arret for his banifliment, he gave up the citadel without making any 
 conditions, and quitted Metz and the whole counriy of Mefîin. The 
 king appointed Montigny * to be his lieutenant in this province, in the 
 
 * Francis de la Grange, lord of Mon- in 1617. His brother v/as Antony, lord 
 
 tigny, Sery, &c. was chief flcward of the of Arquien, commandant of the citadel of 
 
 houfhold to Henry III. governor of Berry, IVIetz, governor of Calais, Sancerre, &c. 
 
 Blois, Scc. knight of the order of the Holy- He is mifcalled by fome, John-James 
 
 Ghofl, camp-mafter-general of the light- d'Arquien ; and d'Arcy, by father Daniel, 
 
 horfe, governor of Paris, afterwards of John- James d'Arquien was nephew of • 
 
 Metz, the Pays Meffin, Touj, and Ver- maréchal de Montigny. 
 duD, at hû, maréchal of France, and died 
 
 room
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIV. 
 
 room of Sobole, and d'Arquien his brother to adl as lieutenaat for the 
 governor in the city and cafHe of Metz. Montigny, for this new 
 poll, quitted his government of Paris, the falary of which, however, 
 he received this year. It was thought that d'Epernon was far from 
 being fatisfied with all thefe changes, as may be eafily imagined, the 
 two lieutenants being under no obhgation to him for tlieir preferment ; 
 but he could have nothing to fay, he liimfelf, through neceffity, being 
 the firft to require the banilhment of the two Sobole?, fo that every 
 thing feemed to be done with his confent. 
 
 I HAVE taken this whole detail from the letters his majefty honoured 
 •me with during his flay at Metz, in which he informed me fuccindlly 
 of all the incidents, and dwelt flill longer upon the manner in which 
 he was received at Metz, and upon the city itfelf, which he faid was 
 three times larger than Orleans, and finely fituated, but that the caille 
 was not worth any thing; he likewife told me, that he wiflied for my 
 prefence in that country, that he might fend me to vifit the frontier, 
 and that before fix days, he fliould put every thing in fuch good 
 order, as to be able to leave Metz. In efïeâ;, the king accomplilhed 
 it in much lefs time, and was only detained there by an indilpofition, 
 that obliged him to take Ibme medicines, after which he found him- 
 I'elf quite well, although it was followed by a fit of the ague, which 
 •be thought had been occafioncd by a cold. The duchefs of Bar, 
 iîfler to his majefiy, came to Metz on the fixteenth of March, and 
 the duke de Deux-Ponts, with his wife and children, arrived three 
 days afterwards. The remainder of the time his majefty ftaid in this 
 province was employed in concluding a marriage between mademoi- 
 lelle de Rohan, and the young duke de* Deux-Ponts ; in compofing 
 a difference between the cardinal of Lorrain, and the prince of Bran- 
 denbourg'f-, concerning the biflioprick of Stralbourg, uhich was ac- 
 complilhed by dividing the revenue of this billioprick equally between 
 them, without having any regard to their titles and pretenfions; in re- 
 floring tranquility to that city, and in being ferviceable to all theprinces 
 who required his interpofition in any of their affairs. The name of 
 
 * John II. duke of Deux-Ponts, of a fhopric of the pope .; and the proteftants, 
 
 branch of the houfe of Bavaria, married on their part, got John-George, brother 
 
 Catherine the daughter of Henry duke of of the eledlor of Brandenbourgh, eleffed ; 
 
 Rohan. whence a war arofe, which cominued till 
 
 t John Manderfcheidt, the catholic bi- this year. See the hiilorians, Baflbmpicrre's 
 
 fhop of Strafbourg, dying in 1594, cardi- Memoir?, vol.1. Septennaire, &c. 
 7;al Charles of Lorrain obtained this bi- 
 
 Hen 
 
 7
 
 BookXIV. memoirs O F s U L L y. 14 j 
 
 Henry became fo revered in this country, that fcveral Ibvereign princes 1603. 
 of Germany took a relblution to come thither and pay their refpeds 
 to him, to offer him their fervice, and demand his protedion ; which, 
 however, they could only do afterwards, and by amballadors, the ne- 
 ceffary preparations for their equipages taking up more time than his 
 majelty had determined to ftay at Metz. There were only the cardi- 
 nal of Lorrain, the duke de Deux-Ponts, the marquis of Brandenbourg 
 and Pomerania, the landgrave of Heffe, and three or four others 
 whofe dominions lay neareft the Rhine, that came thither in perfon. 
 
 The Jefuits, who ever (ince their banifhment had been ufing their 
 litmoft endeavours to procure their re-eftablifhment in France, ap- 
 peared no lefs felicitous to make their court to the king ; for this 
 purpofe, they made ufe of the good offices of the fathers of their 
 order at Verdun *, fupported by La-Varenne, who declared himfelf 
 their protevflor, that they might one day become his, and repay his 
 zeal by the advancement of his children, for whom he already 
 thirfted after the moft eminent dignities in the church. D'Offat, 
 though not in France, laboured with equal ardour and fuccefs in their 
 favour. The ambitious délire of being arbitrator of the affairs of 
 Europe had often made this man undertake to treat of matters quite 
 foreign to his commiffion : the obftacles he raifed at Rome to the 
 marriage of the princefs Catharine, the king's fifter, is one proof of 
 it, and his folicitations for the Jefuits another ; for the re-eftablifh- 
 ment of this fociety was regarded by him, Villeroi, Jeannin, and other 
 creatures of the Roman court in France, to be the moft effential 
 part of that fyftem of politics, which they endeavoured to have pre- 
 ferred there, to that purfued by the council. 
 
 D'OssAT, by printing his letters, which -f prove the truth of my 
 ^ffertions concerning him, feems not to be folicitous about concealing 
 
 * The fathers Ignatius Armand, pro- kept them the whole day with him. They 
 
 vincia!, Chiiteiller, Broflard, and La-Tour, returned on Eafter Monday, and the king 
 
 introduced by La-Varenne, came on Wed- promifed to recal them, and even ordered 
 
 nefday in Paffion week to throw them- th'e father provincial to come to him at Pa- 
 
 felves at the king's feet, and to implore his ris, and bring father Cotton with him. " I 
 
 Favour for their rc-admi/Troir into France. " will have you with me, added he, for I 
 
 Henry IV. would not fuffer the provincial, " think you ufeful to the public, and to 
 
 who (poke for the whole order, to addrefs "my kingdom." He difmiflèd them, after 
 
 him kneeling. When he had done, the having embraced them all four. De Thou, 
 
 king anfwered them, that, for his part, he b. cxxix. Chronol. Sept. anno 1603. MSS. 
 
 was not an ill-wiftier to the Jefuits : he Biblioth. Royale, vol. 9129, &c. P. Mat- 
 
 'required them to give him, in writing, thieu, vol. II. b. iii. p. 556. 
 what they had been faying to him, and f To fupport thel'e accufations brought 
 
 Vol. II, U his
 
 146 
 
 M E M O I R- s O F SULLY. 
 
 Book Xm 
 
 1603. 
 
 his true fentiments from the public; but, if he is inexcufable for hav- 
 ing ahnofl always obferved acondufc quite oppofite to that which the: 
 gratitude he owed to his prince and benefaélor ought to have fug- 
 gelled to him, he deferves ftill greater reproaches for having endea- 
 
 againfl: cardinal d'Ofiat, the aiuhor quotes 
 fourteen letters, taken out of the collec- 
 tion printed in 1627, eight of them to the 
 king, and fix to M. de Villeroi : and he 
 principally fixes on two of the fix latt men- 
 tioned, of which he has even given an ab- 
 llraâ:. There are fome errors in thefe quo- 
 tations, which may be placed to the prin- 
 ter's account; but truth compels us to ac- 
 knowledge, that there are others of more 
 moment than mere faults of the impref- 
 fion, which may be laid to the charge of the 
 pretended author of the memorial from 
 Rome ; and that though the abftrafl: of 
 thefe letters be conformable to the words 
 of the text, yet it may be faid to be not 
 more exadl on that account, fmce one 
 cannot help taking notice of the vifible at- 
 tempt to fupprefs thofe explanations and 
 expedients which foften, and even fome- 
 times totally deftroy the bad conftruitions 
 which it has been endeavoured to put on 
 them. I apprehend it will be neccffary 
 here to make fome fhort obfervations on 
 each of thofe letters, as well to ftand in the 
 place of a difquiiltion, more fatirical than 
 hiftorical, which I thought it incumbent 
 on me to fupprefs, as to do juftice where it 
 is due, and to make known the real fenti- 
 ments of a man, efteemed amongft: us as a 
 great negotiator, and a very able politician. 
 The firfl: of the eight letters to the king 
 (though the author reckons only feven of 
 them) is da*ed the 19th of February, 1600. 
 It only contains an accotuit given by the 
 cardinal d'Ofl'at to his majeftv, of Ibme 
 complaints made by the pope, by reafon of 
 the king's having created M. de ha'Iire- 
 mouille, who was a proteflant, a duke 
 and a peer of France, and of his intending 
 to make him admiral afterwards, as he had 
 been in'brmed. D'Ofiat does not, in. this 
 letter, fay any thing as being his o\.MiMen- 
 timent, and even takes fome pains to juf- 
 tify H'.nry IV. In the fécond letter of the 
 25th ol April, it is a^ain the pope who iu- 
 
 fiftj on the publication of the council of 
 Trent, and the re-admilTion of the Jefuits 
 into France, and who, at the fame time, 
 complains of fome abufes in the Gallican 
 church ; to which the cardinal makes no . 
 other anfv/er, but that his majefty fincerely 
 labours to give his holinefs all poffible fatis-r 
 faflion. The third of the 22d of May, 
 the fourth of the 17th of June, and the 
 fifth of the 30th of the fame month, turn 
 on the affair of the difpenfation for the 
 duke and dutchtfs of Bar: he therein ac- 
 quaints the king with the difficulties that 
 affair meets with at Rome ; he adds hjs . 
 own opinion, which, in. truth, is not in fa^- 
 vour of his majefty's intentions, but never- 
 thelefs does not prevent his being ready to 
 fécond them, by all the reafons he can 
 think of, and hisfhewinghimfelf, above ail 
 things, exceeding fenfible of the fhame that 
 would redound to the houfe of France, if, 
 as the duke of Bar fometimes gave out, it 
 fhould be determined by the court of Lorr 
 raine to fend the princefs back to France. . 
 The fixth letter of the 26th of November, 
 1 60 1, contains nothing for which this pre- 
 late can be blamed, but his difcovering, 
 perhaps with too much complaifance, to 
 Henry IV. the dcfign his holinefs had 
 formed, on the death of queen Elizabeth, 
 to transfer the -crown of England to the 
 houfe of Parma. In the feventh of the 22d 
 of December in the fame year, d'Offat alfo, 
 polTibly with too much zeal, fuftains cer- 
 tain rights of the pope, in the matter of 
 eleâions. His fentiments, which muft ap- 
 pear to be fingular in France, oblige me 
 to (et forth fome of the terms he employs. 
 " If the popes, fays he, have encroached , 
 " on the liberties of the church, the kings, 
 " fire, (I iay this only to yourfeif, and 
 " even in doing fo, fhew the great opinion 
 " I have of your gen.crofity and goodnefs) 
 " have made no Icfs attempts on their 
 " kingdoms, and even their churches ; and 
 «< if <■'■'■■ fhould be reduced to their ori- 
 
 voured
 
 Boo^ XIV. MEMt^îRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ■voured both in his difcourfe and in his writings, to give a bad im- 
 .preflion of the king and his minircers. When removed from the center 
 of bufinefs, all the informations he could obtain muft be through the 
 ■canal of wretches, to whom a man of fenfe and judgment ought to 
 
 r47 
 
 i6o' 
 
 *' ginal ftate, as is attempted to be done on 
 " your fide in the pope's cafe in regard to 
 '" the elections, the kings would be greater 
 ■*' fufFerers by it than the pop^s." 
 
 The firfl: of the fix letters, directed to 
 M. de Villeroi, is dated the 23d of July 
 '1621. Our author's exceptions to this 
 îetter are becaufe d'Ofl'at therein maintains, 
 ■with fome warmth, that the proteflants 
 ought not to be fufiered in the Italian cities, 
 ceded to the king by the treaty of Savoy. 
 The fécond of the 23d of September, is 
 mifdated. If the author meant to fpeak 
 of that of the 3d of September, he is fo 
 much the more in the wrong, becaufe the 
 Spaniards are handled very roughly in that 
 letter : but he pTobably fpeaks of that of 
 the 17th of that month, for there the pre- 
 tended reformed religion, and the cities of 
 Sa\'oy, are again brought in queftion. The 
 third of the i6th of December 1602, on 
 the affairs of the duchefs of Ear, contains 
 this circumfl:ance in favour of d'OiFat, that 
 he therein declares the fufpicion he had con- 
 ceived, that the duke of Loriaine might 
 have fome evil intentions againfi: her. The 
 fame thing may be faid of the fourth of the 
 30th of December, in which his eminence 
 jeems perfuaded, that Spain appears to enter 
 fo frrongly with the pope, into the affair of 
 the fucceflion to the crown cf England, for 
 no other reafon than to cover her own de- 
 figns with the cloak of religion. As to the 
 fifth of the 7th, or rather the 27th of Janu- 
 ary 1603, which is one of the two the 
 ■author applies himfelf to cenfure particu- 
 larly, becaufe it points out, though but in 
 general terms, the abufes in the govern- 
 ment of France ; he is doubly to blame for 
 concealing that d'Offat adds, at the fame 
 lime, that the wifdom of Henry IV. had 
 already redreffed them in part ; fince thofe 
 words contain the real meaning, and an ex- 
 planation of the cardinal's fentiments, and, 
 at the fame time, a commendation which 
 might be made to rebound from thgnce on 
 
 M. de Rofny. The fixth of the loth of 
 February, is produced as be-ing the moft 
 vehement ; and, in truth, in this letter he 
 expreffes himfelf with more freedom, on 
 the evils with which the kingdom is inter- 
 nally affli(îtcd, on the injuftice of the war 
 cnrried on againft Spain in Flanders, and on 
 the advantage of uniting the two kingdoms 
 of France an J Spain in intereft and politics, 
 by the marriage of the dauphin and infanta;. 
 yet, v/hen all thefe circumflances are 
 drawn together, and placed in the moft un- 
 favourable point of light, as the author has 
 done, he fhould, in juflice, have reinarked 
 that d'Offat, in this letter, candidly fiâtes 
 every fide of the queftion ; that he fays, 
 he is convinced the Spahiards difcover a de- 
 fire for an alliance with us, only to gain 
 time to do their own bufinefs, and to amufe 
 the king v, ith a treaty, to furprile him the 
 better afterwards ; that he inveighs, per- 
 haps with equal force, againft the rapaci- 
 culnefs, ambition, arrogance, and perfidy 
 o( the council of Madrid. Certainly, it is 
 not the proper time to fhew this prelate's 
 opinion, whilft he is thus balancing the 
 rtafons on each fide ; but when he recapi- 
 tulates what he has been faying in this letter, 
 which is very long, he at laft fpeaks in his 
 own name : and this is the manner in 
 which he delivers his fentiments. " Upon 
 " the whole, I apprehend that his holi- 
 " nefs ought to be undeceived, in the 
 " wrong notions he has formed of us ; that 
 " we ought, fincerely and faithfully, to 
 " obferve the peace made and fworn w/th 
 *' the king of Spain and the archdukes on 
 " our fide, provided they alfo keep it on 
 " theirs, as they have by the pope offered 
 " to do ; that this peace fiaould fiill be 
 " ftrengthened by all forts of honourable 
 " and advantageous obligations ; yet that 
 " we fhould not place more confidence in 
 " it than reafon warrants, nor abate our 
 " vigilance and precaution ; but that we 
 *' fhould, in all other refpects, leave the 
 
 U 2 
 
 be
 
 148 M E M O I R s O F s U L L r. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. be cautious of giving credit. It is not difficult to perceive that this 
 
 ^■^ — -V— -^ palîage tends partly to juftify myfelf againft the cenfures of d'Offat, 
 
 this cardinal having about that time wrote a letter to Villeroi, in which 
 
 he did not fcruple to attribute maréchal Biron's rebellion, and the dif- 
 
 content of the other French lords, to the very little fatisfadlion they 
 
 received from Henry, and the oppreflion the people groaned under 
 
 through the tyranny of his counfellors : and that he might not do 
 
 things by halves, this able man, who valued himfelf upon his nice 
 
 difcernment in affairs of ftate, prefumed, by defiring Villeroi to fhew 
 
 his letter to the king, by advifing his majefty to remit his confidence and 
 
 his authority into other hands. Poffibly if this proceeding of d'OlTat's 
 
 was thoroughly examined, it would be found to have more artifice 
 
 than miftake in it ; for it is not likely that a man, who received fuch 
 
 exail informations from Villeroi of every thing that happened, could 
 
 be ignorant that what he reprefented as a general conipiracy of all the 
 
 fiâtes in the kingdom, was, in reality, only a fadtion compofed of a 
 
 few perfons, whofe heads were turned by ambition, and the licenti- 
 
 oufnefs of the late times ; and that all the reft of the French nobility 
 
 placed their glory and their happinefs in their firm attachment to their 
 
 prince .; that the clergy, on their fide, praifed him no Icfs, and, in 
 
 effed:, had no lefs reafon to praife him, having but lately received a 
 
 " king of Spain and the archdukes on the 
 " footing they now ftand with other na- 
 " tions, not from any evil defign or inten- 
 " tion againft them, but for our own pre- 
 " fervation ; that we fliould not furni{h an 
 *' opportunity to thofe who have fhewn 
 " an inclination to turn all their forces 
 " againft France ; and that whilft the reft 
 " are at war with one another, we fhould 
 " employ the peace and quiet God has 
 " blefled us with, in doing what is right, 
 " improving what is good in the kingdom, 
 " and extirpating what is bad." 
 
 This difquifition confirms me in the opi- 
 nion I have given above, of the fentiments 
 of the cardinal d'Oflat ; for what he fays of 
 the Spaniards, befides the letters already 
 quoted, fee p. 51, 504, 540, 6g2, 705, 
 &c. on the publication of the council of 
 Trent, 217, 256, 354, 396, 400, 433, 
 466, 613, 615, and many other places i 
 on the Jefuits, 69, 302, 303, 287, 309, 
 351, & feq. 613, & feq. 
 
 Had the cardinal d'Ofiat even meant 
 
 what his adverfary pretends he did, it could 
 not be at all confiftent with the charafler of 
 fo prudent and cautious a negotiator, as he 
 is allowed to have been, to make an open 
 difcovery of furh blameable fentiments : 
 his prudence appears from his letters 
 amongft other occafions, where, unquef- 
 tionably againft his own advice he defends, 
 the edift of Nantz before the pope, p. 391, 
 393, 400, where he approves of the im- 
 prifonment of maréchal de Biron, 705, 
 and where he takes the part of queen Eli- 
 zabeth, 243. 
 
 In fhort, nothing can be a ftronger proof 
 that this cardinal had no perfonal diflike to 
 M. de Rofny, as it has been infmuated, 
 than his having never once mentioned his 
 name with ill nature. He is fpoken of, p. 
 440, 377, 723 : this laft is the only place 
 where he complains of him, though with 
 all poflible moderation, on account of his 
 having fufpended the payment of his al- 
 lowance. 
 
 very
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 very confiderable gratuity from him ; and laftly, that the pepole, 
 belides the fuppreffion of the penny in the fliilHng, had, by his ma- 
 jefty, been farther relieved by an abatement of two millions in the 
 Jand-tax. 
 
 I WAS not acquainted with any of d'Oflat's malicious pro- 
 ceedings, nor of his perfonal complaints againfl me, for not paying 
 his penfion exactly. Villeroi undertook to recommend the fpeedy pay- 
 ment of it to me, and acquitted himfelf of this commiffion, by exalt- 
 ing, as ufual, the great abilities and fervices of this cardinal. Some 
 days afterwards, I was accofted by a banker, who made me a propofal 
 to difcharge certain penfions,^ given by his majefly to perfons at 
 Rome, among others d'Oilat's, which he did with the fame unpolite 
 freedom that the cabal of my enemies aftedted to ufe me with. There 
 are feme offices in themfelves of fuch dignity, as to draw refpedl and 
 confideration upon the perfons who poiTefs them. I was not forry that 
 the banker was made fenfible of this truth, andlfent him awaycoldlv 
 enough. D'OlTat found himfelf obliged to write to me four months 
 afterwards, and I received his letter at the fame time that one was 
 brought me from my brother, who was ambaflador at that court. 
 D'Oflat expreffed himfelf in fo infolent a manner in this letter, that 
 it certainly deferved no better an anfwer than I had given the ban- 
 ker. However, being of opinion that I ought not to regard it, I was 
 going to make out a draught for his payment, when I received an in- 
 conteftible proof of the injurious language he publicly ufed againft 
 me : that inftant, I confefs, I withdrew the warrant, which was a 
 very exaft one, and fubftituted another in its room of a more doubt- 
 ful payment, and from that time refolved to expediate no more, but 
 by the king's exprefs command. I wrote to Villeroi at Metz, and 
 acquainted him with this refolution, and, in the poftfcript of my let- 
 ter, gave him a detail of the fpeeches and letters of d'Olfat, in which 
 I was concerned, and, in the heighth of my jufl: indignation, gave 
 this cardinal the epithets of ingrateful and imprudent ; which, if 
 what I had heard of him was true, he deferved ; if falfe, I gave Ville- 
 roi to underftand, that I would pay a proper regard to his interpofi- 
 tion in favour of d'Olfat. He was ftill inore affeded by my threat 
 to acquaint the king with the infolence of his agent, and conjured 
 me to be pacified : I confented, and all the revenge I took upon 
 d'Offat, was to render his intrigues at Rome ineffedual : thofe in fa- 
 vour of the Jefuits were continued only during this year, for tlie fo- 
 ciety returned to France in the following year. 
 
 I
 
 150 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIV.. 
 
 1603. I Shall refume this article in a proper place, and fhall have occa- 
 ^ "•' -' -lion once more to introduce d'Offat, on account of a memorial which 
 was addrefled to me from Rome againfl him. At prefent, wliat re* 
 mains to be faid of him regards thecoadjutorfliipofBaïeux, and the ab- 
 bey of Coulon, if the affair was worth a long detail; but as it is not, 
 J fliall content myfelf with only informing the reader, that d'Oflat pro- 
 cured himfelf to be made coadjutor of Baïeux, and treated with the 
 Maintenons for his abbey of Coulon, by an agreement not very ad- 
 vantageous for them. His majeflygave me this abbey, after perform- 
 ing the promife he made to the Maintenons, that they fliould lofe no- 
 thing by it, fince they obtained an eq.uiva]ent upon the bifhopric of 
 Evreux. Villeroi earnertly folicited his majefty for d'Offat, and en- 
 deavoured to engage my intereft for his friend; Maintenon, on the 
 contrary, was highly diffatisfied that this favour was granted him. 
 
 The pope's nuncio made me another complaint in the king's ab- 
 ■fence, upon the journey his majefty had undertaken. That his holi- 
 nefs interefted himfelf in it, was occafioned by the Spaniards having 
 joined to the notion they formed to themfelves of the occafion of this 
 voyage, that which was conceived of his majefty's armaments and 
 treafures, which common fame had greatly increafed, and infeded 
 even the holy father with their apprehenfions. Henry, whom I in- 
 formed of the nuncio's fears, ordered me to reaflure him, without 
 troubling myfelf to draw either Spain or Savoy out of their opinion. 
 
 His majefly and I treated by letters of many different affairs, and 
 amongft others that of Flanders. It was computed that, the laft of 
 February this year, the Spaniards had loft eighteen thoufand men, and 
 fired above two hundred and fifty thoufand volleys of cannon before 
 Oftend ; neverthelefs the fiege was but very little advanced, and, in the 
 month of April, the befiegers attempting to make a general affault, they 
 were repulled with great lofs. From this, the archduke was convinc- 
 ed that, notwithftanding all his efforts, it would be time only, and a 
 total want of men and ammunition of every kind, that would deliver 
 the place into his power. Naffau, on his fide, after the redudion of 
 Grave, laid fiege to Rhinberg, and from thence went to invert Boifle- 
 duc, not confidering that this cnterprife exceeded his ftrength, it 
 ijeing impoffible, as I have already obferved, to take Boilleduc with fo 
 fmall a number of troops. Accordingly he was on the point of lofing 
 toth his army and his reputation there; but, in revenge, he had the 
 
 fatisfadion
 
 FooK XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 fatisfadion to drive the Spaniards out of the caftle of Va(!l:endonck, 
 where they were, in a manner, already mafters. The garrifon of this 
 place, too weak to refill them, and no longer thinking of any thin«- 
 but retreating, had abandoned the city and the caftle to their difcre- 
 tion, when they were joined by fome Dutch troops, who pafled by 
 that place in their march to th.^ army of prince Maurice, and altoge- 
 ther attacked the Spaniards, and diflodged them from the caille. 
 
 It may be eafily imagined, that the United Provinces could not 
 carry on this war without being at a great expence both of men and 
 money, to which it was abfolutely neceflary that France lliould con- 
 tinue to contribute. The fiege of Ollend alone had coll them one 
 hundred thoufand vollies of cannon, and feven thoufand men. His Pau] Choart 
 majelly, for the interell of both the powers, kept Buzenval in thofe deBuzenva!,. 
 provinces, who was then upon the point of returning to France; and the 
 agent fent by the Hates to the king was named Aërfens * i this agent 
 reprefented to me that his countrymen would he foon in no condition 
 to keep the field, unlefs his majelly would permit them to recruit the 
 French companies that were in their fervice with Frenchmen. The 
 king fent me an anfwer from Chalons-fur-Marne to this requell, which 
 1 had communicated to him, and told me that he conicnted toit, but, 
 to avoid an open rupture with Spain, upon thel^ conditions, that it 
 fhould be Aërfens himfelf that fhould raife the recruits, and not the 
 officers, who would do it too publicly, having already aéled in fuch 
 a manner, as to draw upon him fome reproaches from the king of 
 Spain : that the recruits fliould be raifed with the utmoll expedition 
 and the utmofl fecrecy ; and that the foldiers who lifted, die number 
 of which he defired to know, lliould file off, without any noife, to the 
 place where they were to embark, marching fix in a company at moll, 
 with no other arms than their fwords, and no more money than was 
 necefiary to anfwer their expences till they got there ; that they Ihould 
 take Ihipping rather at Dieppe than Calais, this laft city being too much 
 crouded with foreigners ; and that notice fliould be lent to Chaftes, 
 
 * Francis Aërfens, refident, and after- rope. " It was the received opinion of that 
 
 •wards ambaflador from the ftates of Hoi- " tunc, fays Amelot de la HoulFaye, that 
 
 land at the court of France. The memoirs " Henry IV. had an amour vv'ith Aërfens' 
 
 of that time reprefent him as a man of " wife, and that the husband was content 
 
 a fubtil, artful, and even dangerous turn of " with it, by reafon of the profit he reaped 
 
 mind. Cardinal dc Richlieu fpenks of him, " from it: this amour laid the foundation 
 
 Oxenftiern, chancellor of Sweden, and Gui- " of his fortune. He left 100,000 livres 
 
 fcardi,chancellorofMontferrat, as the three " a year- to his fon, Vi'ho was called Van., 
 
 only politicians he had ever known in Eu- " Soinmerdyk. 
 
 who
 
 Hiftory of 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIV-. 
 
 who was governor of it, and vice-admiral de Vic, whofe concurrence 
 was necefTary to the delign, and for whom he fent me a letter without 
 a leal. Some alterations, however, were made in thefe orders j Aërfens 
 could not levy the men alone; and it being my opinion, that I ought 
 not to meddle in it, the officers railed the recruits, but did it with all 
 polhble fecrecy. His majefty thought it would not be amifs to fend 
 the garrifon he had forced to leave Metz to Flanders ; and, for fear 
 that they fhould enlifi: with the arch-duke, caft his eyes upon my 
 coufin Bethune to conduâ: them. As for the penfion for which Aér- 
 iens flrongly importuned me, the king deferred taking a refolution 
 about it till his return. 
 
 During the ftay his majefty made at Metz, the duke of Bouillon 
 brought his affair likewil'e upon the carpet : he had retired to Ger- 
 many to the eleélor Palatine, to whom he was allied by the eledlrefs : 
 he prevailed upon this eledlor to undertake his juftification to Henry, 
 Hcn°y duke ^^ ^^ deceive him again by a letter, which his majefty lent me im- 
 of Bouillon, mediately to have my opinion of it. The purport of this letter, in 
 •book V. which the eledlor Palatine very unfeafonably affeâed to treat with the 
 king of France as with an equal, was to reprefent to him the great 
 afBiftion it gave the duke of Bouillon to have his fidelity fufpeded by 
 the king; and to alTure him, that he himfelf was convinced of his 
 innocence, by proofs which he thought unanfwerable. The king had 
 fent for Bouillon to come to him and clear up his conduct, and after- 
 ward gave him notice by La Tremouille that he fliould at lead flop 
 at Sedan, but Bouillon had done neither the one nor the other ; the 
 Palatine therefore, to excufe the duke, alledged, that with regard 
 to the firll complaint, the quality of his accufers made it imprudent 
 for the duke to go and abandon himfelf to them; and to the fécond 
 he faid, that the gentleman who brought his majefty's letter had 
 found Bouillon at Geneva, from whence he had a fincere intention to 
 go and expedl his majelly at Sedan ; but that thinking it neceffary to 
 take his route through Germany, that he might avoid the countries 
 in dependence upon Spain and Lorrain, and alfo to pay his refpefls 
 to the eledor and electrefs, his kinfwoman, whom he had not yet 
 feen, it was owing to this tedious journey that he had miffed the op- 
 portunity of receiving his majefty at Sedan. The letter concluded 
 with repeated affurances of the duke's attachment to his majefty, for 
 the fincerity of which the eleûor brought the connexion there was 
 between them as a proof. 
 
 Henry
 
 Book XIV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 153 
 
 Henry anfwered the elecflor's letter with more pohtenefs than he 
 had realbn to expert, andpromifed, as he had always done, to reftore 
 the duke of Bouillon to his friendship and efteem, but upon conditions 
 which Bouill on knew himfelf to be too guilty to accept. In efFedt, 
 at the very time that he was making thefe new proteflations, his 
 majefty received, while at Metz, advice from Heidelberg, which 
 he communicated to me, that a man, named Du-Pleffis -Bellay, bro- 
 ther to the governor of the young Chatillon, had been fent by the 
 duke of Tremouille to the duke of Bouillon with difpatches, in which 
 his majefty was nearly concerned ; that this courier, who was to fet 
 out from Longjumeau, had orders to pafs through Sedan without 
 making himfelf known, not even to Du-Maurier ; and at his return, 
 he was again to pafs througli Sedan, and afterwards Paris, with the 
 anfwer to Tremouille's difpatches, whom he was to meet at Comblât. 
 His majefty would not have entered into fo circumftantial an account 
 of this affair, but that he wifhed (which however was not pradlicable) 
 that I, in concert with Rapin, could arreft this courier, not before his 
 arrival at Paris, but in the road from Paris to Thouars, after he 
 fliould have received letters in that city, which would fully difcover 
 the nature of his commiffion. 
 
 His majefty had certainly no occafion for farther proofs of the duke 
 of Bouillon's guilt. I may venture to affirm, without any danger of judg- 
 ing too raflily, that the fubmiffion which appeared in that ftep he had 
 lately prevailed upon the elector to make in his favour, was only diffem- 
 bledwith a view to two things; the firft was,to infpire thekingwith afe- 
 curity in regard to his perfon, and the fécond, to continue to draw from 
 him thofe fums which for a long time he had regularly received for 
 the fupport of his fortrefl'es. This demand he renewed by Saint-Ger- 
 main, with whom Henry was highly difpleafed. His majefty recom- 
 mended it earneftly to me, to have no regard to the inftances that 
 were made me from Bouillon, but at the fame time to give him no 
 reafon to fufpeft that I had any knowledge of what he had juft re- 
 lated to me. Thefe orders were indeed unneceflary, after the dilco- 
 veries I had lately made of the new difcontents which Bouillon and 
 Tremouille had excited in the provinces amongft the proteftants, and 
 from the refult of the converfation I had with Henry at the Arfenal, 
 before his departure for Metz, of which I have only mentioned what 
 related to this journey. 
 
 Vol. II. X ,. To
 
 154 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book. XIV. 
 
 To proceed, after having long confidered the caft of the cabal, which 
 ftruck a mortal blow to the heart of Henry, I found means at laft to 
 fet him at peace, by fliewing him, that however formidable might 
 be its prefent appearance, it would, aiter fome inefFedlual flruggles, 
 fall into nothing. Whatever notions may be formed of the levity 
 and inconfideratenefs of thofe whom we are pleafed to term the vul- 
 gar, I have always found, that though they may fix upon fome parti- 
 cular aims, and follow them not only with raflinefs but rapture, yet 
 thefe aims are always to a certain degree general, and direfted to 
 fome common interell: ; but that any private one's ends, fuch as pro- 
 ceed from the anger or wiflies of a particular man, or of a fmall num- 
 ber, are never long or much regarded, I will venture to fay farther, 
 that of general interefls the voice of the people will give the moft 
 certain judgment : allowing this principle, I confidered the feditious 
 party as terrible, only on account of the mifchievous influence that it 
 might have in the provinces, by mifreprefentations of the king and 
 government ; and the dread that might be raifed of oppreflion and 
 flavery. And as thofe influences and thofe terrors would be made every 
 day lefs by efFeds of a contrary kind, and had never infeâed the prin- 
 cipal governments, or great cities, the court could never fee itielf op- 
 pofed but by a paltry rabble, and a few petty fortrefles, unable to 
 {land a fortnight againfl a royal army. 
 
 The king was at Metz when he heard the firft news of the ficknefs 
 of queen Elizabeth which was fent to him by the count de Beau- 
 mont*, our ambaflador at London : his majefty, thereupon, refolved 
 to haften his departure from that city. At his filler's requeft, he went 
 from thence to Nancy, where flie had caufed a magnificent ballet or 
 interlude to be prepared for his entertainment. He remained there for 
 fome days in great anxiety about the next advices which he expedled 
 to receive concerning the health of EUzabeth. The death -f- of thi? 
 
 * Chiiftopher de Harlay, governor of preach for being the caufe of the earl of 
 
 Orleans, who died in 1615. Eflex's death, for whom, among all her 
 
 + Elizabeth died the 4th of April, N. S. favourites, Ihe had fhewn the greateft af- 
 in the 70th year of her age, and the 44th fe£tion. This is the opinion of Matthieu, 
 of her reign. The public report, and the torn. II. liv. iii. p. 570. Thuanus and fome 
 common opinion of the hiftorians at that others fay nothing of this fuppofed grief, 
 time, were, that her death was occafioned but, on the contrary, fay, that like Au- 
 by a fecret grief and melancholy which (he guftus, flie died without grief or fear, and 
 could not conquer ; the occafion of v/hich only through the mere failure of nature. 
 was attributed to her remorfe and felf-re- Her hatred againfl our religion, and her 
 
 great
 
 dokXIV. m E m O I R s O F s U L L y. 155 
 
 great queen, which he heard of foon after, was an irreparable lofs 1603. 
 
 to Europe, and to Henry in particular, who could not hope, in the ^ 
 
 fucceffor of Elizabeth, to find the fame favourable difpofition to all 
 his defigns as he had in this princefs, " the irreconcileable enemy of 
 *' his irreconcileable enemies, and a fécond felf:" fuch were the terms, 
 which Henrv made ufe of in a letter he wrote to me on this event, 
 which was almoft wholly filled with the praifes of this great queen, 
 and expreffions of forrow for her lofs. 
 
 His majefty, who was immediately fenfible how greatly this event 
 might influence the political affairs of Europe, determined, as I have 
 already faid, to fend me in quality of ambaffador extraordinary to king 
 James. He informed me of this his intention in the letter above 
 mentioned ; and fearing, perhaps, that I fhould oppofe it, as I had 
 formerly done, endeavoured to prevail upon me to accept this com- 
 miflion by the llrongeft motives, and fuch as he knew moft likely to 
 make an imprefilon on me. I was the only perfon Henry could think 
 of for this purpofe ; I repeat his words, and that becaufe I was the 
 only man in France who had any knov/ledge of the affairs that were 
 to be negotiated in this embaffy. My religion, probably, had already 
 difpofed the new king in my favour, and would gain me free accefs to 
 him. I dare not mention what his majefty further faid, in regard to 
 that reputation of honour and fidelity which he faid I had acquired 
 among foreigners. Henry foon followed his letter : from Nancy he 
 returned through Toul, Vitry, Rheims, Villers-cotterets, and Saint- 
 Germaine-en-laye, to Fontainebleau, which, within a few days, com- 
 pleted a tour of two months. 
 
 I HAD received a fécond letter foon after the firft, in which his ma- 
 jeily ordered me to meet him fifteen or twenty leagues from Paris. A 
 report was current, that immediately upon the death of Elizabeth the 
 Spaniards began to ufe their utmoft efforts to gain the new king ; we 
 (liall afterwards fee that this report was but too well grounded. Henry 
 had a thoufand things to fay to me on this head, which made him ex- 
 
 cpuelty in putting her firft coufin, queen Italian, and Spanifh : fte was alfo well 
 
 Mary, to death, have tarnifhed the luilre verled in the mathematics, hiflory, poli- 
 
 of her reign : neverthelefs, I acquiefce in tics, &c. Beildes particular hiftories ot her 
 
 the elogy bcftowed upon her by Thuanus, life, fee Thuanus, Perefixe, Journal de 
 
 who concludes his enumeration of her great Hen. IV. La Septennaire, an. 1603. JVIe- 
 
 abilitiesby faying, fhe had thofe of a king, moires d'Etat de Villeroi, torn. III. p. 20g. 
 
 not merely as fuch, but of a very great and other French hiftorians. 
 king. She fpake Latin,. Greek, French, 
 
 X 2 tremely
 
 1^-6 M E M O I R S Q F S U L L Y. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. tremely defirous of an opportunity to converfe freely with me about 
 it. I joined him at the houfe of Monglat, where he had fcarce any 
 attendants with him, at which he expreffed great fatisfad;ion. He 
 embraced me ciofely three times, faid a few words pubHcly to me on 
 the fuccefs of his journey, and enquired more particularly of me about 
 his buildings * at Saint-Germain and Paris. Materials were then 
 colleâing for building his grand gallery at the Louvre, for the arfe- 
 nal, and for other works, of which I had the infpeclion and condud:, 
 and which had been partly the fubjeds of thofe letters I had received 
 from him ; therein he had alfo direfted me to proceed in the execu- 
 tion of what had been projeded in regard to that apartment of the 
 Louvre called The Hall of Antiquities. 
 
 After I had, in a concife but fatisfadory manner, replied to all 
 thefe articles, Henry took me by the hand and led me into the garden, 
 at the door of which he ordered fome of his guards to be placed. The 
 embaffy to England was the fole fubjed of our converfation. His ma- 
 ]eily had at firll imparted to his court his refolution to fend this em- 
 baliy, but without naming the perfon whom he had fixed upon to 
 execute it. The knowledge of this alone had excited fome murmurs 
 among the partifans of the pope and Spain ; and it was faid, that Henry 
 fought allies only among princes who were of a different religion from 
 his own. But when his majefty, notwithftanding, declared publicly 
 his intention to inveft me with this employment, their difguft then 
 fhewed itfelf without reftraint. This whole cabal, which I had good 
 reafon to think was made up of my moft inveterate enemies, boldly 
 reprefented to his majefty, that to fend a huguenot to treat concerning 
 the intereft of the kingdom, with a prince of the fame religion, would 
 be highly dangerous to theftate j and more efpecially fo, were he in- 
 trufled with a full power. Finding they could not prevail upon his 
 majefty to revoke my nomination, they contented themfelves with get- 
 ting my commiffion confined only to condolances upon the death of the 
 late queen, and compliments for the new king ; or, at moft, to an in- 
 fpedion into the ftate of affairs in England ; but without any power 
 to ad, or even to confer, on the principal occafion of my journey. 
 
 Henry, at the fame time that he informed me of thefe fecret 
 pradices in his court, of which I was till then ignorant, repeated to 
 
 * Henry IV. built the new caftle of Saint-Germain, extended the gardens to the 
 banks of the Seine, and formed its beautiful terralTes. 
 
 me
 
 Book XIV. M' EMOIRSOFSULLY. 157 
 
 me his airuninces, that he had not been inHaenced by them to alter 1603. 
 
 his defigns, either with reiped: to the embaiTy, his choice of me, or of ' — -\ -^ 
 
 the particular point which he had at firft in view : and he further 
 confirmed this his refolution, by judicioufly obferving, that an embaiTy, 
 whofe commiffion fliould be confined merely to ceremony, would be 
 ufelefs and vain ; and that, if there were any hopes of ever feein» the 
 new king of England purfue the maxims of Elizabeth, in regard to 
 the political engagements of that princefs, it would doubtlefs depend 
 chiefly on the manner in which he fliould be at firft prejudiced againil 
 the houfe of Auftria, and in favour of the alliance with France and its 
 antient partifans : but he confeffed to me, that this point appeared 
 to him, in all refpeâ:s, fo extremely difficult, that, unlefs it was ma- 
 naged with the utmofl dexterity, both in the council of France, and 
 at the Englifli court, it would, perhaps, be better not to think of it at 
 all. He further faid, that it would firil be necefl"ary fo to impofe on 
 the enemies which I had in the court and council, that they might 
 fufpedl nothing in my commiffion more than what fliould be declared 
 to me in their prefence, and even with their confent. His majefl:y, 
 on this occafion, repeated a iimile, of La Riviere's, which he often ufed, 
 that the kingdom of France may be compared to an apothecary's fliop, 
 in which are contained not only the mofl: falutary remedies, but alio 
 the moft fubtile poifons ; and that the king, like an able apothecary, 
 ought to make the befl: advantage of both, by mixing them in 
 the moft proper manner. In regard to the propofitions which I 
 fliould make to the Englifli minifters, he faid, I ought to be cautious 
 not to expofe the fovereign of the principal kingdom in Europe to 
 the fliame of having made advances which fhould be negle(5ted or de- 
 fpifed, and perhaps to a neceflity of revenging them : and as to the 
 more fecret propofitions, which, at a proper opportunity, I fliould 
 make to king James, he faid it would require great judgment and 
 dexterity, to avoid haftening, by any imprudent ftep, his engage- 
 ments with Spain, which as yet were, perhaps, uncertain, or at leaft 
 far from being concluded. His majefty fuppofed, that all caufes of 
 difîatisfaâion might, as much as it was poffible, be obviated, by 
 giving me, in writing, and in open council, fuch inftruâions, in re- 
 gard to my embafly, as fliould appear to be only general, and merely 
 complimentary, which I might publicly produce in England as well as 
 in France, but which, however, fliould not prevent my feconding his 
 majefty's more particular intentions, whenever a favourable opportu- 
 nity might prefentj provided, neverthelefs, that I did it as of myfelf, . 
 
 and-i
 
 158 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. atul without giving this prince to underftand, that I was authorifed 
 herein by the king my mailer. 
 
 What his majefty thus acquainted me with, appeared to me of 
 fuch great conlequence, that I delired him to grant me four days to 
 conlider of it, before I gave him my aniwer. I immediately fet out 
 poft for Paris, to be at liberty to make my reflexions, and Henry de- 
 parted from thence for Jully. I eafily perfuaded myfelf to comply 
 with the king's délires, but I thought it a neceffary precaution to have 
 his majeily's more immediate avowal and authority for all thefe pro- 
 poiitions which he had enjoined me to make to the king of England, 
 as of myfelf, without which I thought it would be rifquing too much. 
 To be favourably received and heard by king James, it would be pro- 
 per to begin by gaining his confidence,, to which my religion gave 
 me the befl; claim ; but I was fenfible, that, by this, I fhould be 
 obliged to break through thofe bounds of circumfpeétion, whicJi, in 
 France, I had prefcribed to myfelf, out of a deference to the religion 
 of the prince. I had no reafon to doubt but that, whatever words 
 might efcape me, which, in this refpeft, fliould appear fomewhat 
 free, would be as induftrioufly reported by the enemies I Ihould have 
 in that court, as they could have been in France; and I had equal 
 caufe for being apprehenfive, that fomething of this kind fh.ould be 
 afterwards reprefented in fuch a manner, as to appear criminal in the 
 eyes of his majefty, who, as well as other good princes, had his mo- 
 ments of miftruft and ill humour ; and fometimes one of thefe mo- 
 ments is fufficient to ruin a minifter, however firmly fupported ; a 
 reverfe of fortune which it was not impoflible but I myfelf might ex- 
 perience. 
 
 All thefe confiderations confirmed me in a refolution, not to de- 
 part without a writing figned by his majefty, and known only to us 
 two, whereby, whatever my condudl might be at the court of Lon- 
 don, and whatever expreflions I might ufe to the king of England, I 
 might be able, if neceffary, to juftify myfelf, and fliew that 1 had 
 done nothing but to promote the fuccefs of our affairs, and that by 
 his majefly's exprefs orders. Thus I declared myfelf to Henry, when, 
 at the end of four days, he came to the arfenal to receive my anfwer ; 
 though indeed I made this declaration no otherwife than by faying, 
 that I was full of fears left any part' of my conduft, on this occai'ion, 
 iliould draw upon me the misfortune of his difpleafure. 
 
 We
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 159 
 
 We were at this inftant alone. Henry, after having taken a fliort 1^03- 
 turn among the workmen in the grand walk, and commended what 
 they were doing, called me to him, and we went, as was his cuftom, 
 to the end of this walk, which terminates in a kind of balcony, from 
 whence there is a view of Paris. My propofal gave him a moment's 
 thought, after which he confefTed I was in the right, and in a k'w 
 days he brought me himfelf the writing I required, and, having read 
 it to me, gave it into my hands. It was exprefTed in fuch terms, as 
 rendered it highly probable that Henry would never oblige me to make 
 it public. I was permitted to appear, to the king of England and his 
 minifiers, fo zealous for the reformed religion, as to jgive them af- 
 furances that I preferred it both to my country and king, to whom, 
 on this account, I was not more attached than to the king of England. 
 The propofitions which I was to make this prince were alfo enumerated, 
 but I fliall omit them here, as being already related in the account 
 of my conference with queen Elizabeth, and of Henry's grand defign : 
 I was alfo diredled to defire the king of England, in cafe he fhould not 
 approve of what I had to propofe to him, not to let it be known in 
 France, becaufe I was not authorifed to make any fuch propofitions ; 
 and further (fuppofing king James approved them) I (hculd feign to 
 defer communicating to the king my mafter what might be agreed 
 between us, till I fliould fee whether it would be as favourably re- 
 ceived by the northern crowns, and the ftates-general of the United- 
 Provinces, as by his Britannic majefty. 
 
 Such was my fecret credential letter, which I then confidered as a 
 great acquifition, and no doubt the king, on his fide, thought it as 
 great a compliance ; yet it is certain, that by this we had neither of us 
 done what was fufficient. It was neceflary to be prepared for the 
 king of England's abfolute and entire compliance with all his majef- 
 ty's intentions, and to be able to make the beft of an opportunity, 
 which perhaps might never offer again. In a word, to conclude a 
 treaty, I ought to have carried with me a blank figned by the king ; 
 but our fear of the fadtion we had to combat in council did fcarce per- 
 mit us even to think of this. 
 
 In regard to the general inflruclions which I have mentioned, thr 
 king deferred having them drawn up till he came to Fontainebleau, 
 for vyhich place he fet out, attended by his v/hole court ; and in three 
 days his council were to follow : but they were countermanded on ac- 
 count
 
 i6o M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. countof a violent diforder, which feized Henry immediately after his ar- 
 rival at Fontainebleau, which was about the twentieth of May * : this 
 was fo ftrong a retention of urine, that his phyficians at firft defpaired of 
 his life. The king himfelf was ftrongly perfuaded that his laft hour ap- 
 proached, and being defirous to divide the few moments which he had 
 yet to live, between the care of his foul, and that of his kingdom, he ad- 
 drefled himfelf with great fervour to God, and then didated the fol- 
 lowing letter, which was immediately difpatched to me at Paris, 
 where I was making the neceflary preparations for my voyage, and 
 little expedled fo melancholy a meffage. ♦' My friend, I find myfelf 
 ♦' fo ill, that it feems highly probable God will foon difpofe of me j 
 " and it being my duty, next to the care of my foul, to make the 
 " neceflary difpofitions to fecure the fucceflion to my children, that 
 *' their reign may be profperous, and may promote the happinefs of 
 " my wife, my kingdom, my good and faithful fervants, and my dear 
 " people, whom I love equally with my own children, I defire to 
 ■" confer with you on all thefe matters : come to me therefore with 
 " all diligence, and fay nothing of it to any one ; make an appearance 
 *' only of going to the conventicle at Ablon ; and having privately 
 " ordered poft-horfes to he there in readinefs, proceed immediately 
 " to this place." 
 
 The perufal of this moft fenfibly affeded me. I fet out with the 
 greateft precipitation. When I entered the king's chamber, I found him 
 in his bed ; the queen was feated by him, and held one of his hands be- 
 tween hers ; he held out the other to me, and faid, " My good friend, 
 *' draw near and embrace me, I am extremely glad you are come ; 
 *' is it not flrange that, tv/o hours after 1 wrote to you, my exceflive 
 " pains fhiould begin to abate ? I hope, by degrees, they will entirely 
 *• leave me, fori have made water three times, the lafl; moft profufely, 
 " and with but little pain." Then turning to the queen, " This, 
 " faid he, of all my fervants, is he who beil underftands, and is moft 
 " careful of, the interior affairs of my kingdom, and, had I been taken 
 " from you, would have been belt able to fcrve both you and my 
 
 - * The, king, fays the maréchal de Baf- fultations were in thefe terms : MJiineat à 
 
 fompierre, was feized with a retention of quavh muliere, etiam reglna; ftn minus, 
 
 urine on ihe eve of Pentecofl, which pcrkuhim efl ne ante très nienfes elapjos 
 
 gave him great pain, but he was foon freed vitam cum morte coimnutct. Henrv the IVth 
 
 from it. The phyficians being aliembled, did not flriiSUv obferve what was here en- 
 
 (thefe are the words which wc find in the joined hiin, nor did any bad confequence 
 
 journal de L'Etoiie) the refu'.t of their con- anfe therefrom. 
 
 " children •.
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 <' children : I know, indeed, that his temper is fomewhat auflere, 
 *' that he is often rather too plain for fuch a fpirit as yours, and that, 
 " on this account, many have endeavoured to prejudice you and my 
 *' children againft him, that he might be removed from you ; but if 
 *' ever this event fhould happen, and you fhould employ fuch and 
 *' fuch perfons (naming themfoftlyin her ear) and, inftead of follow- 
 •* ing the good counfels of this man, fliould be wholly guided by 
 " their opin ons, depend upon it, it will prove deflrudlive to the flate, 
 *' and may, perhaps, ruin my children and yourfelf. I have fentthus 
 *' fuddenly for him, that, with him and you, I might confult upon 
 •' the means to prevent thefe evils ; but I thank God my precautions 
 *' will probably not yet be neceifary." 
 
 Couriers upon couriers were the next day difpatched, todiflipate 
 the difagrecable rumours which were already fpread in all places. I 
 did not myfelf return to Paris, till I had feen the king make water : 
 he would have it fo, and he did it twice with fuch facility, that I was 
 perfedlly fatisfied all danger was over. Three days after, I received a 
 letter from him, wherein he informed me, that, having been bled 
 in the left arm by La Riviere the evening I left him, he had been 
 greatly relieved, and, having refted well the whole night, found him- 
 felf grow better and better every hour. He thanked me for the in- 
 tereft I feemed to take in his health, and for the advice which, on this 
 occalion, I had been free enough to give him, to be more moderate in 
 hunting; and he promifed to obferve what I had faid. He was al- 
 ready able to be as circumflantial as ufual in thofe details with 
 which his letters were commonly filled : he dire6ted me in this, to 
 fend two hundred crowns to each of the perfons afflifted with the 
 evil, whom his own diforder had prevented him from touching, and 
 whom neverthelefs he would not fend back. Herein alfo, he thanked 
 me for the portraits of the new king and queen of England, which I 
 had fent him. His majefty's phyficians were unanimous, on this oc- 
 cafion, in making him the fame reprefentations which I had done, 
 in regard to the injury his health received from the violence of his 
 exercife in hunting. He followed their advice, and found himfelf 
 confiderably better for it : he alfo received great benefit from the wa- 
 ters of Pougues, which he drank this year for fome time, during 
 which the young princefs his daughter was taken fo ill, that her lite 
 was defpaired of; both the king and the dauphin his Ion went fre- 
 quently to fee, her. 
 
 Vol. II. Y To-
 
 i62 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XlV. 
 
 Together with this letter from his majefty, the contents of which 
 I have here related, I received another much longer, which Villeroi 
 wrote to me by his order, upon the affairs of England. Herein he 
 informed me, that his majefty had fent to acquaint the count of 
 Beaumont with his recovery, that he might notify it to the king of 
 England j alfo that I was expelled by his Britannic majefty, who at- 
 tributed my delay to the king's indifpofition, and to the baron Du- 
 Tour's not having notified to the king in form, the death of Eliza- 
 beth, and the accelTion of James the Vlth * to the crov/n of Eng- 
 land. The baron Du-Tour was, for this purpofe, fent by James to 
 his mod chriftian majefty : he left London on the day after this 
 prince's entry there, and arrived a few days after at Fontainebleau, 
 where he acquitted himfelf of his commifiion. Villeroi further in- 
 formed me, that my departure for England, for thefe reafons, being 
 no longer to be deferred, the king would loon fend for me, and in- 
 form me of the day : but his majefty changed his intention in this 
 refpedl, and came himfelf to Paris. The heat, which had begun 
 early this year, was exceffive, and rendered the fands of Fontainebleau 
 infupportable to one but juft recovering from ficknefs. 
 
 Two days after his majefty 's arrival at Paris, he aftembled the chan- 
 cellor Bellievre, Villeroi, Maifle, and Sillery, on the fubjeâ: of my 
 departure, and that I might receive my public inftrudlions in their 
 prefence. When I entered the king's clofet, where this council was 
 
 * Henry Stuart, baron of Darnly, duke " land, joined to the defire I have to do 
 
 of Rothefay, &c. efpoufed Mary Stuart, " you fervice, have induced me to write 
 
 widow of Francis II. of France ; flie hav- " to you, that, by the letter which I have 
 
 ing after his death retired into Scotland. " juft received from the governor of 
 
 He was ftrangled in his bed in 1567. " Dieppe, you might be informed of the 
 
 James' Stuart, at firft king of Scotland, and " deceafe of the queen of England, of the 
 
 afterwards of England, was his fon, and " acceflion, reception, and acknowledg- 
 
 died in 1625. ,0n his acceflion to the " ment of the king of Scotland to that 
 
 crown of England, the marquis of Rofny " crown, and that all things there are in 
 
 wrote the following complimentary letter " a ftate of peace and tranquility; for 
 
 to the archbifliop of Glafgow, at that time " which I rejoice with you, it being highly 
 
 his ambaflador in France ; the original of " beneficial to all, and the defire of every 
 
 which is in the cabinet of theprefent duke " good man. 
 
 of Sully. "SIR,, 
 
 To the Scots ambaflador. « Your moft humble coufin 
 
 SiH, «' and fervant." 
 
 " The intereft you have in the pro- 
 
 *' fperity of the affairs of the king of Scot- Signed Rosnt. 
 
 held.
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 held, I told his majefty that the count of Soiflbns was in the chamber 
 without, and that it appeared to me neceflary that he likewife fhould 
 be introduced, to be a witnels of my deputation. Henry replied, that 
 he did not know the count was there ; and that, from v/hat I had jufl: 
 faid, he would take occalion to reconcile us to each other ; for the 
 count of Soiffons' refentment ftill fubfifted. Accordingly, the count 
 meeting me two days after, as I entered the palace, told me, that he 
 had learned from a good hand that I had rendered him an office which 
 he had no reafon to expeâ; from me ; he thanked me for it, affured 
 me that he would forget the paft, and for the future would be my 
 friend : but he did not long continue in thefe fentiments. 
 
 The principal objcdl of thefe inflruftions had always been a clofe 
 ■alliance between France and England againft Spain, notwithftanding 
 all that had been done to prevent it by the partifans of that crown in 
 France. The principal difference between thefe, and the fecret inftruc- 
 tions which I had received from his majefliy, was, that in the former 
 he had concealed the true motives to this alliance : I will not tranfcribe 
 them here, as the particulars would be too long and circumftantial. 
 The fubflance of them was briefly as follows : To take every oppor- 
 tunity of difcourfing upon, and informing the king of England, of all 
 the unjuft and violent proceedings of Spain, thereby to infpire him with 
 an averfion to that crown: to reprefent the various arts employed by her 
 to embroil Europe ; her new ufurpations in Italy ; her fecret pradlices in. 
 England, by means of the Jefuitsj her intrigues in Ireland and Scotland, 
 under the fancftion of the authority which the Pope pretends to have 
 over thofe kingdoms ; her defigns upon Strafbourg, by forcing the car- 
 dinal of Lorrain to confent to the Pope's giving the coadjutorfliip of it 
 to the brother-in-law of the catholic king j finally, her proceedings to 
 obtain univerfal monarchy : all which did but too evidently appear. 
 
 In confequence of thefe reprefentations,- the king of England muft 
 either have concluded a peace with Spain, or have entered into an open 
 or fecret war iigainft that crown : in the firft cafe, I was to convince 
 this prince, that a peace would enable Spain to get pofleffion of the 
 Low Countries : after which flie would not fail to turn her arms either 
 . againft France or England ; and moft probably towards the latter, on 
 account of the Pope's long inveteracy to it. I was alfo to undeceive 
 ■the king of England, in regard to the report induflrioufly fpread by 
 Spain, that fhehad no intention togetpoffeffionof the Low Countries, 
 but only to form them into a diftindl kingdom, fuch as that of Bur- 
 
 y 2 gundy
 
 i64 M E M O î R S O F S U L L Y. Book XîV^ 
 
 1603. gundy |îad beerrrfb^e^en to the arch-duke. As a laft refource, I 
 was to infift, that Spain (houîd at lead be made to purchafe this peace 
 at a high price, or fliould be obliged to the king of France or England 
 for iti and efpecially that (lie (hould give up Oftend. In cafe an open 
 war fhould be refolved upon, I was to endeavour to difcover the inten- 
 tion of the king of England on that head, and if poffible prevent it, and 
 reprefent to him the neceflîty of beginning by giving a powerful affift- 
 ance to the States. 
 
 Finally, if afecret war was refolved upon, in which I was to ufe 
 my endeavours to confirm or engage the king of England, in this cafe 
 I was to reprefent to him, that prudence required he fliould begin 
 by flrengthening himfelf upon the throne, fecuring it to his de- 
 fcendants, and by gaining Europe in his interefts; fo that Spain might 
 be one day irrefiilibly attacked : that till this was efFeéted, it would be 
 proper only to keep this power in awe, or engage her in a fruitlefs em- 
 ployment of her forces againft Flanders j that in the mean time the 
 conditions of the union might be agreed on, and cemented by a double 
 marriage between the children of the two kings; which, hov/ever, fhould 
 not be declared till they had begun the execution of their defigns. I 
 was moreover to be particularly careful to regulate and determine the 
 nature of the fuccours which were provifionally to be given the States ; 
 and prevent the Englifli council from demanding the three hundred 
 thoufand livres which that crown had lent the United Provinces, lefi; 
 they might thereby be induced to throw themfelves into the arms of 
 Spain : on the contrary, I was to perfuade his Britannic majefty to be 
 at new expences, equally with his moft Chriftian majefty, in favour of 
 thefe people, and to affift them with the fame number of fhips as 
 queen Elizabeth had done; alfo to obtain permiffion, that the four 
 hundred and fifty thoufand livres, which this queen had lent France, 
 might be applied as exigencies fliould require in Flanders; and that 
 three hundred thoufand livres more migh' be added to them by Eng- 
 land,- that, with the feven hundred and fifty thoufand livres which 
 Henry obliged himfelf to join to them, a fund might be formed of 
 fifteen hundred thoufand livres for the prefent neceflitiesof the States- 
 General. In cafe I could not gain a compliance with thefe articles, I 
 was to endeavour to 2;et the States debt to England of three hundred 
 thoufand livres difcharged, France obliging herfelf to pay it; alfo, to 
 manage this afi^air in fuch a manner, chat the king of England might 
 not have the maritime towns of Holland delivered to him as fecurities 
 &r thefe fuccours; and to found his intentions in regard to thofe of 
 
 which;
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 which he was already poffefTed hi Zealand. In purfuance of this plan, 
 I was to conllilt with Barnevelt, ad: in concert with him and the ilates 
 deputies at London, leem attached to their interefts, entertain thcni 
 with agreeable hopes, perfuade them that their interefts were the care 
 of the Britifti council, without giving umbrage to this council, and 
 make the beft advantage I could of the knowledge they might have 
 acquired of the new court and the king. 
 
 These were th.e principal points of my inftruftions : there were 
 fome others which did not relate to the fame fubjedt, or at leaft not 
 immediately ; fuch was that in regard to the piracies of the EngliOi. 
 I was charged to complain, that fince the treaty of Vervins they had 
 taken from France to the amount of a million j and I was to endeavour 
 to get a dilTolution of the treaty of commerce concluded between England 
 and France in 1 572, as being difadvantageous to France, which by that 
 treaty had not the fame privileges and immunities in England that 
 the Englifli had in France. The clofe union between Elizabeth and 
 Henry had caufed all things to be equal on both fides during the reign 
 of that queen, and this treaty was then confidered as void, though it 
 had never been formally annulled. My orders were, however, to be ex- 
 tremely circumfped on this head, and even entirely to fupprefs it, if 
 I found that by bringing it upon the carpet I might run any rifque of 
 railing a fufpicion in the new king, from which Elizabeth herfelf had 
 not been exempt, that France only fought to embark England in a 
 war with Spain, out of which flie would then eafily extricate herfelL 
 If what the baron Du-Tour had faid in France, of his Britannic ma- 
 jefty's refolution to fuccour Oftend, fliould appear to be well ground- 
 ed, I might then fpare myfelf part of thefe precautions. 
 
 The manner in which I was to treat with the ambafladors of the 
 icing of Spain and the arch-dukes; the attention which I was tobeftow 
 on the affairs of Ireland and Scotland ; and the juftification of Beau- 
 mont, againft whom king James had been prejudiced, and for whom 
 I was charged to procure the fame privileges of this prince which were 
 enjoyed by his agent in France : thefe were other articles of my in- 
 ftrudtions. There was one article concerning the duke of Bouillon, in 
 refpeft to whom I was to be filent, unlefs the king of England fliould 
 fpeak to me about him, to which he would probably be induced by the 
 eledtor Palatine ; and in this cafe I was to paint the duke of Bouillon 
 in his real charadler, and not to engage the king of France in any thing 
 on his account. We may obferve, that the fubjeds of my negotiations 
 
 were.-
 
 i66 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. were fufficiently extenfive ; for I was to gain a knowledge of thedif- 
 pofitions of the king and people of England, not only with refpeâ: to 
 Spain and Flanders, but alfo to the northern crowns : to fay the truth, 
 the political ftate of all Europe was concerned in my enfuing conduél 
 and its confequences. 
 
 These inftrudions *, in which, to my other titles, his majefly had 
 added that of marquis, having been read to me aloud, were then deli- 
 vered to me in prefence of the count of Soiflbns, Sillery, and Jeannin, 
 figned by his majefty and Villeroi. Henry alfo gave me fix letters, one 
 from his majefty to the king of England, befides another for the fame 
 prince for form-fake counter-figned ; two others, in the fame manner, 
 from the king to the queen of England, and two others from the queen 
 of France t-o the king and queen of England : his majefty alfo gave me 
 a cypher, with which the council was acquainted ; but he likewife fe- 
 cretly gave me another, of which none but we two had the key. 
 When I went to take my leave of this prince, he prefented me his 
 hand to kifs, then embraced me, wiflied me a good voyage, repeated 
 his reliance upon me, and his hopes of my good fuccefs. 
 
 The beginning of June I fet out for Calais, where I was to em- 
 bark, having with me a retinue of upwards of two hundred gentle- 
 men, or who called themfelves fuch, of whom a confiderable number 
 were really of the firft diftindlion. Juft before my departure old Ser- 
 vin came and prefented his fon to me, and begged I would ufe my 
 endeavours to make him a man of fome worth and honefty j but he 
 confeft"ed it was what he dared not hope, not through any want of 
 underftanding or capacity in the young man, but from his natural in- 
 clination to all kinds of vice. The old man was in the right : what he 
 told me having excited my curiofity to gain a thorough knowledge of 
 young Servin, I found him to be at once both a wonder and a mon- 
 fter ; for I can give no other idea of that affemblage of the moft ex- 
 cellent and moft pernicious qualities. Let the reader reprelent to him- 
 felf a man of a genius fo lively, and an underftanding fo extenfive, as 
 rendered him fcarce ignorant of any thing that could be known ; of fo 
 vaft and ready a comprehenfion, that he immediately made himfelf 
 
 • The original of thefe inftruftions, de Villeroi, according to his clefire, to ajfi/î 
 
 figned with Henry I V's own hand, is ftill him in preparing 7ny ir^riifiions. This piece 
 
 in being; as alfo another piece, written by is only a recapitulation of all the points 
 
 M. de Rofny, bearing this title, Â memo- which were the objeâs of his embalTy to 
 
 .randum made by me, and delivered to M. London. Cabinet of the duke of Sully. 
 
 jiiaftcr
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLT. 
 
 mafter of what he attempted ; and of fo prodigious a memory, tliat he 
 never forgot what he had once learned ; he poflcffcd all parts of philo- 
 fophy and the mathematics, particularly fortification and drawing; even 
 in theology he was i'o well ikillcd, that he was an excellent preacher 
 whenever he had a mind to exert that talent, and an able difputant 
 for and againft the reformed religion indifferently ; he not only under- 
 ûood Greek, Hebrew, and all the languages which we call learned, 
 butalfo all the different jargons, or modern dialeifls; he accented and 
 pronounced them fo naturally, and fo perfeétly imitated the geftures 
 and manners both of the feveral na-tions of Europe, and the particular 
 provinces of France, that he might have been taken for a native of all 
 or any of thefe countries; and this quality he applied to counterfeit 
 all forts of perfons, wherein he fucceeded wonderfully ; he was, 
 moreover, the befl comedian and greateft droll that perhaps ever ap- 
 peared ; he had a genius for poetry, and had wrote many verfes ; he 
 played upon aim oil all inftruments, was a perfed: maflerof mufic, and 
 fung m^ofi: agreeably and juftly; he likewife could faymafs; for he 
 was of a dilpofition to do, as well as to know, all things : his body was 
 pcrfedlly well fuited to his mind, he was light, nimble, dexterous, and 
 fit for all exercifes ; he could ride well, and in dancing, wreflling, and 
 leaping, he was admired : there are not any recreative games that he 
 did not know; and he was fKilled in almofl all mechanic arts. But 
 now for the reverfe of the medal : here it appeared that he was trea- 
 cherous, cruel, cowardly, deceitful ; a liar, a cheat, a drunkard and 
 glutton ; a lliarper in play, immerfed in every fpecies of vice, a blaf- 
 phemer, an atheill: : in a word, in him might be found all the vices 
 contrary to nature, honour, religion, and fociety; the truth of which he 
 himfelf evinced with his lateft breath, for he died in the flower of his 
 age, in a common brothel, perfedlly corrupted by his debaucheries, and • 
 expired with the glafs in his hand, curfing and denying God. 
 
 From the moment of my departure to that of my return, I wrote 
 regularly to his majefty, and gave him an exadl account of whatever 
 happened to me. My letters were of three kinds : for indifferent things 
 I ufed only the common charadler ; my general cypher I ufed for fuch 
 matters as were to be known only to the council ; and my fecret cypher 
 I employed in what I addrefled to the king himfelf, which was to be ■ 
 feen only by him : his majefly chofe to have the greatefl part of my let- 
 ters in this cypher, though he found the difficulty of decyphering fo 
 great, that he at laft entrufted the key to Lomenie, whom he encou- 
 raged from time to time to render himfelf well fkilled in it; but the 
 
 difficulty •
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY, Book XIV. 
 
 difficulty which I experienced myfelf in the ufe of this cypher, when- 
 ever I wanted to defcend to particulars, compelled me to abridge the 
 ordinary length of my letters; however, I complied with his'majefty's 
 defires in this refpeél as well as I could, more cipecially after the affair 
 of the loll difpatch. All thefe letters, which I have preferved, I fliall 
 here reduce to the form of a narrative, wherein the public may be ex- 
 adlly informed of every material circumftance relative to my embaffy 
 at London, and my négociations with king James. 
 
 I STAVED a day at Calais, waiting for Saint-Luc and fome others, 
 who had honoured me with their company. I found the vice-admiral * 
 of France ready to receive me : and the vice-admirais of England and 
 Holland alfo came and defired I would embark in their fliips. The re- 
 port current at Calais, of the good underrtanding between the Englifli 
 and Spaniards, occafioned by what had paffed at the embarkation of 
 count d'Aremberg, ambaffador from the arch-dukes, and the com- 
 plaints which I favv made to De- Vic, of the enterprifes of the Englilh 
 cruizers upon the coafts of France, inclined me at firft to refufe their 
 offers ; but finding nothing in the letters which I received at Calais 
 from Beaumont, concerning what I was told, to prejudice me againfl: 
 the new court of London, I changed my defign in this refpecl ; and 
 that I might not begin by giving them any caufe of complaint, 1 ac- 
 cepted the two veffels offered me by the Engliih vice-admiral. 
 
 I EMBARKED the 15th of Junc at fix o'clock in the morning. The 
 Englifli, by whom I was ferved, paid me a refpedt which appeared to 
 nie to degenerate into fervility : but I had very foon reafon to alter this 
 opinion of them. Even at the very moment when they defired I 
 would command them in every refpeâ as if they were of my own 
 nation, De-Vic, who only fought an opportunity of (hewing the Eng- 
 lifli his refentment of the violences committed by their pirates, ad- 
 vancing, bearing the French flag on his main-top-gallant-maft, I found 
 thefe complaifant Englifli were enraged at an offence, which, accord- 
 ing to them, was equally injurious to the king of England, and the 
 king of France, whom I reprefented : and I had reafon to think them 
 flill more rude and unpolite, when, without deigning toconfult me, fifty 
 ihot were immediately fired againll De- Vic's -f fliip. It was with great 
 
 * Dominic De Vic, fignior d'Ermenon- f Thuanus and the Septenary Chroiio- 
 
 ville, governor of Saint-Denis, Calais, and logy, whole teftimony hereupon is of great 
 
 Amiens, vice-admiral of France : he died weight, more efpecially as they agree in it, 
 
 in 16x0. both fay, that the captain of the Englifli 
 
 difficulty
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 difficulty that I made myfelf heard ; which, however, I at lall effefl^ed, 
 by reprelenting to them, that De-Vic aéted thus onJy to do me the 
 greater honour j and alfo to give me a more diftinguifhed mark of his 
 refpecft, by dropping his flag upon my firft command Co to do. I 
 thought it would be moil: prudent to do this ; and my Englifh hear- 
 ing what I faid, were fo far prevailed upon by it, as to make their 
 next difcharge at random. I made a fign:,! to De-Vic, which he per- 
 fedly well underftood, and took in his flag; but, as I was afterwards 
 told, he fwore at the fame time to be revenged on the Englirt.\ when- 
 ever he fhould again meet with them. Though ] much queftion, had 
 
 169 
 
 i6c-^. 
 
 flup in which M. de Rofny was, did aâu- 
 a!ly fire upon the French vice-admiral. Eut 
 -as I fufpecl our Memoirs, either for the 
 honour of our nation, or perhaps from va- 
 nity, have fomewhat qualified this n after, 
 I will here lay it before the reader as it is 
 related in the Chronology above-mention- 
 ed : " De-Vic, vice-admiral of France, 
 " foon after he had cafl: anchor in Dover- 
 *' road (at which place he had landed part 
 *' of the retinue of M. de Roiny) failed 
 '•• from thence on his return to Calais, and 
 " paffing by the {hip on board of which 
 " M. de Rofny then was, he ordered his 
 *' flag to be hoift:ed, and gave him a fa- 
 " lute ; foon after which, the flag was 
 '* again taken in. The Englifli captain of 
 " the {hip wherein M. de Rofny was, fee- 
 " ing the French flag hoifted, commanded 
 " his men to fire upon the vice-admiral of 
 " France, fwearing he would fufFer no flag 
 " to be feen in thefe feas but that of Eng- 
 " land. A gun was immediately fired upon 
 " De-Vic's fhip, who, having demanded 
 " the reafon of it, prepared to defend him- 
 "■ felf. IVI. de Rofny complained of it to 
 <' the Englifli captain, and reprefented the 
 " firing this fhot as an offence done to 
 " himfelf ; but he talked to a man who 
 " refufed to hear reafon, and who anfwer- 
 " ed him only with rage and fury ; he was 
 " therefore forced to fubmit, and made a 
 " fign to the vice-admiral of France to 
 " take in his flag, which he did. De-Vic 
 " thinking himfelf injured, demanded fa- 
 " tisfaction of the Englifh admiral ; who 
 " anfwered him, that the king of England, 
 *' his mafler, did not permit what the 
 
 " captain had prefumed to do, defired that 
 " he would excufe his indifcrction, &c. 
 " and promifed that nothing like it {liould 
 " ever happen again. This reply appeafed 
 " and quieted all parties." Chron. Septen. 
 and Thuanus, an. 1603. Cardinal Rich- 
 lieu, in his Teflament Politique, makes 
 ufe of this as an argument, to demonftrate 
 to Lewis XIIL the abfolute neceflîty there 
 was for a naval power : " The cannon- 
 " {hot, fays he, by "Jiiercing the veffel, 
 " pierced the hearts of all true Frenchmen; 
 " and if the words of king James were 
 " civil, yet were they of no other efFecl, 
 " than to oblige the duke of Sully to ob- 
 " tain his fatisfa£tion from his own pru- 
 " dence, by feigning to be contented, tho' 
 " his difcontent, and his reafon for it, was 
 " really greater, and farther from being 
 " removed than ever. The king, your 
 '* father, was under a neceffity to ufe dif- 
 " fimulation on this occafion, but he did 
 " it with the refolution, whenever it 
 " might again be necelTary, to maintain 
 *' the jufl rights of his crown by fuch a 
 " naval force as time would furnifh him 
 " with the means to acquire." Part II. 
 chap. ix. In regard to the fact, which 
 is alfo related in the Teflament, the cir- 
 cumflances are told in a manner almofl en- 
 tirely different. We may further obferve, 
 that M. de Sully, in that part of his IVIe- 
 moirs where he fpeaks of the fatisfaclion 
 v/hich he defired king James to grant him, 
 pafles it over very flightly ; doubtlefs, be- 
 caufe he wouKl not appear to have been fo 
 very grievoufly oflcndcd as perhaps he really 
 was. 
 
 Vol. il 
 
 Z 
 
 the
 
 ■/ 
 
 I70 M E M O ï R S O F S U L L Y, Book XIV- 
 
 1603. the opportunity now been given him, whether he could have obtained 
 the revenge he threatened : be that however as it will, the difpute 
 was ended by this means, and our paflage met with no further inter- 
 ruption. 
 
 r ARRIVED at Dover about three o'clock in the afternoon. Beau- 
 mont, together with Sir Lewis Lewkenor, were there waiting for me.^ 
 Sir Lewis had the fame office in England, which Gondy had in France, 
 being that part of the reception of ambaffadors which confifts in pro- 
 viding them with lodging, provifions, horfes, or chariots, and other 
 things of this nature. The mayor of Dover alfo came and compli- 
 mented me; and the acclamations of the people were fo great, that it 
 was faid, that nothing like it had ever before been feen for any am- 
 baffador. But I was not now to be impofed upon hy thefe appearances, 
 having fo lately received a différent fpecimen of the Englifli polite- 
 nefs,- of which I had another example, even before my departure 
 from Dover. 
 
 The governor of this place fent his nephew to me, to defire I 
 would come with him and fee the caftle, he not being able to wait on 
 me himfelf, being confined to his bed by the gout. This invitation 
 was followed by a fécond, from which I conceived a good opinion of 
 the perfon by whom they were fent; and I thought the imputation of 
 want of civility might juftly have fallen upon myfelf, had I after this 
 quitted Dover, without waiting on the governor. I therefore went to 
 the caflle the next day, with all my retinue ; but I foon difcovered, that 
 the chief motive to this civil invitation was the pecuniary reward 
 exadled of thofe who have the curiofity to fee the caftle of Dover. 
 This was demanded of every one of my retinue, and that too rudely 
 enough, which was followed by the ceremony of making all, except 
 myfelf, quit their fwords. Being introduced to the governor, whofe 
 name was Thomas Wymes, he received us feated in his chair, but, 
 perceiving that fome of us were looking at 'the towers and walls of the 
 caftle, he put on fo four a countenance, that, pretending to be afraid 
 left our prefence might incommode him, I immediately withdrew, 
 without looking at any thing further. I had exhorted my retinue, 
 whatever might be faid or done to them, not to forget the rules of 
 French politenefs ; and this proved to be no unneceftary caution. 
 
 When we were upon our departure for London, Lewkenor no 
 longer fhewed himfelf that polite and obliging perfon, who but juft 
 
 before
 
 Book XIV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 171 
 
 before had demanded a lift of thofe who accompanied me, that, as he 1<J03. 
 f^iid, they might all be fuiniflied with the neceffary horfes and cha- 
 riots : and I could not but fuppofe his fole defign, in getting this lift, 
 was that he might fend it to London; for he fuffered all my retinue 
 to provide themfelves horfes as well as they could, and at their own 
 coft; and thefe mild people lent them at fo high a price, and at the 
 fame time with fo much arrogance, that they feemed to think they 
 did us a favour. However, we all carefully concealed our fentimcnts 
 of fo rude a treatment. My own conveyance I procured in the coach 
 of the count of Beaumont. 
 
 I HAD more reafon to be pleafed with the behaviour of the gentryin 
 and about Canterbury : they came to meet me upon the road ; and that 
 they might pay me all imaginable honours and refpeéts, they pre- 
 tended to have received orders fo to do from the king of England. 
 Canterbury is but a fmall city, tho' extremely populous, and fo polite 
 that, in no other place, I received fuch diftinguiflied honours and 
 civilities as there ; fome came to kifs my boot, others to kifs my 
 hands, and others to make me prefents of flowers ; all which muft be 
 attributed not to the Englifti of this city (they every where prefervc 
 their charader of averfion for the French) but to the Walloons and 
 Flemifh, who, having at many different times taken refuge in this 
 city on account of their religion, have at laft almoft entirely changed 
 it, and, at this day, compofe two thirds of its inhabitants. I vilîted 
 the church, and was prefent at the fervice, wherein the inufic was ex- 
 cellent. The church is extremely beautiful and magnificent. When 
 the canons underftood that I was of their religion, they redoubled their 
 carelTes and civilities: one of them ftiewed himfelf fo well afFeded to 
 France, as to give me an information of fome confequence, which was 
 afterwards confirmed by Aériens to Henry himfelf. This canon had 
 been intimately acquainted with Arnold, the fatherof him whom I had 
 with me as one of my fecretaries ; and being informed that this was 
 the fon of his old friend, he came to fee him, and, among other things, 
 told him, that he had been informed by the fecretary of count Arem- 
 berg *, ambaffador from the archduke, who had pafted through Can- 
 terbury only a few days before, that his mafter was charged to repre- 
 fent to the king of England, with a view to engage him In an alliance 
 with Spain, that Henry meditated great defigns agalnft England, 
 which would openly appear in lefs than two years; and, at the fame 
 
 * John de Ligne, prince of Barbançon, count of Aremberg. 
 
 Z 2 time,
 
 172 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. time, to make offers to his Britannic maiefty of powerful fuccours 
 from the king of Spain, with which he might prevent the defigns that 
 Henry meditated, by feizing certain provinces of France, on which 
 the king of England had much jufler pretenfions, than any Henry 
 could have upon England. 
 
 Here my lord Sidney came and complimented me from the king 
 of England, and made me many obliging offers of fervice. I knew 
 that the perfon who had been charged with the fame commiffion to 
 count d'Aremberg, was my lord Howard, whofe rank was much fu- 
 perior to Sidney's, being the duke of Norfolk's nephew, uncle to the 
 great chamberlain, and member of the privy-council : at firft, there- 
 fore, I was apprehenfive that this deputation might be a mark of fome 
 contempt from the king of England ; but afterwards reflefting that 
 the quality of the perfon who had received the ambaffador from Spaia 
 was inferior even to Sidney's, I concluded that all this might be merely 
 accidental, more efpecially as I could not receive greater honours than 
 thofe which Sidney, and others by his diredlion, paid me. I never- 
 thelefs communicated my thoughts hereupon to Beaumont, by de- 
 firing him to get an explanation of it, but to do it with fuch addrefs, 
 that no caufe might be given to perceive a mifunderllanding, where, 
 perhaps, none was intended to be fliewn. Beaumont addrefled him- 
 felf to Sidney himfelf, and managed the affair with him fo well, 
 that he immediately wrote to the court of London, to inform them 
 that they fliould fend an earl of the privy-council to receive me, which 
 was done accordingly. The earl of Southampton, one of the mini- 
 fters and confidents of king James, came to me from that prince at 
 Gravcfend, accompanied by a numerous train of nobility and gentry. 
 In our way to Gravefend we pafied through Rochefter, where our re- 
 ception was extremely different from that at Canterbury ; the inha- 
 bitants of that city had effaced the marks which were placed by the 
 king of England's mefl'engers on thofe houfes where we were to be 
 entertained and lodged, if neceffary. 
 
 At Gravefend I was received in the king of England's barges, a 
 kind of covered boats, which are very commodious and richly orna- 
 mented ; and in one of thefe I was carried up the Thames to London, 
 where, upon my arrival, the Tower alone faluted us with upwards of 
 three thoufand guns, befides the difcharges from feveral fliip-guns, and 
 the mulquetry from the m^ole and fort before this tower : I fcarce ever 
 heard a finer fiilute. I landed near the Tower, where many coaches, of 
 
 which
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 which Southampton and Sidney performed the honours, were ready 
 to carry me, and all my retinue, to the houfe of the count of Beau- 
 mont, which I had chofen for the day. The confluence of people 
 was fo great, that we could fcarce open ourfclves a pafiage. 
 
 This very evening, I had an opportunity of being better acquainted 
 with the charaâier of the two Englifli lords who had been fent to con- 
 du(5t me. Upon my arrival at Beaumont's, my lord Southampton 
 took me afide, and having told me, that the king, who was at 
 Windfor, a caftic about twenty miles from London, had ordered him 
 to come to him there that day, however late it might be, to inlbrm 
 him of the particulars of my arrival, he earneftly delired, having 
 firft expreffed to me his zeal, that I would impart fomething to 
 him which he might communicate to his majefty, no doubt with 
 an intention to do himfelf honour by it, and gain the favour of that 
 prince. After him my lord Sidney came, and made me the fame re- 
 queft, by ingenuoufly felling me, that he hoped the honour which 
 he had received by being firft deputed to me, and the refpecfl and 
 attachment which he had for his moft chriftian majefty, might merit 
 my referving for him at leaft fome part of the affairs with which I 
 was charged i and he added, that I fhould not difclofe myfelf entire- 
 ly to Southampton. I plainly perceived thefe gentlemen had a mu- 
 tual jealoufy of each other, and contended who fhould be the firft that 
 fhould give the king any informations. I very civilly thanked them, 
 and appeared obliged to both, but gave the preference to Sidney: that 
 is to fay, the former received only falfe, and the latter nothing far- 
 ther than general informations of but little confequence, and fuch as 
 I rtiould have been glad to fee publiftied. 
 
 They both made what ufe of them they thought proper : as to 
 myfelf, I fupped and lay this evening at Beaumont's, and I dined 
 there the next day ; for fo fliort a time had not been fufficient to pro- 
 cure and prepare me lodgings, till the palace of Arundel, which was 
 deftined for me, could be got ready. This palace was one of the 
 fineft, and from its great number of apartments upon the fame floor, 
 the moft commodious in London : but this greatly embarralTed my 
 retinue, which could not -be all lodged at Beaumont's. Houfes and 
 apartments were fought in the neighbourhood, but the difficulty was 
 to get them; for the inhabitants refufed to receive us, on account of 
 the miibehaviour which they had but lately experienced in fome of 
 
 maréchal
 
 174 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. maréchal Biron's people ; the greateft part therefore had like to have 
 been obliged to pals the night in the ftreet. 
 
 It muft indeed be confeffed, that, if what I heard on this fubjecft 
 was true, Biron, by the excefl'es which he had fuffered his whole re- 
 tinue to commit, had not ineffeftually laboured to juftify the animo- 
 fity of the Engliih nation againll: us. I am accuftomed to fpeak my 
 fentiments freely, and never more To than when they may be of ufe 
 in correfting our manners. The youth of our nation have not yet 
 diverted themfelves of that vain, pert, and conceited air, nor thofe 
 licentious and even audacious manners, with which we have, in all 
 ages, been reproached : unfortunately too they are not more circum- 
 Ipedl among foreigners than in their own country, where they are 
 accuftomed to fpend their lives at gaming-tables, and other places of 
 debauchery, and run into boundlefs excelfes. 
 
 I WAS fully refolved, that, if my condu6l could not clear France 
 from this reproach, it Ihould not, at leaft, be incurred by thofe over 
 whom I had authority ; and I determined to exercife this authority in 
 fuch a manner, as to obHge all my people to a flrift regularity of be- 
 haviour : but in thele calbs precepts are feldom efFeâual ; I there- 
 fore enforced them by an example, for which an opportunity hap- 
 pened almofl immediately. 
 
 I WAS the next day accommodated with apartments in a very hand- 
 fome houfe, fituate in a great fquare, near which all my retinue were 
 alfo provided with the neceffary lodgings ; fome of them went to en- 
 tertain themfelves with common women of the town : at the fame 
 place they met with fome Englifh, with whom they quarrelled, fought, 
 and one of the Englifh was killed. The populace, who were before 
 prejudiced againft us, being excited by the tamily of the deceafed, 
 who was a fubftantial citizen, afiembled, and began loudly to threaten 
 revenge upon all the French, even in their lodgings. The affair 
 foon began to appear of great confequence ; for the number of people 
 affembled upon the occalion was prefently increafed to upwards of 
 three thoufand, which obliged the French to fly for an afylum into 
 the houfe of the ambaffador. I did not at firft take notice of it ; the 
 evening advanced, and I was playing at primero with the marquis 
 D'Oraiibn, Saint-Luc, and Blerancourt ; but, obferving them come in 
 at different times by three or four together, and with great emotion, 
 I at laff imagined fomething extraordinary had happened, and, having 
 
 queftioned
 
 Book XIV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 175 
 
 queflioned Terrail and Gadancourt, they informed me of the particu- 1603. 
 lars. 
 
 The honour of my nation, my own in particular, and the intereft of 
 my négociation, were the firft objeéls that prefented themfelves to my 
 mind. I was alio moil fenlibly grieved, that my entry into London 
 (liould be marked at the beginning by fo fatal an accident; and at that 
 moment, I am pcrluaded, my countenance plainly expreffed thefenti- 
 ments with which I was agitated. Guided by my firft impulfe, I arofe, 
 took a flambeaux, and, ordering all that were in the houfe (which was 
 about a hundred) to range themfelves round the walls, hoped, by this 
 means, to difcover the murderer, which I did without any difficulty, 
 by his agitation and fear : he was for denying it at firfl, but I foon 
 obhged him to confefs the truth. He was a young man, and the fon 
 of the lieur de Combaut, principal examiner in chancery, very rich, 
 and a kinfman likewife of Beaumont's, who, entering that moment, 
 deiired me to give young Combaut into his hands, that he might en- 
 deavour to fave him. " I do not wonder," replied I to Beaumont, 
 with an air of authority and indignation, "that the Englifli and you 
 are at variance, if you are capable of preferring the intereft of your- 
 felf and your relations, to that of the king and the public : but the 
 " fervice of the king my mail:er, and the fafety of fo many gentle- 
 ** men of good families, fliall not fufter for fuch an imprudent ftripling 
 " as this." I told Beaumont, in plain terms, that Combaut fhould be 
 beheaded in a few minutes. " How, fir, cried Beaumont, behead 
 " a kinfman of mine, poflefied of two hundred thoufand crowns, an 
 *' only fon ! it is but an ill recompence for the trouble he has given 
 " himfelf, and the expence he has been at to accompany you." I 
 again replied, in as politive a tone, " I had no occafion for fuch com- 
 " pany :" and to be fliort, I defired Beaumont to quit my apartment; 
 for I thought it would be improper to have him prefent in the council, 
 which I intended to hold immediately, in order to pronounce fentence 
 of death upon Combaut. 
 
 In this council, I made choice only of the oldeft and the wifeft of 
 my retinue; and the affair being prefently determined, I fent Arnaud 
 to inform the mayor of London of it, and to délire him to have his 
 officers ready the next day, to conduft the culprit to the place of exe- 
 cution, and to have the executioner there ready to receive him. The 
 mayor returned me for anfwer, that his firft care had been to quiet the 
 tumultuous populace, not doubting but I would do him juftice ; and 
 
 that 
 
 ((
 
 176 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. that he was jiifl: coming to demand it of me, when he received my 
 letter and the fcntence : he moreover ochorted me to moderate it, 
 cither becaufe my feverity had difarmed his, or, which feemed moft 
 probable, becaufe he had already fufFered himfclf to be gained by 
 prcfciits from the friends of the criminal. I fent again to this magif- 
 trate to inform him, that as no fuperior authority, nor refpedl for any 
 perfon whatever, had determined me to pronounce this fentence, I 
 could not confcnt to revoke it ; that, by carrying it into execution, I 
 fhould juflify the king my mafter, and give the Englifli nation a con- 
 vincing proof, that I had done every thing upon the occafion which 
 my duty required ; therefore, in fuch an affair, I could only acquit 
 myfclf of it by committing it to him, and by refigning the prifoner to 
 fuch puniflimcnt as juftice and the laws of England required. I ac- 
 cordingly fent Combaut to him ; fo that the whole procedure became 
 a particular affair between the mayor and Combaut, or rather Beau- 
 mont, who, without much difficulty, obtained this magiftratc's con- 
 fent to fet Combaut at liberty, a favour which none cr)uld impute to 
 me : on the contrary, I perceived both the French and Englifli feemed 
 to think, that, if the affair had been determined by me,, it would not 
 have ended fo well for Combaut ; and the confcqucnce of this to me, 
 with refpedt to the Englifli and French, was, that the former began to 
 love me, and the latter to fear me more. 
 
 This removed at Icafl: one obflaclc to the fuccefs of my ne- 
 gotiation ^ but tlierc ftill remained many to encounter, from the 
 nation in general, from the king, and from other particular perfons, 
 according as their different interefl,s m.ight incline them to traverfe it. 
 It is certain, that the Englifli hate us, and this hatred is fo general and 
 inveterate, that one would almoft be tempted to number it among their 
 natural difpofitions : it is undoubtedly an cffeifl of their arrogance and 
 pride ; for no nation in Europe is more haughty and infolent, nor 
 more conceited of its fuperior excellence : were they to be believed, 
 underflanding and common fenfe are to be found only among them ; 
 they are obflinately wedded to all their own opinions, and defpife thofe 
 of every other nation; and to hear others or fufped themfclves, is what 
 never enters into their thoughts. This temper is more injurious to them- 
 fclves than to us, as from hence they are at the mercy of all their ca- 
 prices : fomctimes one would be induced to think they have contrac- 
 ted all the inflribility of the element by which they are furrounded ; 
 with them all things mufl; fubmit to the reigning difpofitions, and the 
 folc difference between them and any the molt inconflant people in 
 
 Europe,
 
 Booi: XIV\ MEMOIRS OF S U L L r. 
 
 Europe, is, that their inconftancy proceeds not from lightnefj:, but 
 from their vanity, which continually ihews itlelf in a thouland dif- 
 ferent (hapes. Their felf-love renders themfelvcs flavcs to all their ca- 
 pricious humours. What they at one time believe to have wifely per- 
 formed, or firmly refolved, is at another time deftroyed, without their 
 knowing or being able to give a reafon ; they are accordingly io unde- 
 termined in themfelves, that frequently one would not take them for 
 the fame perfons, and from hence they themfelves fometimes appear 
 furprifed on perceiving their ovn continued irrefolution. If we ex- 
 amine what are called their maxims of ftate, we fliall difcover in them 
 only the laws of pride itfelf, adopted by arrogance or indolence. 
 
 From this portrait, it may at firft appear not to be extremely diffi- 
 cult for an ambaffador to infpire them with new refolutions ; and this is 
 true ; but then it is only for the prefent moment : this being clapfed, 
 they no longer remember what you may have enforced to them in the 
 flrongeft manner. So that a king of France muft continually have near 
 them a perfon of underftanding and authority, who might compel 
 them, as it were, to hear him, and force them to be reafonable ; and 
 even in this cafe, fuch a perfon would always have their pride to com- 
 bat, which infpires them with a belief that they are infinitely fuperior 
 to all the other nations in Europe *. 
 
 France therefore can no more depend on the Englifli than on any 
 of her other neighbours ; her true intereft and bcfl: policy is to render 
 her own interior ilate and condition fuch as may make her not only en- 
 tirely independent, but alfo able to compel all Europe to feel its want 
 of her ; and this, after all, would only be difficult to miniÛers who 
 can conceive no other methods to eftedt it than war and violence, 
 methods that ought never to be purfucd without an abfolute neccffity : 
 but let the fovereign ihew himfelf a lover of peace, dilinterefted in 
 what regards himfelf, and ftriftly impartial with refpedl to others, he 
 will then be certain to preferve all his neighbours in that dependence 
 
 * I wifli, with all my heart, I could only fay, that he has here painted the Eng- 
 
 have entirely lapprcfled every thing in this lifli fuch as they appeared to him at that 
 
 chara<Sler, and in tliis whole relation, fo time : one of the moll: happy efteiils of the 
 
 little advantageous to a nation, whofc vir- cultivation of arts, and the improvement of 
 
 tues and genius have rendered it equally well fcicnces, is, that thofe prejudices and par- 
 
 refpetfted and eftcemed. To reconcile truth tialities which were the caufe of hatred and 
 
 with the veracity of the author, we can jealoufy, have hereby been dillipated. 
 
 Vol. II. A a which
 
 178 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XIV, 
 
 1603. which is only durable, becaufe it conciliates the afFedlions, inflead of 
 fuhjeâing the perfons*. 
 
 I DARE farther maintain, that peace is the great and common in- 
 tereft of Europe, the petty princes of which ought to be continually 
 employed in preferving it between the greater powers by all the moft 
 gentle and perfuafive means ; and the greater powers fhould force the 
 lefler into it, if necelTary, by affifting the weak and opprefTed; this is 
 the only ufe they ought to make of their fuperiority. When I confider 
 Europe as compofed of fuch civilized people, I cannot but be afto- 
 nifhed that fhe ftill continues to be governed by principles fo narrow, 
 and cufloms fo barbarous. What is the confequence of that profound 
 policy of which (he is fo vain, other than her own continual laceration 
 and ruin ? War is the refource in all places and upon all occafions ; (he 
 knows no other way, nor conceives any other expedients ; it is the fole 
 refource of the moft inconfiderable fovereign, as well as of the greateft 
 potentate ; the only difference between them is, that the former makes 
 it with lefs noife and in conjundlion with others, while the latter does 
 it with great preparation and frequently alone, that he may fliew his 
 grandeur, though in reality he only thews himfelf more fignally defpi- 
 cable. Why muft we always impofe on ourfelves the neceffity of 
 paffing through war to arrive at peace ? the attainment of which is the 
 end of all wars, and is a plain proof that recourfe is had to war only for 
 want of a better expedient : neverthelefs, we have fo effectually con- 
 founded this truth, that we feem to make peace only that we may 
 again be able to make war. But let us now return to the Englifh. 
 
 The court of London might be confidered as compofed of four 
 forts of perfons, who formed fo many different fadtions ; and from 
 this circumftance only one may infer, what in reality was true, that this 
 court was full of fufpicion, miftruft, jealoufy, private and even public 
 difcontents. I fliall here advance nothing, the truth of which I was 
 not well convinced of, either by my own obfervations, or from the 
 
 * It is not furprifing to hear fuch rea- improper for the ftates of mifery and weak- 
 
 fonins; as this now we have acquired juf- nefs, in which the kingdom was at that 
 
 ter notions in war and politics, and that time, or at leaft from whence it was but 
 
 France is arrived at fo great a degree of juft recovered ? It is by fuch true, folid, and 
 
 glory, that conquefts can add nothing or wife maxims as thefe, that the memoirs of 
 
 but very little to it : but what opinion muft Sully have become a rich mine, from 
 
 we conceive of the views and penetration of whence all our able minifters have fince 
 
 the duke of Sully, when we behold him drawn ineftimable treafures. 
 eftablilhing principles, in appearance fo 
 
 lights
 
 SooK XIV. MEMOIRS OP S U L L V. 
 
 lights I received from the partifans of France, from thofe who called 
 themfelves fuch^from the difcontented, and in fhort, from many other 
 opportunities which occafionally occurred. The firft of thefe fadlions 
 was the Scotch, at the head of which were the earl of Mar, lord 
 Mountjoy, lord Kintore, and other gentlemen of the king's bedcham- 
 ber ; they were in the intereft of France, and endeavoured to engage 
 the king in their party, who feemed difpofed to fuffer himfelf to be go- 
 verned entirely : fome of them were tolerably fkilled in military af- 
 fairs, but not one of them was acquainted with the bufinefs of the 
 cabinet. I have not mentioned the earl of Lennox in this number, 
 becaufe, though he was equally well inclined to France, he had ne- 
 verthelefs a party among tbe Scots which was feparate from that of 
 the earl of Mar, and even oppofite to it, not indeed in its political 
 principles, but only in a competition which fhould have the advantage 
 in the king's favour, and there was a reciprocal and inveterate hatred 
 between them. Thus the Scotch faction had fubdivided itfelf into 
 two. 
 
 The fécond, in all refpeds entirely oppofite to the former, was 
 the Spanifh fadlion : in this all the Howards were engaged, having 
 at their heard the admiral of that name, the great chamberlain, the 
 mafter of the horfe, the Humes, and others of lefs note. The third 
 was compoled of a number of old Englifli, who, confidering France 
 and Spain as equiponderous, or being equally jealous of thefe two 
 nations, were attached to neither, and fought to render Flanders inde- 
 pendent of both, by reftoring the antient kingdom of Burgundy. The 
 iirft movers of this faftion were the chancelier, the high-treafurer, 
 and Cecil the fecretary of llate, at leaft as far as one could judge of a 
 man who was all myftery ; for he feparated from, or united with all 
 parties, according as he judged it mod advantageous to his own par- 
 ticular intereft : he had borne the principal fway in the late govern- 
 ment, and he endeavoured with the fame fubtilty to acquire an equal 
 {hare in the prefent; his experience, joined to his addrefs, had already 
 made him be confidered by the king and queen as a neceffary man. 
 Laftly, there was a fourth fadlion, compofed of fuch as meddled in 
 affairs, without having any connexion with thofe before-mentioned, 
 -and even without having any agreement among themfelves, unlefs 
 that they would not feparate nor unite with any other ; their charac- 
 ter was purely Englifh ; they breathed a fpirit of fedition, and were 
 ready to undertake any thing in favour of novelties, even were it 
 againft the king himfelf. They had at their head the earls of North- 
 
 A a 2 umberland.
 
 iSo MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XIV, 
 
 1603. iimberland, Southampton, and Cumberland, lord Cobham, Sir Wal- 
 ter Raleigh, Griffin, and others. 
 
 Nothing could as yet be difcovered with regard to any of thefe 
 fad:ions, except that they mutually hated and were jealous of each 
 other J and it was impoiTible to foretel which would at length obtain 
 the afcendant, and gain the prince in its interefts. To judge from ap- 
 pearances, his favour would be difputed only by the men of learning, 
 and the favourites of his bed-chamber; the firil:, becaufe by their fu- 
 perior knowledge and dexterity they commonly fucceedcd better than 
 others in gaining their mafter; the fécond, becaufe they had the ad- 
 vantage of familiarity, and of being admitted into all his parties of 
 pleafure : but the king's humour and inclinations were not yet fuffi- 
 ciently known ; beildes, that his acceffion to fuch a crown as that of 
 England might occafion fuch alterations in them as would render any 
 judgment on this head extremely precarious. 
 
 All that I had to fear was, left, among the different fentiments 
 with which endeavours would be ufed to infpire James, thofe fhould 
 prove to be moft difficult that were to attach him to the interefts of 
 France. Hitherto his inclinations had been conformable to thofe of 
 the Northern powers, who were for making three divifions of the houfe 
 of Auftria ; Spain, Germany, and Burgundy : they detefted the firft, 
 as being too powerful and enterprifing; the fécond they defpifed, but 
 would however have been reconciled to it, by difuniting it from the 
 Pope, Spain, and the Jefuits; the third was as yet only imaginary, but 
 was what they fo paffionately defired, that they would have fpared 
 nothing to reftore it, provided they would have alfo feparated its in- 
 terefts from thofe of Spain and Germany, or at leaft have obliged thefe 
 powers to renounce all pretenfions upon one another. 
 
 King James was not fo well difpofed in favour of Henry as Eliza- 
 beth had been ; he had been informed that Henry, in derifion, had 
 called him, " Captain of arts, and clerk of arms." There was fome rea- 
 fon to apprehend, that it would be difficult at firft to hinder him from 
 entertaining thoughts of renewing the antient pretences of England up- 
 on France, of which his courtiers had not failed to talk to him very 
 earneftly. As to myfelf, it had been hinted to him, that both I 
 and my brother had fpoke of him in terms not very refpedful. But 
 to give the reader a more perfect knowledge of the charadter of this 
 prince, let me add, that he meant well, was confcientious, eloquent, 
 
 and
 
 Booç: XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 and had fome erudition ; though lefs of the latter, than of penetration 
 and a difporition to learning. He loved to hear difcourfes on ftate- 
 affairs, and to be entertained with great defigns, which he himfelf 
 confidered and difpofed with a fpirit of method and fyftem j but he 
 never thought of carrying them farther, for he naturally hated war, 
 and yet more to engage in it himfelf. He was indolent in his adlions, 
 except in hunting, and wanted application in his affairs ; all which 
 were iigns of an eafy and timid dilpofition, that made it highly pro- 
 bable he would be governed by others ; and this was farther confirm- 
 ed by his behaviour to the queen, his wife *. 
 
 The charadler of this princefs was quite the reverfe of her huf- 
 band's ; flie was naturally bold and enterprizing ; flie loved pomp and 
 grandeur, tumult and intrigue. She was deeply engaged in all the civil 
 facflions, not only in Scotland, in relation to the catholics, whom fhe 
 fupported, and had even firlT: encouraged, but alfo in England, where 
 the difcontented, whofe numbers were very confiderable, were not 
 forry to be fupported by a princefs deftined to become their queen. 
 Every one knows that women, though but weak inftruments in folid 
 affairs, often adl a dangerous part in intrigues. The king could not 
 be ignorant of this, but he was fo weak as never to be able to refill:, 
 nor perfonally to contradifl her, though fhe made no fcruple publicly 
 to fhew that flie did not always conform to his fentiments. He came 
 to London long before her : ihe was ftill in Scotland when I arrived 
 at that city, and James wifhed flie would not have departed from 
 thence fo loon, being periliaded that her prefence would only be detri- 
 mental to affairs. He fent to acquaint her with his defire, and that 
 with an air of authority, which cofts nothing to afTume againfl thofe 
 who are abfent, but fhe was very little affeéled by it. 
 
 Instead of obeying, the queen prepared to quit Scotland, after 
 having of her own accord, and againfh the king's exprefs defire, ap- 
 pointed herlelf a great chamberlain of her houfliold. She was alfo at- 
 tended by the earl of Orkney, and another Scotch nobleman ; and 
 brought with her the body of the male child of which flie had been 
 delivered in Scotland, becaufe endeavours had been ufed to perfuade 
 the public,, that its death was only feigned. She alfo brought with 
 her the prince, her eldeft fon, whom flie in public affeâed to govern 
 
 * Anne, daughter of Frederic II. king of Denmark, queen of Scotland, afterwards 
 of Great-Britaiii, fhe died in 1619. 
 
 ahfo-
 
 82 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XlV. 
 
 1603. abfolutely, and whom, it was faid, fhe fought to infpire with fenti-^ 
 ments in favour of Spain j for it was not doubted but that (he was in- 
 dined to declare on that fide. Neverthelefs, the young prince gave 
 her no room to be pleafed with his deference for her : he naturally 
 hated Spain, and favoured France j and this prefage was'fo much the 
 more happy, as from the aflemblage of ambition, greatnefs, and gc- 
 nerolity, already perceiveable in him, he promifed one day to become 
 one of thofe princes who are the fubjedl of mudi converfation. He 
 was, from report, acquainted with the charadter of the king of France, 
 and he propofed making him his model ; which was certainly very 
 difagreeable to the queen his mother, who, it was faid, had refolved 
 to deftroy his French difpofition, by having him fent to be educated 
 in Spain. 
 
 Thus I have given fome account of the ftate of the court of Lon- 
 don, at the time when I began my negotiation. The charadier of the 
 refl of the principal perfons who compofed it, will more particularly 
 appear in the enfuing part of thefe Memoirs. Here therefore I will 
 only add, that belides count d'Aremberg from the arch-dukes, prince 
 Henry of NafTau, and the other deputies from the States-General, 
 whom I found here upon my arrival, the ambaffador from his catho- 
 lic majefty, and the envoys from Sweden * and Denmark, were alfo 
 hourly expected, and they accordingly arrived the day after me. There 
 were likewife fome others, but not of fufficient confequence to be par* 
 ticularly mentioned. Upon the whole, it appeared as though all the 
 princes of Europe confidered the gaining England in their interefts, 
 to be of the utmofh importance to them. 
 
 The ûvH of the foreign miniftcrs whom I fnv at the court of Lon- 
 don were thofe of the eledor Palatine, who having already made their 
 compliments to the new king, and being prepared to return home, 
 came to take their leave of me, almofl: immediately after my arrival, 
 but nothing particular pafl'ed between us. Soon after they had left me, 
 Cecil fent his principal fecretary to be informed by Beaumont, at what 
 hour he might conveniently fee me; and he accordingly came in the 
 afternoon. So long as we had any witnefles of our converfation, Cecil 
 talked to me only of the king of England's aifeétion for the king of 
 France, of the defire which he had of giving him proofs of it, and 
 other things in the fame flrain, which could only be regarded as 
 compliments; neverthelefs, when we were in my chamber only with 
 
 * Chriftiern IV. 
 
 Beaumont,
 
 Book XIV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 183 
 
 Beaumont, I pretended to confider what he faid as very ferions ; and 1603. 
 
 this I did to gain an opportunity of reprefenting to him, howhighly ' 
 
 advantageous an union betvi'een the two kings would be to both, and 
 of urging the engagements they had formerly contradled, and the fer- 
 vices each had received from the other. 
 
 This general introduction ferved me at leaft to form a judgment of 
 the difpofition of the perfon who fpoke to me ; and from his reply, I 
 perceived it was not favourable to France. Cecil made me a long 
 harangue, the defign of which was, to convince me that his mafler 
 ought not to meddle in any of the affairs of his neighbours, hut leave 
 Holland to ad: as it fliould judge proper, in regard to its difputes with 
 Spain. He fpoke of Ollend as a place little worth the pains which 
 had been taken to preferve it ; and of the commerce of the Indies, as 
 an advantage, of which, in good policy, the Low Countries ought to 
 be deprived. I oppofed thefe fentiments ; and though he feemed con- 
 vinced by my arguments, he neverthelefs appeared very little inclined 
 to enforce them to the king his mafler. He changed the fubjedl, by 
 informing me, that his majefty was gone to Greenwich, in order to 
 avoid the folicitations which count D'Aremberg would not have failed 
 to make, to obtain his audience before mine, which his majefly could 
 not have refufed Rim, becaufe he had arrived before me, and which, 
 neverthelefs, he was not'difpofed to grant. To this favour, which 
 Cecil gave me to underftand was not inconfiderable, he alfo added that 
 of offering me my audience, which was a fécond obligation, no lefs 
 valuable than the former, as all ambalTadors were cuftomarily obliged 
 to demand it of the king; neither was it his fault, if I did not alfo 
 regard the deputation of fuch a man as him as a particular mark of 
 refpedl. I was not, however, deficient in my acknowledgments to 
 the deputy, and I defired he would give himfelf the trouble to teftify 
 my gratitude for it to the king. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the pains this fecretary had taken to per- 
 fuade me, that no one, after the king, had fo much power as himfelf, 
 and that he even governed in the councils of the prince, I thought I 
 perceived the contrary. I likewife imagined, that, fearing leil: Tome 
 of his competitors fliould deprive him of any of his important em- 
 ployments, he had folicited, and perhaps with great affiduity, of the 
 king his mafter, that of treating with me, wherein he aâ:ed as if he 
 thought himfelf degraded by thv; execution of it. La-Fontaine, and 
 the deputies of the States-General, who entered juft as Cecil went out, 
 
 were, -
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIV, 
 
 were, from his behaviour, of the fame opinion ; and this did not appear 
 to us an unfortunate circumftance, no more than the obfervation 
 which they had made, that fince James had been informed of my de- 
 parture from France to London, he had begun to treat them with more 
 kindnefs ; having before then refufed both to fee or i'peak to the prince 
 of Nafiau, and even publicly given the States the epithet of " feditious 
 " rebels." Thefe deputies began to perfuade me, that the king of France 
 ought not only to infpire the king of England with more favourable 
 fentiments in regard to them, but fhould openly declare himfelf their 
 defender. They had much more to fay on this head, but it was late, 
 and fupper was on the tables ; I therefore difmiffed them, with general 
 aflurances that they fhould be fatisfied. 
 
 I GAVE then a more pofitive anfwer to Barnevelt* their principal, 
 when he came to fee me at the palace of Arundel, of which I was 
 now in poflefTion. Barnevelt, like his collègues, began by magnifying 
 the mifery to which the United Provinces were reduced, the expences 
 they had been at fince the peace of Vervins, their debts, and their ex- 
 haufted condition. He faid the States could no longer keep Oftend, 
 nor refift the Spaniards, unlefs the king of France caufed a powerful 
 army to march without delay, and either through the frontiers of Pi- 
 cardy, or the territories belonging to the arch-duke, enter Flandersfrom 
 the land-fide, which was the only means of forcing the Spaniards from 
 before Oflend, having proved, they faid, by experience, that the Spa- 
 niards could eafily deilroy, one after the other, all the little fuccours 
 that were fent them by fea, and that immediately on their landing. 
 After all thefe complaints, he concluded, as his collègues had done, 
 that Henry ought to declare himfelf their protedor, and enter into an 
 offenfive and defenfive alliance with them. 
 
 I TOLD Barnevelt, in plain terms, that he mufi: renounce any fuch 
 hopes ; for that Henry was not at all difpofed, through complaifance 
 for them, to draw upon himfelf the whole force of Spain, nor alone 
 to fupport the burden of a war, in which, fuppofing the king of Eng- 
 land Ihould refufe to be concerned, he could not expedl: to have the 
 advantage. For this reafon, I told him, as was really the cafe, that 
 I could neither take any refolution, nor fay any thing pofitivt to them, 
 till I had at leafi: founded the difpofitions of this prince with regard to 
 them. Barnevelt having been at London for a confiderablc time, might 
 
 * John d'Oldcn de Barnevelt, lord of Tempel. 
 
 reafon-
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRSOF SULLY. 
 
 reafonably be fuppofed to have acquired fome knowledge of the king, 
 I therefore afked him what difcoveries he had made ? He rephed, 
 that this prince having from tl e firft been incHncd to peace, both by 
 the advice of his counfellors, and his own paffive difpofition, had long 
 deprived them of all hope^ ; but, having apparently refleiîled that this 
 peace would coil England dear, if by his inadlion the Flemifli fliould 
 return under the dominion of the Spaniards, or fhould be obliged, in 
 order to free themfelves from it, to accept that of France; and hav- 
 ing perhaps been made fenfible what even England had to fear from 
 a power, who, without any regard to juftice, attempted whatever 
 feemed for its conveniency, when all other cbiedls became infuffi- 
 cient to fatisfy its unbounded defire. Thele confiderations feemed 
 to have thrown James into a ftate of perplexity, out of which he had 
 probably not yet extricated himfelf j for he had faid nothing more to 
 them, than that he would not feparate himfelf from France ; on the 
 contrary, that he only waited the arrival of the French ambafiador, to 
 unite more clofely with Henry, by concluding a double marriage be- 
 tween the two families. 
 
 These informations which I received from Barnevelt would have 
 diffipated part of my fears, had the king of England been one of thofe 
 princes on whom one could depend : but in all this, with refpedl to 
 himfelf, I could only perceive diffimulaiion, or, at befl, irrefolutionj 
 for thofe of his minifters whom I had reafon to believe were beft ac- 
 quainted with the fecrets of his councils, upon every occafion con- 
 ftantly faid, that all endeavours to infpire them with a drsad of Spain 
 would be vain, the fituation of their ifland proteding them againft the 
 enterprifes of any foreign power whatever. It would indeed have been 
 highly imprudent in the States and Barnevelt to have judged any other- 
 wife, or have deferred taking meafures to prevent their final ruin, till 
 James had taken his refolution ; and I believe the States vrere too good 
 politicians to have committed fuch a miftake. In confequence of this 
 opinion, which I communicated to Barnevelt, I conjured him, by all 
 the interefl of his country, not to conceal from me any of the moil 
 fecret refolutions which had been there taken, upon a fuppoiition that 
 England would abandon them, or even, which was but too likely, that 
 Hie would endeavour to augment their diftrefs, by taking this oppor- 
 tunity to demand the cautionary towns oifered to Elizabeth. 
 
 Barnevelt finding himfelf preiîed, and confidering me as the 
 
 confident of a prince who was the only true friend to his country, no 
 
 Vol.. II. ' B b longer
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIV. 
 
 longer hefitated to difcover all to me : and after having intimated the 
 merit of fo important a fecret, he informed me, that the council of the 
 United Provinces had refolved, at all events, to avoid giving up the 
 cautionary towns ; that the terms of their treaty with Elizabetn would 
 furnifh them with the means of doing this, by the time which might 
 be required to examine the tenor of it ; that in cafe they found 
 themfelves too clofely prefled by the Englifh and Spaniards, they 
 would endeavour to bring upon the carpet the treaty of Brunfwic and 
 Vandrelep, offering Oftend to be fequeftrated till the conclufion of 
 the treaty ; that during this interval, fbme event might perhaps hap- 
 pen in their favour, and tlius, at leaft for the prefent, a flop be put 
 to the powerful forces preparing in Spain againil Oltend. 
 
 In order to underftand what is here faid of the treaties with Eliza- 
 beth and Spain, it is neceffary to know, that the late queen of England 
 had demanded of the States certain towns *, as a lecurity for the mo- 
 ney which {he had lent them, with this gracious claufe in their favour, 
 that they fliould not give her the poiTeflion of them, unlefs they en- 
 tered into an accommodation with Spain without her confent. As to 
 the other treaty, it was propofed, in the heightof the hofiilities between 
 Spain and the United Provinces, to put the contefted countries under 
 the power of the houfe of Auftria ; not the branch which reigned in 
 Spain, but that which poffeffed the empire of Germany. But whether 
 the States or Spain, or, which is moft probable, both, were the caufe 
 of it, the treaty that was begun by the duke of Brunfwic, and con- 
 tinued by count Vandrelep, came to nothing : the former demanded, 
 that the provinces and towns which Spain ilill preferved, or had re- 
 gained in Flanders, fliould be comprehended in the treaty, hecaufe, 
 faid they, they rifqued too much by being fo near the power of Spain, 
 who taking advantage of a pretended peace, might eafily regain pof- 
 fefiion of what flie appeared to abandon ; and the latter could not but 
 with regret think of Separating fo brilliant a gem from her crown. 
 
 In the afternoon of this day, I was vifited by the refident from 
 Venice, who v;as the fecretary of that republic : he was as free and 
 unreferved in his difcourfe with me as Barnevelt had been ; for his 
 ilate was in the fame fituation of jealoufy and complaints againlt Spain, 
 and of union with France : he further confirmed to me what I had 
 before ftrongly fufpeded, of the irrefolution of James : he told me. 
 
 * Fleflingue and Brille. 
 
 D 
 
 that
 
 Book XIV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 that this prince, who Co often and fo loudly repeated the high found- 
 ing words '* the policy of Europe," did, in reality, concern himfelf with 
 nothing lefs ; and that his dilTimulation, which his flatterers compli- 
 mented in him as a virtue, had always confifted in giving hopes to all, 
 but accomplifliing none ; that it was not to be expedted he would 
 change his maxims, having frequently been heard to fay, that it was 
 to fuch an artful condudl alone he owed his fecurity when king of 
 Scotland ; and therefore it was highly probable that he would again 
 put thofe arts in pradlice, and purfue them more Iteadily than ever, at 
 the beginning of a reign, and at the head of a great kingdom, whofe 
 people, affairs, and neighbours, he was utterly unacquainted with : 
 all which were circumftances favourable to his maxim. 
 
 These refledlions of the Venetian were at once fenfible and juft. 
 He afterwards informed me of the duke of Bouillon's proceedings with 
 the new king, whom, by the envoys from the elector Palatine, he had 
 folicited to fpeak to Henry in his favour : but James flopped them by 
 faying, that it did not become a great prince to intercede for a rebel- 
 lious fubjedl. After this mortifying reply, I know not what were 
 Bouillon's thoughts of that fcheme which had been concerted between 
 La Tremouille, D'Entragues, Du-Pleffis, and himfelf, and had bore 
 in their opinions fo favourable an afpedt : this fcheme was to make the 
 king of England protedlor of the calviniil party in France, and the 
 eledior Palatine his lieutenant. Bouillon's agent in London was an 
 Englifhman nam-ed Wilem, who had entered into his fervice after 
 having quitted that of his majefty, to whom he had been huntfman, 
 and one of his grooms of the chamber, known under the French 
 name of Le Blank. D'Entragues' agent was named Du-Panni : he 
 was very frequently at Beaumont's, and his principal correfpondence 
 was with the duke of Lennox and his brother. Henry had informed 
 me of all thefe particulars in his letters, and having by his order 
 mad-e enquiries concerning them, 1 found they were exaélly true. 
 D'Entragues was certainly in the right thus to negotiate by others ; 
 for had he appeared at London, he would foon have been difcovered 
 to be a man of many words and but little underrtanding The tefti- 
 mony which I on all oocafions bore to this truth, did not advance his 
 affairs. 
 
 The fame day alfo count d'Aremberg fent one of his retinue to 
 wait upon me, excufnig his not coming himfelf, as cuftom did not 
 permit fuch vifits till alter he had received his ûriï audience of the 
 
 B b 2 king.
 
 i88 M E M O î R S O F S XJ L L Y. Book XIV. 
 
 1603. king. All that paffed between me and this nobleman confifled in com- 
 pliments, offers offervice, and affurances of peace and friendlhip, in 
 all which nothing was wanting but fincerity. 
 
 The king of England, who had before acquainted me that he 
 would grant me an audience on the twenty-fecond, which was Sun- 
 day, fent a gentleman to confirm it to me, to defire I would not think 
 the time tedious, and to be informed how I was lodged, and whether 
 I wanted any thing. To this favour was alfo added the prefent of half 
 a buck, which, as this prince informed me by the bearer, was the 
 firft he had ever taken in his life, though he was a great lover of the 
 chace; the reafon was, there was none in Scotland. From hence he 
 took occafion to make Henry a compliment, by faying that he attribu- 
 ted his good fortune to the arrival of a man, who came from a prince 
 that was looked upon to be the king of hunters. I replied, that this 
 conformity of inclination in their majefties was to me a prefage of 
 their perfonal union, unlefs a jealoufy of the chace fliould prevent it ; 
 that, in this cafe, I would take the liberty to offer myfelf as arbiter 
 between their majefties, being fo difinterefted and indifferent in this 
 article, that when the king my mafter made a party for the chace he 
 was fo far from thinking, like the king of England, that my prefence 
 would contribute to its fuccefs, that he generally fent me to purfue 
 other affairs in the cabinet, where, he faid, I was more happy. Though 
 there was nothing ferions in all this, I was neverthelefs glad of the op- 
 portunity that was afforded me to infinuate myfelf into his Britilh ma- 
 iefty's favour, and with this view I turned my compliment in fuch a 
 manner as might pleafe the felf-complacency of James, who, I very 
 well knew, was extremely flattered by any comparifon with the king 
 of France. I returned the compliment which count d'Aremberg had 
 paid me, and, at the fame time, fent him half my prefent. 
 
 One part of the orders I had given with regard to the ceremony of 
 my audience, was, that all my retinue fliould appear in mourning, to 
 execute with propriety the firft part of my commiffion, which con- 
 fifted in complimenting the new king on the death of Elizabeth, though 
 I had been informed at Calais, that no one, whether ambaffador, fo- 
 reigner, or Englifli, was admitted into the prefence of the new king in 
 black ; and Beaumont had fince reprefented to me, that what I in- 
 tended would moff certainly be highly difagreeable to the court, where 
 fo ftrong an affeélation prevailed to obliterate the memory of that great 
 
 princefs^
 
 Book XIV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. iSg 
 
 princefs, that (he was never fpoke of, and even the mention of her 1603. 
 name induftrioufly avoided. 
 
 I SHOULD have been very glad not to have been fenfible of the ne- 
 ceffity I was laid under of appearing in a garb, which would feeni 
 to caft a reproach on the king and all England : but my orders hereupon 
 were pofitive, not to mention that they were almofl laudable; and 
 this was the reafon I paid no regard to Beaumont's reprefentations, 
 who entreated me to defer putting myfelf to this trouble and cxpence, 
 till he had wrote about it to Erfkine and fome others, who were belt 
 acquainted with the court ceremonial. He wrote accordingly, but 
 received no anfwer on Thurfday, Friday, nor even all day on Saturday .; 
 and I ftill perfifted in my refolution, notwithftanding the reafons 
 which he continually gave me to the contrary. On Saturday night, 
 which was the evening of the day preceding my audience, and fo late 
 that I was in bed, Beaumont came to tell me, that Erfkine had fent 
 to acquaint him, that the whole court confidered my intention as a 
 premeditated affront ; and that I had fo offended the king by it, that 
 nothing would more effeftually prevent the fuccefs of my negotiation, 
 from its very commencement. This information agreeing with thofe 
 of my lord Sidney, the vifcount de Saraot, La- Fontaine, and the States 
 deputies, it was impoil'ible for me to be in doubt about it ; and, through 
 fear lefl a greater evil fhould enftie, I caufed all my retinue to change 
 their apparel, and provide themfelves others as well as they could. 
 Lewkener coming the next morning to inform me that I lliould be 
 prefented to the king at three o'clock in the afternoon, I perceived, 
 from the fatisfaffion which heexpreffed at the new orders I had given, 
 that it was indifpenfably neceflary to vanquifli my repugnance ; never- 
 thelefs, it publicly gained me almoft as much honour, as if I liad per- 
 fifled in my intention, becaufe none were ignorant that I had complied 
 only through abfolute neceffity. 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 o F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XV. 
 
 1603. ^ I A HE king of England's guards, with the earl of Derby st their 
 L/VNJ I head, came to attend me from the palace of Arundel, and ef- 
 ■*• corted me to the Thames, whofe banks they lined whilft I 
 went down to Greenwich. This paflage I made in the king's barges, 
 being attended by one hundred and twenty gentlemen, feledcd from 
 my whole retinue. Upon my landing, I was received by the earl of 
 Northumberland, who, through an infinite number of people, con- 
 dudted me to the king's palace. 
 
 I ENTERED iuto a chamber, where we were prefented with a colla- 
 tion, though contrary to an eftabliflied cuftoni in England, never to 
 treat ambafladors, nor even to oiter them a glafs of water. Plis ma- 
 jefty having fent to defire my appearance in his prefence, I was above 
 a quarter of an hour before I could get to the foot of his throne, oc- 
 cafioned both by the great numbers that were already there, and be- 
 caufe I made all my retinue walk before me. The prince no fooner 
 perceived me than he defcended two fleps, and would have defcended 
 them all, fo very deHrous he appeared to receive and embrace me, had 
 not one of his miniliers, who llood next him, whifpered foftly in his 
 ear, that he ought to go no farther. " If, faid he aloud, I fliew this 
 " ambaflador particular marksof honour, and fuch as are contrary to 
 
 *' cufiom
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ** cuftom, I mean not thereby to give a precedent to others : I parti- 
 " cularly love and efteem hhn for the affedion which I know he has 
 " for me, for his firmnefs in our rehgion, and his fideUty to his mafter." 
 I dare not repeat all that he faid to my advantage. I received fo 
 obliging a favour with all due refpedl ; and replied, not by an harangue, 
 fuch as fome may, perhaps, exped: to fee here, and with which 
 court-pedants would be more pleafed ; but only by a compliment, 
 which, in reality, comprehended as much, and was more fuitable to 
 my fituation. Henry's affliâ:ion for the death of Elizabeth, his joy 
 for the accefllon of James to the throne of England, the praifes of the 
 two kings ; all thefe I comprifed in very few words, I excufed my- 
 felf from my want of rhetorical abilities, and from his moll; Chriftian 
 majefty's having himfelf explained his fentiments in his letters, which 
 I at the fame time prefented, diftinguifliing to his Britannic majefly, 
 that which Henry had wrote with his own hand. He read them him- 
 felf, and then gave them to Cecil; exprefiing, at the fame time, how 
 fenlible he was of their contents, by thefe words, *' That he had not 
 " left in Scotland the ardor with which he had always loved the 
 " king of France, and defired the profperity of his crown," I con- 
 tinued to compliment his majefty, though in the ftyle of common 
 converfation ; for that of haranguing was extremely difagreeable to 
 me. I faid, that Henry had given public demonftrations of his joy, 
 on feeing the throne of England filled by a prince who was fo worthy 
 of it, and for his having been fo readily and univerfally acknowledged ; 
 that if there had been occafion for the prefence of his mofl Chriftian 
 majefly, he would have given proofs of his fincere attachment to his 
 intere(ts, and union with his perfon, and have come with pleafure to 
 any place where his prefence might have been neceflary, I did not 
 repent my having made this compliment. James replied, that if he 
 had even found the Englifli at war with the French, his endeavours 
 would, nevcrthelefs, have been to live in peace with a prince who, 
 like himfelf, had been called from the crown of Navarre to that of 
 France : " It being always commendable, faid he, to overcome evil 
 " with good." But that he had had the double fatisfaftion, of quit- 
 ting a crown in friendfhip with France, for another that was not lefs 
 fo. The late queen was mentioned on this occafion, but withoiM; 
 one word in her praife. 
 
 After this, his majclly being defirous to difcourfe longer and 
 more familiarly with me, he made me afcend all the fteps leading 
 to the throne. I took this occafion to make my particular com- 
 pliment, for which he thanked me with an air of fincerity and 
 
 affedion.
 
 192 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XV. 
 
 affedlion. He did not conceal from me the information which he 
 had received from Paris, of the difcourfes attributed to Henry, to 
 me, and to my brother, after his return from Scotland : he confeffed 
 that he had for fome time believed them, but that he had at laft dif- 
 covered the whole to be only an artifice of their common enemies, 
 who, by ufing fuch means to open themfelves a pafTage to univerfal 
 monarchy, had rendered themfelves much more odious to him. He 
 exclaimed in very fevere terms againft the Spaniards, which could not 
 but give great pleafure to Naffau, who was near enough to hear fome- 
 thing of what was faidj and alfo to the Flemilh deputies, who were 
 prefent, tho' incognito, having not yet been able to obtain audience. 
 He fpoke of their endeavours to kindle the flames of war among their 
 neighbours with the greatefl: abhorrence; protefted that he would op- 
 pofe their unjuft defigns ; and talked of the king of Spain, as a man 
 too weak both in body and mind to think of the great chimera's of 
 his predeceflbrs. The pleafure which I received from this difcourfe 
 was fufficient to make me defirous of continuing it. I told the king 
 of England, that he was extremely happy in being fo well acquainted 
 with the charaâer of the Spaniards only by the experience of others, 
 but that it was not fo with the king of France : to prove which, I in- 
 ftanced what they had done fmce the conclufion of fo folemn a peace 
 as that of Vervins; the revolt of Biron, the war of Savoy, and fome 
 other grievances. 'I added, that fuch was the artifice of the Spanifli 
 councils, that to put the change upon Europe in regard to its in- 
 juries, they always began by complaining firft : which condudl was 
 equally dangerous and deteftable with that which they ufually prac- 
 tifed, of treating wdth their neighbours only with the premeditated 
 intention of deceiving them, even by that fecurity which treaties 
 ought to give. James replied, that all this he knew very well. In 
 a word, I could no longer doubt, that the refentment which he 
 fhewed againft Spain, before fo many witnefies, was as fincere as it 
 was violent. From this moment the firfl dawn of hope began to 
 appear in my favour. 
 
 The king of England changed this fubjeâ: to that of hunting, for 
 which he difcovered an extravagant paffion. He faid, that he knew 
 very well I was no great lover of the chace; that he had attributed the 
 late fuccefs of his fport to me, not as marquis of Rofny, but as am- 
 baflador from a king who was not only the greatefl: prince, but the 
 greated hunter in the world : and added very politely, that Henry was 
 in the right not to carry me to the chace, becaufe I was of greater 
 fervice to him elfewhere 3 and that if I purfued the chace, the king of 
 
 France
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 France could not. I replied, that Henry loved all the exercires, biit 
 that none of them made him negleâ the care of his affairs, ncr pre- 
 vented him from a clofe infpedlion into the proceedings of his mini- 
 ilers J being far from that blind credulity which the king of Spain had 
 for the duke of Lerma. Hereupon James faid that without doubt I 
 had found it very difficult to regulate the finances, and refift the im- 
 portunities of the great men of the kingdom : and of this he produced 
 fome inftances, of which I had lofl the remembrance. He then fuddenly 
 afked me as it were by interrupting himfelf, how the king of France 
 did ? I judged, from the manner in which this queflion was afked, 
 that endeavours had been ufed to perfuade this prince, that Henry, 
 fmce his late indifpofition, could not live long ; that he had given cre- 
 dit to it ; and that this opinion would be the mofl: powerful motive to 
 prevent his union with France, as he could have but little dépendance 
 upon a minor king. I endeavoured therefore to undeceive him, in 
 regard to all thefe falfe reports, and fucceeded. But he further faid, 
 that be had been told one thing in regard to Henry, for which he was 
 extremely ferry ; and this was, that his phyficians had forbid him the 
 chace. To this I replied, that fuch advice was, perhaps, what*he him- 
 felf would do well to purfue. In reality, James had but lately nar- 
 rowly efcaped breaking his arm in the chace, the manner of which 
 accident he had related to me. 
 
 When I acquainted Henry with this part of our converfation, he, 
 in his anfwer, ordered me to tell the king of England, that in purfu- 
 ance to the advice of his phyficians, he was more moderate in his 
 hunting than he ufcd to be, and that fince my departure he had been 
 at the death of five or fix flags without the leafl inconvenience. 
 *' Well," faid the king of England to me, ftill continuing the fame 
 fubjedl, " lunderflandyou have fent part of the produceof my fportto 
 '* count d'Aremberg ; and how do you think he received it ? I afiure 
 ** you, it was not at all agreeable to him. He fays, you fent it only to 
 " fliew that you was more regarded than he ,• and he is in the right, 
 *' fori will furely make fome difference between my good brother the 
 '* king of France, and his mafters, who have fent me an ambaffador 
 " who can neither v/alk nor talk; he demanded an audience of me ia 
 " a garden, becaufe he could not walk up flairs into a room." James, 
 then afked me, whether the Spanifli ambaffador, who had been fent to 
 him, had paffed through France ? and upon my replying that he had : 
 " Spain, faid he, fends me an ambaflador port, that he may arrive the 
 " fooner, and finifh our affairs in pofl-hafte." Thus upon every oc- 
 
 VoL. II. C c cafion
 
 MEMOIRS OP SULLY. Book XV. 
 
 cafion he inveighed againfl tlic Spaniards. Taxis*, courier-major to 
 his Catholic majefty, had, in efteft, taken his route through France in- 
 to Flandeirs, from thence to repair to London ; and this journey he 
 iiad performed with great expedition, though his orders extended no 
 farther, than merely to difcover the intentions of the king of England. 
 The real ambaifador was Velafco -f-, conllable of Caftile, who foon 
 followed him. 
 
 After all this, James afked me (for he did not dwell long upon 
 one fubjecl) whether I v/ent to the proceftant church in London ? 
 Upon my replying that I did : " Then, faid he, you are not refolved, 
 *' as I have been informed, to quit our religion, after the example of 
 " Sancy, who thought by that condefcenfion to make his fortune -, 
 *' but, by God's providence, did juft the contrary." I treated this re- 
 port as a calumny, and faid, that my living in France in friendfliip 
 with fo many ecclellaftics, and being fo frequently vifited by the Pope's 
 nuncio, might perhaps have given rife to it. " Do you give the Pope 
 *' the title of Holinefs ?" faid James. I replied, " That to conform to 
 " the cuftom eftablillied in France, I did." He was then for proving 
 to me that this cuflom was an offence againfl God, to whom alone 
 this title could juftly belong. I replied, that I fuppofed that a greater 
 crime was not hereby committed, than by the frequent giving to princes 
 fuch titles as they were well known not to deierve. He fpoke to me 
 of Du-PlelTis, and appeared fomewhat concerned for his fortune and 
 prefent condition : he faid, that I ought not entirely to forget him j 
 that it was true, he had been greatly to blame, to publifli his laft book 
 under his own name; becaufe, by the titles which he therein gave him- 
 felf, he obliged the king of France to take notice of it ; but that this 
 ought not to obliterate the remembrance of the fervices which he had 
 rendered the proteftant religion. He faid not a word to me, either of 
 Hollarid, or the duke of Bouillon; but he highly approved Henry's 
 chaflifement of the duke of Savoy, who was, he faid, an ambitious 
 and turbulent man. 
 
 I THINK I have omitted nothing of any confequence of what was 
 faid to me by the king of England, in this my firll: audience. When 
 he was inclined to put an end to it, he entered into his cabinet, faying, 
 it would be time for me to go to fupper, and to my repofe. Upon my 
 coming out of the chamber, I was accofted by admiral Howard, lord 
 
 • John Ta,xis count of Villa-Mediana. f John Ferdinand de Velafco duke of Frias. 
 
 Mounljoy^
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Mountjoy, and Stafford, and the great chamberlain. Erfkine, in con- 
 dudling me crofs the court of the palace, fpoke to me of his attach- 
 ment to his moft Chriftian majefty, and his defire of being ranked 
 amongft the number of my friends. The carl of Northumberland, 
 who had received me at my landing, and who again attended me to 
 the river upon my departure, faid pretty near the fame to me : no one 
 amongll the Engllfli lords has more underflanding, capacity, con- 
 rage, nor poffeffes more authority, than he : he manifefted a great 
 délire to have a private converfation with me upon the prefent affairs. 
 I gathered from what he faid, though he did not fpeak in plain terms, 
 that he was not fatisfied with the government; that he blamed the 
 greatell: part of the king's adions ; in flicrt, to fay it in a word, that 
 he had no great fliare either of fidelity or efteem for James. It is not 
 neceffary to fay with what referve and circumfpeflion I liltened to 
 fuch difcourfe. 
 
 The open declaration which the king of England had made againff 
 Spain, had given me foine hopes that the court of London would be 
 infenfibly prejudiced againfl that court. In the interval between my 
 firft and fécond audience, feveral things happened which increafed 
 thefe hopes. An Englifli catholic, who was likewife a jefuit (as was 
 at firft reported) was feized in the habit of a poor traveller, and be- 
 ing queftioned, he confeffed that he had difguifed himfelf in this man- 
 ner, to deliver the catholic church from the oppreffion of the new 
 king of England, unlefs he re-eftablifhed the Romilli religion in his 
 dominions folely, or at leall with privileges equal to thofe enjoyed by 
 the proteftants, and unlefs he likewife declared himfelf againll the 
 proteflants of Holland ; that eight other jefuits had confpired with 
 him in this defign, and that they had adlually difperfed themfelves in 
 different parts of London, in order to embrace any opportunity that 
 might offer to deftrov this prince. But the report was falfe, in re- 
 gard to the perfon of this fufpecSed Englifhman, for he was not a je- 
 fuit*, but only a feminary prieft. Had the truth of all the other cir- 
 cumflances been equally well difcovered, probably the whole affair 
 would have been reduced ahnofl to nothing; but this was not done. 
 James, according to his charadter, taking umbrage immediatelv, 
 imagined that the reafon count d'Aremberg deferred demanding his 
 audience, was not on account of his indifpolition, which was dil-. 
 
 * Thuanus, no more than M. de Sully, charges tlie jefuits with having any concern 
 in this confpiracy, which is the fame that will be mentioned below. 
 
 C c 2 fembled,
 
 ■MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XV. 
 
 fembled, and that he only waited till the fuppofed confpirators had 
 accomplifîîed their defign, or at leaft till by their intrigues in the 
 kingdom they had occaiioned a revolution, which would have releaf- 
 ed him from his obligations to wait on the king at court. 
 
 It is inconceivable to what a length this frivolous fufpicion was 
 carried. The queen was at the fame time coming to London : this, 
 faid they, was to favour the Spanifli fadion ; which fo difturbed James, 
 that he immediately fent the earl of Lennox exprefly to forbid that 
 princefs to continue her journey : but whether the earl could not, or 
 whether he rather chofe not to fucceed in his commiffion, the queen 
 did not obey. Lennox was recalled, and the king remained only the 
 more perplexed. After his example, his minifters, courtiers, and par- 
 ticularly the old court, being prejudiced in favour of the maxims of 
 the preceding reign, began to Ihew themfelves greatly difgufted both 
 with the queen and with Spain. They called to mind the conduâ: and 
 policy of Elizabeth, who had lived in a perpetual miftrufl of the 
 court of Madrid. And now they laviflied upon her thofe praifes of 
 which they had been before fo iparing, and feemed difpleafed with 
 themfelves at the indiiference they had fliewn to her memory ; nor 
 muft I forget that it was not without doing violence to myfelf, that I 
 refrained following fuch a general example. 
 
 I BELIEVE the Spanifli fadlion, during all this, was in no little pain ; 
 for inftead of talking, as before, only of peace and neutrality with all 
 the world, nothing was now more common than to hear it laid, that 
 fo far from having any dependence on what Spain called her friendship 
 and alliance, it was not even fafe to contradt with her; that the am- 
 baflador of this court had not dared to prefent himfelf in London, and 
 that moft certainly he could not come thither, for fear of becoming 
 the objedl, and perhaps the vidtim, of the public indignation. The 
 condudl of his Catholic majefty was compared with that of his moft 
 Chriilian majefty. Henry's procedure appeared fo open and ingenu- 
 ous, and fo far from all deceit, that it carried conviétion with it : he, 
 faid they, would never have fent into England the man who, of all 
 others in his kingdom, was moft necefl'ary to him, to machinate a de- 
 ceit unworthy of them both : nor would I myfelf, in quitting the 
 court, have thereby left an open field to the malignity of my enemies, 
 only to come and a(fl one of thofe characflers, whofe conclufion is ge- 
 nerally that of beholding one's felf at once both difhonoured and fa- 
 crificed to the public indignation. In fhort, if an union between the 
 
 two
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Ï97 
 
 two crowns, which I propofed, was not in all refpedls the beft con- 1603. 
 dudl that they could purlue, it was at leaft the fafefl ; for what would 
 Spain be able to do, when the two confederate kings fhould confider 
 all dangers which might happen to either, as equally common to 
 both ? It was thus that they fometimes reafoned in the council, and 
 in the prefence of the king of England, very much to the fatisfadion 
 of thofe counfellors who were in our interefts, and who neglefted no 
 opportunity of gaining the prince in their party. My lord Mountjoy, 
 whom 1 had made my intimate friend, on account of the ahnofi; pub- 
 lic profeffion which he made of attachment to France, here ufed 
 his utmoft: intereft and endeavours. 
 
 But all this only diffipated part of my fears i I perceived fo many 
 other obilacles, that they almoft entirely difcouraged me; what I might 
 expeél from the queen only fcarce appeared furmountable. My appre- 
 henlions from the fecretary Cecil, were but little inferior to thole from 
 the queen. He was at this time feparated from his former friends, and 
 had united with the Scots. I endeavoured to penetrate into the real 
 motives of this feparation ; for I was ftrongly perfuaded of the inlince- 
 rity of this fubtle mlnifter's proceedings. Perhaps his hopes might be 
 in time to become head of the Scotch party, and afterwards to unite it 
 with the Englifli, whom he might have abandoned only in appear- 
 ance; but thefe Scotch lords were fo difficult to manage, and fo much 
 upon their guard againd: the Englifh, that he could not but be baffled 
 notwithftanding all his efforts ; and he was himfelf too penetrating 
 not to be perfeâly fenfible of it. Accordingly it was faid (and when 
 I became acquainted with the arts of this minifter I was myfelf of 
 the fame opinion) that he had fought the Scots, who were real con- 
 fidants and favourites of his majeily, only to make himfelf knov/n, 
 and render himfelf neceffary to this prince ; that, having fucceedec 
 thus far, he knew perfedlly well how to center all power in himfelf, 
 and, making ufe of the king's name and authority, w,ould filence the 
 queen, the Englifli, and even the Scots themfelves, or at leafl would 
 leave to thofe he fliould judge proper only fome faint (liadow of fa- 
 vour, and would then reaflume his real charatfter. And what is mofl 
 remarkable, it was not unlikely that this fubtle man was. himfelf the 
 dupe of the Scots, who pretended to be fuch to him ; for is it poffible 
 that Cecil, known in England by every one to be the moft ambitious 
 and mofl tenaciousof power of all men, fliould remain unknown only 
 to them ? But no doubt they all knew that the prince's e.ir was not 
 alone fufîîcient to maintain them at the head of affairs, with which 
 
 they
 
 198 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XV. 
 
 1 603. they were not in the leafi: acquainted, and of which the fecretary only 
 could give them the befh information. 
 
 Supposing alfo that the ScottiOi party was undoubtedly firm in the 
 interefts of France, there 11:111 remained a material doubt, whether fo 
 haughty a people as the Engliih would fubmit to be governed by fo- 
 reigners, and more efpecially by the Scots, who at all times had been 
 the objeft of their averlion : and befides, it was far from being certain 
 that the Scots would always continue to poflefs the king's favour; for 
 the regard which he already began to (hew to the earl of ElTex, South- 
 ampton, and my lord Moun^oy, plainly proved that they might eafily 
 lofe their influence. Laftly, to increafe this unpromifing afpecft, the 
 two kings of Sweden and Denmark, whofe reprefentations might have 
 been of great weight in determining this prince, and who had hitherto 
 been fo unanimous with Henry, that they had concurred in all his 
 deligns, now either did it not at all, or did it with fuch indifference, 
 that their example was far from infpiring a proper refolution. In the fre- 
 quent conferences which I had with their ambairadors,in prefenceofthe 
 earl of Mar, lord Mountioy, and Erfkine,who was prefent three times, 
 as being a common friend, they made me the faireft fpeeches imagina- 
 ble; their averhon for Spain appeared equal to mine; they even pro- 
 ceeded fo far as to draw up a kind of fcheme, whereby they ratified 
 whatever Henry might do for all of them, even in regard to the divi- 
 fion of conquells, which they agreed might eafily be performed by 
 means of a firm and durable union. But our conference being ended, 
 they no longer remembered any of their promifes, and beheld nothing 
 but obftacles, in regard to which in my prefence they had kept a pro- 
 found filence. A ftrange behaviour tliis ! from whence, however, I 
 made fome difcovery of what fort of men I had to deal with. 
 
 My lord Mountjoy told me one day in confidence, that he had been 
 prefent at a meeting of thefe ambalTadors, wherein only thofe of his 
 majefty's council and the States-deputies were admitted ; that here, in- 
 fteadot labouring mutually to ftrengthen themfelves in laudable refo- 
 lutions, each of them had only fought to draw himfelf out of the affair. 
 He gave me an acc<3unt of their deliberations. The Daniili deputy re- 
 prefented, that indeed his mafter poffeffed a great extent of territory, 
 but for themoft part barren, and, by the inconveniency of its fituation, 
 rather expenlive than profitable; that the fubmiffion and tradablenefs 
 of the people was an advantage of no ufe to the king his matter, be- 
 caufe, from the prodigious variation of their manners and cufloms, he 
 
 could
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 could neither underfland tliem, nor could they underftand one ano- 
 ther j and that he was now adually engaged in endeavours to eftablilh 
 a general and uniform regulation among them, which did not permit 
 him to be concerned in any other enterprile. The Swede faid, it 
 would be higlily imprudent for his mafler to engage in a foreign war, 
 becaufe his nephew, the king of Poland, had not yet forgot his pre- 
 tenfions to the crown of Sweden, but on the contrary, feemed dif- 
 pofed to renew them with more vigour than ever ; fo that the preferva- 
 tion of his own dominions might probably find him fufficient employ- 
 ment. Barnevelt, in the name of the refl: of his brethren, explained 
 himfelf in a manner fo different from his ufual complaints, that, I 
 confefs, I am at a lofs to conceive what could be the intention of fo 
 ftrange a procedure : he fpoke of Spain only with contem.pt ; in the 
 revolt of the Spaniards, and the forces of the States, he found refources 
 fufficient to preferve them from all oppreffion j he feemed no longer 
 to defpair of the fuccefs of Oltend as formerly, and intimated, that his 
 mafteis had conceived a defign which would more than indemnify 
 them for that lofs fuppofmg it fhould happen. The Englifh minilliers 
 taking their text from a faying of the king of England, That every 
 new king if he had the fmalleft degree of good condud:, ought at 
 leafl: to let a year and a day pafs before he made any innovation, though 
 of the fmalleft confequence; concluded unanimoully, that it would be 
 moll: prudent to wait, and they remained firm to this determination. 
 If we confider thefe geniufes of the North * with fome little attention, 
 we fliall perceive they conftantly preferve fome affinity with the nature 
 of their climate ; they have but little vigour of thought, few refources 
 in their imagination, little conftancy in their refolutions, and not the 
 leaft tinéture of good policy. The example of Elizabeth is an excep- 
 tion to this rule, and is fo much the more glorious to that great 
 queen. 
 
 I NOW only wanted to be as well acquainted with the SpaniOi coun- 
 cils, as I was with thofe of Britain and the North ,• or, in other words, 
 I wanted only to know what were the real defigns of that crown, what 
 propofitions Ihe had already made to the king of England, how they 
 had been received, and finally what fteps flie intended to take for the 
 accomplifhment of her defires ; for barely to underftand that the 
 king of Spain fought to detach England from France and the Low- 
 
 * The times are changed ; and I do not dom and policy of fome of the Northern. 
 doubt if the author had lived in our days, powers, 
 feut he would have done juftice to the wif- 
 
 Countries^,
 
 200 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XT. 
 
 1603. Conntrics, was knowing nothing, or at mod but very little. It was 
 fufpefted that Spain meditated fomething of much greater importance; 
 this might be conjedlured from the information which I had already- 
 received from the canon at Canterbury; and it appeared fo much the 
 lefs to be neglefted, becaufe Aërfens and Barnevelt both at the fame 
 time affirmed the certainty of it the one at Paris, the other at London. 
 I therefore ufed my utmofl: endeavours to come at the truth. What I 
 was told by my lord Cobham and Sir Walter Raleigh was conformable 
 to this information : but what made the greateft impreffion upon me 
 was, that the earl of Northumberland, whom I had gained by the 
 offer of a confiderable penfion, under the name of a prefent, with 
 great fecrecy, one night when I was going to bed, feat his fecretary to 
 acquaint me with the following particulars. 
 
 From the moment king James afcended the throne of Eng- 
 land, faid this fecretary, the king of Spain has not ceafed to follicit 
 him, either by his own agents, or thofe of the archdukes, or by the 
 Englifh catholics, to enter into an offenfive and defenlive alliance with 
 him, againft France and the United- Provinces, whom he calls their 
 common enemies. He has omitted nothing which might perfuade 
 him that both of them, but more efpecially that his Britannic majefly, 
 had a title fo clear and inconteflable to fcveral provinces in France, 
 that it would be fliameful in him not to make ufe of it, at a time 
 when the exhaufted condition of that kindom prefented fo fair an 
 opportunity : and the means propofed by Spain to fecure the fuccefs 
 of this enterprife, were, that James and his catholic majefty fhould, 
 at the fame time, demand of France the reftitution of Normandy, 
 Guienne, and Poitou, for the king of England ; Bretagne, and Bour- 
 gogne, for the king of Spain ; and, upon a refufal, to fall upon thefe 
 provinces with all their united forces. His catholic majefly for this 
 purpofe, has even offered to draw all his forces out of the Low Coun- 
 tries, moreover to renounce all his pretenfions upon the United-Pro- 
 vinces, and grant them that liberty which they ib ardently defire, 
 upon a fuppofition, however, that, in confideration of this favour, 
 they would confent to flrengthen the league by joining it, and by con- 
 curring in all their defigns. The king of England having made no 
 anfwer to all thefe great offers, farther than by faying, that they were 
 premature, and that he chofe to begin his reign by gaining a know- 
 ledge of all his new fubjefts, and by ftrengthening himfelf upon the 
 throne, Spain eafily perceived that this reply was a civil refufal ; and 
 James not being difpofed by open force to attempt the recovery of his 
 
 antient
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S IT L L Y. acM 
 
 ancient pofTeffions, Spain then turned her endeavours to perfuadc this 1603. 
 prince, at leaft to favour the French provinces in their defign (of which ' 
 ilie informed him) to ere6l themfelves, after the example of Switzer- 
 land, into an independent republic. All this has been reprefented to 
 James to be extremely eafy to effedl. It has been faid, thefe provinces 
 impatiently waited a favourable opportunity to iliake off their infup- 
 portableyoke ; the Spanifli emiffaries, fécond ing thefe difpofitions, have 
 every where reported that it only depended on themfelves, whether 
 they would enjoy a profound tranquility without taxes, fubfidies, or 
 military garrifons, under fhelter of the two crowns their protestors, 
 and that they had no caufe to apprehend either the refentment of 
 Henry, or the violences of his troops, becaufe care would be taken at 
 the fame time to involve him in fo many other perplexities, that he 
 would be under a neceffity of fliffering them to prefcribe their own 
 laws. We do not yet hear, added the fecretary of the earl of North- 
 umberland, what James replied to this fécond propofition ; we con- 
 jedlure that it was not more favourably received than the former, be- 
 caufe the Spanifh emiffaries, in their conferences with his Britannic 
 majefty, have feveral times been obliged to change their fyflem, or 
 fucceflively to repeat the fame again with different modifications. 
 Sometimes they have offered him the whole force and all the treafures 
 of Spain, to ufe them againfl France in whatever manner he fhould 
 judge proper, without requiring any thing more in return, than that 
 he lliould conclude no treaty without their confent, nor Ihould con- 
 cern himfelf in any manner in their quarrel with Flanders ; at other 
 ■times, they have defcended only to defire that he would give no affif- 
 tance to the United-Provinces. 
 
 If the whole of what was here related to me was true, from thence 
 might be concluded that France, without knowing it, was aftually in 
 the moft imminent danger, becaufe a fingle word of approbation from 
 king James would have drawn upon her a mofl terrible ftorm. But 
 for my own part I confefs, that to me this appears lb extravagant and 
 fo much beyond the bounds of probability, that, from whatever places 
 it might come confirmed, I cannot believe that Spain would ever 
 think of propofing to king James any thing like the firft propofitions 
 which are here related. Suppofing all difficulties were removed be^ 
 tween Spain and England, in regard to the armament and the parti- 
 tion, which, however, would be no inconliderable difcufiion, yet had 
 they well confidered how many other dimcuities would arife from a 
 difference of religion?, interefts, manners, and cuflcms, both between 
 
 Vol. II. D d themfelves
 
 202 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XV, 
 
 1603. themfelves and with the French provinces which they fuppored con- 
 ' \^- — ' formable to their fentiments. 
 
 That article which concerns the United -Provinces, alone deftroys 
 the whole of this projed:. If Spain began by endeavouring to fubjedt 
 them, this crown and that of England could not be ignorant that iuch 
 an enterprife was alone capable to deftroy, or at kail: for a conlider- 
 able time to prevent the execution of their common defigns, becaufe 
 France, being once convinced that her own fafety depended on the 
 prevention or retarding of this conqueli, would have coniidered alîift- 
 ing the ftates as defending herfelf : and if Spain propofed to gain thefe 
 provinces in her interefls, fhe would herein have been more grofly 
 deceived ; for no offer, not excepting even that of liberty, would 
 have been able to reconcile them with their mofb mortal enemy, 
 much lefs to incline them to affifl her in her conquers, and that too 
 of their antient and only ally. I am not ignorant of the manner in 
 which the States deputies have always thought ; they upon all occa- 
 fions have conftantly faid that Spain deceived them, that England 
 trifled with them, and that France alone was favourably difpofed to- 
 wards them ; and if fometimes they have talked in a different man- 
 ner, as in the conference above-mentioned, it was either to excite the 
 French to make flill greater efforts in their favour, or to infpire the 
 Englifh with the fentiments of France in regard to them: belides, 
 will anyone believe that Spain would voluntarily relinquifh territoriesr,. 
 which her own force might acquire ^ 
 
 In regard to the informations which Henry and I received on this 
 head, neither the cannon of Canterbury nor Barnevelt, who with 
 Aërfens muft be confidered only as one, becaufe the former received 
 his information from the latter, could be fufficiently depended upon-; 
 the firft might have been deceived, and the fécond might have fought 
 to deceive us, which deceit was not ineffedlual in promoting the fuc- 
 cefs of their affairs. In regard to the three Englifh lords, I was fo 
 far from depending upon what they faid, that, on the contrary, I fuf^ 
 peded they were themfelves the fole authors of the whole f<:heme ; 
 that they had concerted it together, and then, with proper alterations, 
 prefented it to the king of England, to me, to the States deputies, and 
 to the public, thereby to appear as perfons of confequence ; which 
 was quite fuitable to their charaders. In regard to Spain, I made no 
 doubt but (he would be pleafed to hear fuch reports fpread, and even 
 that fhe would gladly ufe her endeavours to make them believed, not 
 
 with
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 203 
 
 "Vvith any intention ferioully to confer with his Britannic majefty con- 
 cerning them, nor even that they fliould come to his ears, but only 
 v/ith delign to encreafe the difcord, and augment the number of the 
 feditious in tliofe provinces of France which were interefted therein. 
 It was in thefe terms that I wrote about it to Henry, who fometimes 
 confidered the whole as an artifice of the States to accelerate a rupture 
 between him and Spain, and fometimes believed it true in regard to 
 Spain, who, from a defire to deftroy Henry, and a hope of profiting 
 from the inexperience of James, attempted every thing. I told Henry, 
 that, though all thefe fchemes ought to be treated only as chimerical, 
 it would be proper, neverthelefs, to be attentive to whatever pafi"ed in 
 Poitou, Auvergne, Limofin, Pays d'Aunis, in fliort, through all 
 Guienne, in which places they were capable of producing the fame 
 bad efi-efts as though they had been true. 
 
 The day after my audience, being the 23 d of June, and a day on 
 which his Britifh majefty conferred the honour of knighthood on Seve- 
 ral perfons, he fent to acquaint me, that he would grant me a fécond 
 audience the day on which I mylelf had defired it, being Wednefday 
 the 25th J that I fliould be with him at two o'clock, and bring but few 
 perlons with me, in order to prevent the inconveniences caufed by 
 great numbers, and, faid he, that I may confer with you alone 
 with greater freedom. Upon this occafion, I was accompanied from 
 J^iondon to Greenwich by my lord Hume, who, in France, had had 
 the honour of feeing and difcourfing with his moft chriflian majedy. 
 I took fome refrefliment in the apartment wherein I was condudled to 
 wait till I could be introduced to the king ; and here I was accoflied 
 by little Edmonds*, who made me a long difcourfe, in which he 
 complained, that he wps not treated fo well as his pad fervices, and 
 his knowledge of the afirairs of France, deferved. The earl of North- 
 umberland put an end to our converfation, by coming to require my 
 appearance in the king's apartment. 
 
 Immediately upon my entrance this prince arofe, and, having 
 commanded that no one fliould follow him, he condudled me through 
 feveral apartments into a little ordinary gallery, wherein we held our 
 conference. I began it by thanking his majefty for having thus given 
 me an opportunity to difclofe myfelf to him, on the fubjeél of my tom^ 
 
 * Edmonds had been agent and after- he had really acquired a perfeft knowledge 
 wards ambaffador from Elizabeth to Henry of the affairs of France. 
 IV. during the wars of the league; and 
 
 D d 2 miffion.
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Eooic XV. 
 
 million, without relerve, and without witneffes ; " Not, faid I, that 
 " the king my mafter has lent me to require any thing of your ma- 
 *' jefty, but only to be informed of your intentions in regard to affairs 
 *' wherein your majefties may both be equally concerned j and that the 
 " king my mafter may conform to them, as a good brother." The 
 king of England replied, that the manner in which he plainly faw the 
 king of France and I acted, with refpedl to him, required that he 
 fhould not conceal any thing from me -, and that he would therefore 
 difcover to me his mofl: important fecrets. He then, in a few words, 
 pretty juftly defcribed the prefcnt political affairs of Europe; "in 
 " which, faid he, it is necelTary to preferve an equilibrium between 
 " three of its powers," meaning the houfes of Bourbon, j^uHiria, and 
 Steuart. He faid, that of thefe three powers, the houfe of Auftria in 
 Spain, from the Ipirit of dominion with which flie was pofTelTed, was 
 the only one who fought to make the balance incline in her favour j 
 that a knowledge of this unjuft delign was the caufe that the king of 
 France and he, though in appearance in peace with that crown, were, 
 however, really thought fecretly at war with her ; that Spain was not 
 ignorant of it, but that Ihe could not complain, fhe having herfelflet 
 them the firft example; to Henry by her combination with maréchal 
 Biron and the difaffeâed in France, by the fuccours fhe had given the 
 duke of Savoy when at war with his moll: chriftian majeily, by the 
 enterprife upon Geneva, finally, by feveral other proceedings of the 
 like nature ; to him, by inftigating and encouraging the jeluits and the 
 Englilh catholic faction. From hence it appears, that the affair of the 
 jefuit had gained but too much credit with James. But that all this 
 could, by neither fide, be confidered as futHcient caufe for an open war, 
 and, as they were upon equal terms, it would therefore be belt to avoid 
 it, by continuing, as before, fecretly to favour the enemies of Spain, 
 though with a refolution to purfue more vigorous and effe<5tual mea- 
 fures, in cafe Spain lliould herfelf refolve upon any open rupture. 
 
 I VERY highly applauded fuch laudable fentiments, and indeed they 
 really deferved it; nor could I have faid any thing further on the fub- 
 jedt, had I not, at the fame time, perceived in the perfon from whom 
 they came a difpofition to peace, or rather to indolence and inadtion, 
 which in a manner contradidted his words, and feemed to tell me, 
 that, having promifed a little, he lliould perform nothing. This ob- 
 lervation induced me to tell his Britannic majelty, that the plan of con- 
 duel which he had laid down to be purfued with Spain, was exadtly 
 conformable to the fentiments of his chriftian majefty ; and that Henry 
 
 only
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 205 
 
 only feared it would be infufficient to prevent their one day feeling the 
 fatal effefts of the refentment of that crown, whofe charadler, upon 
 this occafion, I endeavoured to paint to him in the mofl natural colours. 
 I reprefented to James every thing which Spain had been accumu- 
 lating for one hundred years paft ; the earldoms of Flanders and Bur- 
 gundy, the kingdoms of Granada, Navarre, and Portugal, the empire 
 of Germany, the fiâtes of Naples and Milan, all the Indies, and, but 
 for mere good fortune, France and England alfo, both thefe crowns 
 owing their prefervation, next to the firmnefs of Elizabeth and Henry, 
 only to the lucky incident of the revolt of the Low Countries ; and I 
 concluded, that as both James and Henry would one day be indifpen- 
 fably obliged to enter into an open war with Spain, in order to fap the 
 foundation of fo vaft a dominion, it was therefore abfolutely neceffary 
 now to concert the proper meafures for it, that no flep might be taken 
 to the contrary; and that this, together with the means whereby the 
 prefervation of the United Provinces might be provilionally fecured, 
 was all that I had to defire of his majefty. " But, faid the king of 
 " England, what better affiftance would you that the king of France 
 " and I fhould give the Low Countries, than to comprehend them 
 " with us in a general treaty of partition and pacification between them 
 " and Spain, upon conditions of which we fhall ourfelves be guaran- 
 " tees ? whereby, fhould Spain firfl fail in the obfervation of them, we 
 " fhall then have juft reafon to take arms againft her, and drive her 
 " entirely out of thefe provinces : and I confent, added he, upon a 
 " fuppofition that this will be the cafe, immediately to determine with 
 " you, what means and what forces we fhall employ for the execution 
 ** of it." James was not fenfible of all the objeâions to this partition- 
 treaty which he propofed between Spain and the Low Countries ; or if 
 he was, he artfully endeavoured to avoid entering into any engagement 
 with me. The council of Spain would not have failed to appear fatif- 
 fied with what he propofed, but during the delays which negociating 
 this treaty would produce, efpecially with a cout-t whofe dilatorinefs was 
 one of the chief arts of her policy, Oftend, which was reduced to 
 extremity, would fall into the power of its enemy, and with it a part 
 of Flanders, Holland and Zealand being fepurated from it ; and Spain 
 would in the mean time flrengthen herfelf in what fhe did pofTefs, and 
 would be preparing the means for fucceeding more efFeâually in her 
 defign of fubjedting the reft of this flatc. 
 
 I DESIRED his Britannic majefty to bedow fome ferious refledlion 
 upon the confiderations which I had thus laid before him. He remained 
 
 for
 
 2o6 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XV. 
 
 for feme time in filence, and feemed deeply immerfed in thought; af- 
 ter which, in a hefitating and irrefolute voice, he faid, that it mufl be 
 confefled I was in the right ; that the affair was of great confequence; 
 that he had often thought of it ; though his refledions had not as yet 
 produced any effeâ -, and that he had waited my coming, to determine 
 him in his refolution. At this moment I penetrated into all which 
 this prince refufed to tell me ; and I thought I ought not to hefitate 
 attacking him in his inmoft recelfes : I therefore replied rather to his. 
 thoughts than his words, and faid, that as often as this affair had been 
 debated in his majefty's council, and as often as he had heard his mi- 
 niflers utter fentiments different from mine, his majefly might eafily 
 have been convinced, that they did it only from fome motives of felf- 
 intereft, becaufe there was not the leafl room for doubt, that one 
 lingle examination would dcmonftrate, as evidently as a million, that it 
 vva"s indifpenfably neceffary to prevent the reft of the Low Countries 
 from being fubjeâied by Spain, becaufe, were fhe to fucceed in this, 
 flie might, with the fame forces, fall very roughly, and without cere- 
 mony, upon France and England, Upon this occafion, without ex- 
 pofing thele Englifli counfellors fo much as I could, by a difcovery of 
 part of their intrigues, I {o far acquainted the king of England with 
 them, as to make him fenfible that I was not ignorant that they had 
 endeavoured to make him turn thofe forces againft France, which I 
 would perfuade him to employ againft Spain. 
 
 James entered of himfelf into the fentiments with which I wanted 
 to infpire him, with refpeft to his council: he told me, that he was very 
 far from being of the fame opinion with fome of his courtiers, in what 
 concerned theantient pretenlionsof England upon France; that,befides 
 that the prefent conjuncture and political ftate of affairs did not per- 
 mit him to think ferioufly about them, he alfo confidered thefé pre- 
 tended rights as annulled by divine providence, which irrefiftibly gives 
 and takes away crowns ; and by time, whofe preicription was more 
 than centenary; which words he repeated feveral times: that this 
 confideration being of no weight with him, he could therefore previ- 
 oufly afture me, that whatever his final refolution might be, at leaft 
 he would not fuffer the United Provinces, nor even Oflend, to come 
 under the dominion of the Spaniards : that for the prefent I ought not 
 to require any thing farther of him, nor prefs him to a conclufion, till 
 he had firft conferred with two or three of his minifters, whofe know- 
 ledge, as well as honefty, he was well convinced of; that befides, from 
 the reflediions which I had fuggefted to him, he was now able to di- 
 
 ftinguifh
 
 Book XV, MEMOIRS OF SULLY, 
 
 flinguidi and refift the voice of palTion and prejudice : and laftiy, that 
 he would in a Ihort time acquaint me with what might be farther ne- 
 ceffary for me to know, in regard to his fentiments and final refolution. 
 
 I SHOULD have been very glad not to have concluded our conference 
 on this head fo foon, but James broke it off, by faying, that he (liould 
 £nlCn the remainder of it another time, becaufe he wanted now to have 
 fome converfaticn with me concerning the duke of Bouillon. He infor- 
 med me, that the deputies of the eledtor of Palatine had ftrongly fo- 
 licited him in favour of the duke; but that, not being perfeftly well 
 acquainted with the affair, he had refufed to concern himfelf in it at all, 
 throuoh fear left he fliould favour a rebel. He defired me to relate to 
 him all the circumftances of it : which I accordingly did very fuccinft- 
 ly; fo that he had the whole affair before him. James gave 
 me his word, that however he might be folicited by the Palatine, 
 he would never concern himfelf in it ; and faid, he wifhed others 
 would meddle as little in the affairs of the Englifh catholics. I 
 readily apprehended, by the manner in which he uttered thefe laft 
 words, that they carried with them a kind of reproach. 
 
 In order to underftand what is here meant, it is neceffary to be in^ 
 formed, that fome time before the death of Elizabeth the partifans of 
 Spain, having, as ufual, the jefuits at their head, had raifed dillurbances 
 in the three kingdoms of Great Britain. Though religion was their 
 pretence, their real views were political, either becaufe the king of 
 Spain, as his flatterers had perfuaded him, really believed his rights 
 to the crown of England were fo well founded, that after the death 
 of the queen he might openly declare his pretenfions, or becaufe he 
 fought to involve the fucceffor of Elizabeth in fuch perplexities as 
 might prevent his engaging in any thing elfe. The jefuits, upon this oc- 
 cafion, very imprudently, it fhould feem, had differed with the EngliOi 
 catholic feculâr clergy : this was chiefly occafioned by their endeavour- 
 ing to create a certain arch-prieft *, which the Englilh catholics would 
 not admit of. The affair was brought before the Pope, who upon this 
 
 * Cardinal D'Ofiat, in his letter of the certain arch-prieft, to whofe authority all 
 
 28th of May, 1601, toM. de Villeroi, fays, the ccclefiaftics, and even all the other ca- 
 
 th.at at th<- fuggeftion of an Englifli jefuit, tholics of England, were to be fubjeâ. By 
 
 whofe name was father Perfonio (or Pai- this means, adds he, it was propofed to 
 
 ibns)rcctor of the Englifli college at Rome, have the greater part of the catholics of 
 
 and devoted to the king of Spain, if he was England under the Pope's influence. 
 
 fo to any, the Pope created iji England a 
 
 occafion.
 
 2o8 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XV. 
 
 occafion, for reafons of which I am ignorant, neither concurred with 
 thofe jefuits, nor Spain, but, on the contrary, liftened very favourably 
 to the fecular clergy, who had deputed three of their body to Rome,, 
 havino- a pafl'port under the hand of Cecil himfelf : which is a proof 
 that Elizabeth thought fhe ought to defend the feculars ; and alfo, that 
 ihe looked upon the others as her real enemies. Henry had been of 
 the fame opinion with Elizabeth, and the common interefl: had from 
 the firft determined him to fupport the Englilh clergy at the court of 
 Rome againfl the Spanifh cabal. 
 
 From hence itv^as that the enemies of France had taken occafion 
 to prejudice James againft us *, by infmuating to him, that Henry had 
 fupported the Englifh clergy only with defign to gain them in his own 
 interefls, and that from the fame views with Spain. It was not diffi- 
 cult for me to undeceive the king of England in this refpeft. I re- 
 prefented to him, that Henry having confidered, that to prevent the 
 whole body of the catholics of Britain from entering into the Spanilli 
 interefls, was a point of the utmoft confequence; he had therefore 
 been indifpenfably obliged to appear in their favour upon feveralocca- 
 fions ; but that he had been fo far from having had any thoughts of 
 entering with them into any defign prejudicial to his authority, that, 
 on the contrary, his fole intention had been to oppofe this common 
 enemy ; and that had the catholics departed in the leaft from their 
 duty, or even appeared fo to do, he would from that moment have 
 abandoned them. 
 
 James was fo fully fatisfied with this account, that he acquainted 
 me with the regulations which he meditated in regard to the roman ca- 
 tholics of his kingdom ; " from your information, faid he, and with 
 " the approbation of Henry." He had afterwards feveral opportunities 
 of being convinced that I had not impofed on him, particularly by a 
 letter which the Pope's nuncio wrote to him from Paris, relating to 
 the Englifh catholics. James anfwered this letter in a more obliging 
 manner than was ufual with the court of London to letters received 
 
 * The king of England cannot be con- Englilh catholics, whereby to place a ca- 
 fidered as blameable for having taken um- tholic king upon the throne of England. 
 brace ao-ainrt France upon that account. But it is likewife true, that Henry IV. was 
 The fame cardinal gives us to underfland, not only ignorant of this defign, but alio 
 that the political views of the Spanifh party that he had acquiefced with Elizabeth in 
 were by this means to unite the Pope, the quite different purpofes. This faft is re- 
 king of France, the king of Spain, and the lated in the Septennary, an. 1604. 
 
 from
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 209 
 
 from the court of Rome; and being perhaps determined by my rea- 1603. 
 fons, he not only entered into the fime views in regard to this affair L/'VNJ 
 which good policy had fuggefted to Henry, but it alfo feemed proba-- 
 ble, that to lecure the Englifh cathohc party, he would chufe rather 
 to have recourfe to the pope and his minifters, than to any foreign 
 prince. The pope, on his fide, did not fhew himfelf infenfible of this 
 preference * : one Colvil having dedicated a book to him which he 
 had wrote againft that prince, when only king of Scotland, his holi- 
 nefs would neither receive the work, nor permit the author to flay in 
 Rome. Henry had acquainted me with this circumftiance, that I 
 might, if I thought proper, relate it to the king of England ; and 
 Henry had been informed of it in the letters which my brother wrote 
 to him from Rome. 
 
 Upon my departure, at the conclufion of this my fécond audience, 
 I was informed that this prince was to fet out the Monday following 
 to meet the queen ; and I judged, that the audience v/hich his majefi:y 
 promifed to grant me on Sunday the 20th, would, on this account, 
 probably be the laft Ifliould obtain ; and as I was afraid I fhould not 
 be able to conclude my negotiation in one more, I determined to de- 
 mand another of him before that on Sunday, James replied, that he 
 could not grant this requefl, all his time being abfolutely engai^ed till 
 Sunday ; but that he would fend his minifiers on Friday the 27th, to 
 confer with me and prepare matters. 
 
 Accordingly, on Friday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, there 
 came to me admiral Howard, the earls of Northumberland and Mar, 
 lord Mountjoy, lieutenant-general in Ireland, and the fecretary Cecil, 
 who was the fpeaker. After the firft compliments were over, Cecil 
 told me, that the king of England thought he could not better 
 fhew his moft chriftian majefly how fenfible he was, both of the up- 
 rightnefsof his intentions, and his ability in the condu6l of great af- 
 fairs, than by wholly relying upon him in all that concerned the relief of 
 Ortend and the fupport of the States. 
 
 * We muft believe either that his hoU- the king of England, who had at firft (hewn 
 
 mÇs had no concern in the political defign himfelf fo favourably difpofed to the catho- 
 
 which I mentioned in the preceding note, lies, that it was reported he would become 
 
 as related by cardinal D'Oflat ; or that, fo himfelf ; and that he had only pretended 
 
 perceiving it had mifcarried, he had con- to be of the reformed religion, in order to 
 
 ceived that of gaining, if it were poffible, afcend the throne without oppofition. 
 
 Vol. il E e I was
 
 2IO M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XV. 
 
 1603. J YVAS immediately fenfible of this fecretary's artifice, and the defign 
 
 of it, in thus conftruing what I had faid to the king of England in a 
 manner different to my real meaning. I replied, that indeed the king 
 my mafter would have been extremely glad to have had feme meafures 
 taken in Europe, to prevent the invafions of Flanders by Spain ; but 
 that he was lb far from having fent me to give law to his Britannic 
 majefty, that he did not himfelf know what conduâ: to purfue with 
 regard to the affairs of thofe provinces, with the true flate of which, 
 he was not even well acquainted; that it was therefore vain to think 
 of penetrating into what Henry might have determined in his- 
 mind as to the States, becaufs, in reality, he had not as yet de- 
 termined on any thing ; that nothing farther could be concluded from, 
 what I had faid to his Britannic majefty, than that when he fliould be 
 well difpofed towards them, I could engage that the difpofitions of 
 his moil: ciiiiftian majefly would not be contrary to his ; and, in a 
 word, that I was come abo' i no other defign, than to be informed of 
 the intentions of the king and parliament of England. 
 
 Cecil replied, that he had no furreptitious defign upon me by 
 what he had faid, but only to hear my fentiments of the prefent 
 fituation of affairs, and toknow whether anyexpedienthad been thought 
 on in the council of France, to obviate the difficulties which at Lon- 
 don this enterprife feemed to be fo full of, that it appeared impoffible 
 to be executed. He confefied, in fetting forth thefe pretended difii- 
 culties, that a pacific agreement between Spain and the Low-Coun- 
 tries would, in the prefent fituation of affairs, occafion the lofs of 
 thefe provinces. Then reafoning from the falfe conclufion, that there 
 was no medium between fuch an agreement and an open war with 
 Spain, heendeavoured to fl:iew, that the war would be ftililefs agreeable 
 than the peace, to England, which was already exhaufted, tho' at a 
 time too when great expences were requifite in confequence of the 
 coronation : and he concluded yet more peremptorily than before, 
 that France mufl; alone be engaged in the execution of her defigns. 
 He added, indeed, that England might in a year be able to fécond 
 them. The riches and power of France were alfo a fubje(5l which 
 did not efcape him. Finally, he attempted, with all the addrefs he 
 was mafter of, to make me declare, that the king of France, being 
 refolved to make the bufinefs of the States his own, defired no other 
 favour of England than that of a neutrality, to which, no doubt, he 
 would give his confent with joy. 
 
 I GAVE
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. ' 211 
 
 I GAVE Cecil to underhand, by fmiling at his laft words, that he 1603, 
 had laid this fnare for me in vain ; and I told him, that, without fe- 
 rioufly replying to proportions which I plainly perceived he ha4 made 
 only to give me an occafion of fpeaking, it was fufficient for me to 
 defire him to take notice of one thing, which he ought to know as 
 well as myfelf, and this was, that England, by fufFering France to adl 
 alone for fome time before fhe joined her, inftead of laying the founda- 
 tion of an alliance with her, would thereby rather lay the foundation 
 of a rupture, becaufe one would expedt to enjoy the conquefts which 
 (he might make during this time, and the other would doubtlefs re- 
 quire to partake of them. I addrefTed myfelf perfonally to Cecil, and 
 told him, that, neverthelefs, this would not prevent my agreeing with 
 him, in cafe his propofal for an union with France within a year had 
 been fincere on his part, becaufe the king of France would rather chufe 
 to defer the declaration of war againft Spain, which he mentioned, till 
 this time, an open war being altogether as inconvenient to France, in 
 the prefent fituation of her affairs, as it was to England. 
 
 Upon this occafion, I thought I ought again to repeat, and in 
 terms the moit explicit, that I was not come to propofe to the Eng- 
 lifli council a declaraticn of war from the two kings of France and 
 England againft Spain ; but only to reprefent, that good policy re- 
 quired them not to fnffer the United-Provinces to be opprefled for 
 want of fuccours, which might be given them without difturbing the 
 quiet of the reft of Europe ; and to confer with his Britannic majefty 
 upon the nature of thefe fuccours, and the other fteps to be taken, 
 both at prefent and in future, in favour of the Flemifh. Upon this, 
 the king's counfellors thanked me for the fincerity with which I had 
 fpoken ; and Cecil, having nothing farther to reply, told me, that he 
 would go and confer with his majefty hereupon, that then he would 
 converfe with the deputies of the States about it, and, if I deûred it, 
 even in my prefence, which I did not think proper to oppofe : having 
 faid this we feparated. 
 
 Count d'Aremberg, having long deferred from time to time de- 
 manding his audience, fent at laft to defire the king of England would 
 difpenfe with it entirely, on account of his indifpofition, and that he 
 would only fend one of his counfellors to confer with him. James did 
 not appear fatisiîed with this procedure ; he however granted him 
 what he defired, and Cecil was the perfon charged with this com- 
 
 E e 2 niiftion.
 
 212 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XV. 
 
 1603. inilTion. Cecil, who was perfedly well acquainted with the reports 
 ■> current at that time concerning himlelf, being defirous to avoid giving 
 any new caufe to vilify him upon this occalion, fought to be cxcufed, 
 and defired that he might, at lead:, have an adjund:, that is, a witnefs 
 of his words and atlions, though he afFoâ:ed not to receive him in 
 that quality. This faâ: alone unanfwerably proves, that he was far 
 from enjoying that favour which he was defirous the public fhould 
 believe he abfolutely poffeffed. Kintore, a Scotchman, was the per- 
 fon ailociated with him. 
 
 D'Aremberg confined himfelf wholly to compliment, and to the 
 mofl general terms : when prefled to come to particulars, he replied, 
 that he was a foldier, and had no llcill in negotiation ; that he was come 
 only to hear what the king of England had to fay to him, and that, 
 after him, his mafter would fend a man of bufinefs. Thefe words were 
 repeated and fpread throughout London, with all the ridicule and con- 
 tempt they deferved : indeed no ambaffador was perhaps ever before 
 guilty of fo great an imprudence, nor can one but with difficulty be- 
 lieve it of a people fo acute as the Spaniards; it was of great diliervice 
 to them in the Englifli council, and brought part of thofe who com- 
 pofed it to favour me; and if the deligns of Spain were not here- 
 by entirely fruftrated, which they might have been, it was becaufe 
 this aukvvard behaviour was repaired by the addrefs of the other par- 
 tifans of this crown, having Cecil himfelf at their head, notvvithftand- 
 ing his endeavours to make the contrary be believed ; it was even en- 
 tirely forgot, when it was faid that the Spanifh ambaiTador, who be- 
 gan to be no longer expeéled, would foon arrive. Cecil, no doubt, 
 waited his arrival, to begin the diffipation he was preparing for my 
 projedts, and the other counfellors appeared difpofed to fall into their 
 former irrefolution. 1 was even informed from good hands, that it 
 not being doubted but this ambaffador would make propofals to his 
 Britannic majefty, accompanied by irrefillible offers, part of thefe 
 counfellors had begun to draw up an account of the debts of France 
 and the States to England, whereby from the fums contained in this 
 account on one fide, and the treafures of Spain dilburfed in London 
 on the other, nothing might be proof againfi: them. 
 
 What was moff remarkable in my reception on Sunday the 29th 
 of June, was, that all the gentlemen of my retinue had the honour of 
 being treated with a dinner by his majefty, and I had that of being ad- 
 mitted to his own table. In purfuance of his majefty's directions, I ar- 
 rived
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 
 
 rived at Greenwich about ten o'clock in the morning, and was prcfent 
 with him at. divine fervice, in which there was a fermon : he faid no- 
 thing particular tome from the time of my arrival to our fetting down 
 to table; the converfation turned almofl: entirely upon the chace and 
 the weather : the heat was excefhve, and much more violent than was 
 ufual at London in this month. There were only Beaumont and myfelf 
 who fat with James at table, where I was not a little furprifed to be- 
 hold that he was always ferved on the knee : a furtout, in form of a 
 pyramid, was placed in the middle of the table, which contained 
 mofl: colily veffels, and was even enriched with diamonds. 
 
 The converfation continued the fame as before, during great part of 
 the entertainment : but an opportunity offering for the king to fpeak 
 of the late queen of England, he did it, and, to my great regret, with 
 fome fort of contempt; he even went fo far as to fiy, that, in Scot- 
 land, long before the death of that princefs, he had direéled her whole 
 council, and governed all her minillers, by whom he had been better 
 ferved and obeyed than herfelf. He then called for fome wine, his cuf- 
 tom being never to mix water with it, and holding the glafs in his 
 hand towards Beaumont and me, he drank to the health of the 
 king, the queen, and the royal family of France. I returned him his 
 health, and that too without forgetting his children. He inclined 
 himfelf to my ear when he heard me name them, and told me foftly, 
 that the next health he would drink fliould be, to the double union 
 which he meditated between the royal houfes. He had never till now 
 faid a fingle word to me about this ; and I thought the opportunity 
 which he had thus taken for it was not extremely well chofen. I 
 failed not, however, to receive the propofal with all poffible marks of 
 joy, and replied foftly, that I was certain Henry would not hefitate in 
 his choice between his good brother and ally, and the king of Spain, 
 who had before applied to him upon the fame liibjeft. James, fur- 
 prized at what I told him, informed me in his turn, that Spain had 
 made him the fame offers of the Intanta for his fon, as flie had to 
 France for the Dauphin. The king of England appeared to me to be 
 flill in the fentiments in which I had left him in our laft conference ; 
 though he gave me no opportunity of converling with him in private. 
 He told me, indeed, before all wno were prefent, that he approved 
 every thing that had been done in the laft conference between the 
 counfeilors and me; that he v/ould not fuffer the States to be over- 
 whelmed ; and that the next day, the manner in which fuccours were 
 to be granted them Ihould be fettled. For this purpofe, he gave or- 
 
 ders-'
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XV. 
 
 ders that his counfellors fiiould, the next day in the afternoon, repair 
 to London, there to conclude the afFair with me. I thought thefe words' 
 fufficiently authorifed me immediately to put into the hands of his 
 Britannic majefty the form of a treaty, which I had drawn up and 
 brought with me; and this I accordingly did in the prefence of his 
 minifters. Having found means, in the courfe of the converfation, to 
 drop fome few complaints of the piracies of the Englifh upon the 
 French, the king faid, that this happened contrary to his intentions ; 
 and he was even angry with the Englifli admiral, who appeared him- 
 felf inclined to vindicate what had been done. At laft, he quitted the 
 company to go to bed, where he ufually paffed part of the afternoon, 
 and ibmetimes even the whole of it. 
 
 The journey which James was to have made having been prevented 
 or deferred, I hoped I fhould, without difficulty, be able to find an 
 opportunity of telling him what I had yet to fay; and this gave me 
 fome confolation for having done fo little this day. For notwithftand- 
 ing what has here been faid of refolutions and fuccours in fupport of 
 the States, I was not ignorant that affairs were not as yet brought to 
 the iffue which I defired ; for the king of England ftill referred me, 
 for the conclufion of them, to the fame perfons as before ; and thefe, 
 I very well knew, were not difpofed in my favour : nor did Barnevelt 
 and the deputies from hence draw a more happy prefage, for they 
 were very far from confidering themfelves as having fucceeded in their 
 offenfive and defenfive alliance with France and England with which 
 they had fometimes flattered themfelves. They refolved to make a 
 final effort with me, that they might at leafl fecure France in their 
 interefts. 
 
 For this purpofe Barnevelt repaired to me before any of the others, 
 and after having made me acquainted with his apprehenfions in regard 
 to the prefent fituation of affairs, and the effects of the arrival of 
 the Spanifh ambaffador, which was always faid to be very near, he told 
 me, that the Hollanders, being reduced to the loweft ebb of defpair, 
 would abandon every thing, and feek an afylum out of their provinces. 
 Barnevelt obferved, from my reply, that I was not the dupe of his 
 exaggerations : I told him, that it was the English council, and not I, 
 which was to be perfuaded ; becaufe I was fufficiently convinced the 
 States were really in a perplexed fituation. He endeavoured to prove 
 to me, that if nothing could be obtained of the king of England, good 
 policy required that France Hiould openly and alone efpoufe the caufe 
 
 of
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 of the United Provinces, before their ftrength and fpirits were entirely 
 fpent and exhausted. I replied, that he required of me what was not 
 in my power, becaufe I was come to London only, if it v/ere poffible, 
 to enter into an aflbciation with the Englifh, and in cafe they refufed 
 this, to know their reafons. 
 
 After this, we had fome difcourfe about the towns deftined for 
 cautionaries. Barnevelt informed rne, that Cecil in a conference with 
 Caron, one of the FlemiQi deputies, had given him to underftand, that 
 England, being refolved to maintain peace with Spain, would require 
 Holland to make the cefTion of thofe places as a fecurityj and in con- 
 fequence of this ceflion, Cecil had only promifed hirn, that thefe towns 
 fliould be preferved in a flridt neutrality, till the payment of the States 
 debt. Barnevelt, who perceived that this affair appeared to me as in- 
 terefting as it really was, acquainted me, though with all the referve 
 which ought to be obferved by a man entrufted upon oath with the 
 fecrets of his council, that the States had put things in fuch a 
 train, that the council of London would have many difficulties to 
 remove before it could fee itfelf in poffeffion of thofe places. But from 
 hence he alfo inferred, in order to gain his point with me, that as the 
 confequence of this would probably be a war between England and 
 the United Provinces, it was therefore for this reafon that he preffed 
 me immediately to join the forces of France with theirs, v/ithout which 
 there would be no equality between the parties. I confeffed to Barne- 
 velt, that I could not blame the refolution of his mafters ; but that 
 the king of France, upon this occafion, could only lament their fitua- 
 tion, not being in a condition to fupport them with open force againft- 
 Spain and England together. 
 
 In the afternoon, all the Flemifii deputies came in a body to afllft 
 in the conference; and fcon after them the Englifh counfellors, ap- 
 pointed by his Britannic majefty, alfo arrived. Cecil being, as ufual, 
 the fpeaker for all of them, began by faying diredlly, that the king of 
 England was really in the interefl: of the States. And turning to me, 
 he afked me, whether this was not what I dehred, and the real delign 
 of my commiffion ? I concealed what I did but too plainly perceive, 
 from this blunt hafty procedure of the fecretary ; and inftead of giving 
 him a direâ: anfwer, 1 addreffed myfelf to the deputies, and told them, 
 tliat two great kings defigning to interefl: themfelves in their affairs, 
 they ought therefore juflly to reprefent the ffate of them, that from a- 
 full and perfedl knowledge of their ncceffity, the fuccours which they 
 
 wanteds
 
 2i6 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XV. 
 
 1603. wanted might be afcertained. Barnevelt, as ufual, drew a pidlure of 
 the miferies to which Spain had reduced them ; and thefe he defcribed 
 in as lively and affedting a manner as he pofTibly could. But to come 
 more immediately to the bufinels, he faid, it was neceflary that the Spa- 
 niards (hould be driven entirely out of Flanders j and that the States were 
 in hopes of being able to fucceed in this in the fpace of a year, by 
 means which he deduced in the following manner : That the whole 
 force of the United-Provinces amounted to about twelve or fifteen 
 thoufand infantry, not including the garrifons, and three thoufand 
 cavalry, befides fifty fhips adlually in a condition to ferve, with artil- 
 lery and ammunition in proportion ; that therefore nothing more was 
 neceflary, than for the two kings to double thefe forces, by furniihing 
 ■an equal number of each as above mentioned. 
 
 I Vf AS npprehenfive thefe propofitions would not be received very 
 favourably ; and that I might not appear to authorife the deputies in 
 demands which were really too great, I told Barnevelt, that he (hould 
 have been more careful only to afli what could be granted. I then 
 aiked Cecil, in a manner fomewhat peremptory, to acquaint me what 
 were the real intentions of his mafter, in regard to what was here pro- 
 pofed to him. Cecil replied, that his Britannic majefly would have been 
 plad to have maintained himfelf in a folid and fmcere peace with all his 
 neighbours ; that, as far as could be judged from the ftate of France, 
 and from mere appearances, his moll chriiHan majefty was probably 
 of the fame fentiments. Neverthelefs, that from the remonftrances 
 which I had made to the king of England, this prince was determined 
 to purfue the medium between his own defires and thofe of the States, 
 that is, he would confent privately to afiift the United-Provinces : that 
 perhaps a time might come when more could be done for them, but 
 that at prefent they muft expeél nothing farther. .- 
 
 The deputies not doubting but this refolution was really fixed with- 
 drew to confer among themfelves upon what had been faid by Cecil, 
 who in the mean time continuing his difcourfe, faid, that indeed the 
 king of England was very willing to afilft the States, but that he had 
 no defire to ruin himfelf for them. He avoided entering upon any 
 particulars, in regard to the nature of thefe pretended fuccours, that he 
 might not be afterwards anfwerable for any promifes or pofitive engage- 
 ments ; but he faid, that in cafe Spain fhould carry her refentment fo 
 far as perfonally to attack the two kings, protediors of the liberty of 
 Flanders, in order to make all things equal on both fides, France mufl 
 
 contribute
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 217 
 
 contribute eight thonfand infantry and two thoufand cavalry, and 
 England one half of that number ; and the fame rule might be ob- 
 ferved in regard to the fquadrons which it would be neceffary to have 
 upon the coaft of Spain, and in the Indies i and he farther declared, 
 that England had no fund to defray the expences of thefe forces, ex- 
 cept the money owing from France, which was to be paid in two 
 vears; but that the king of England would willingly facrifice it for 
 the fervice of the common caufe. 
 
 I WAS extremely diffatisfied at the Englifh fecretary's thus endea- 
 vouring to avoid coming to any pofitive agreement, bypurpofely evad- 
 ing the ftate of the queftion, and by raifing only anticipated difficul- 
 ties ; but I concealed my indignation as well as I could, and replied, 
 that this vvas not a fubjeâ: to be talked of in fo vague a manner ; that 
 it was above all things neceflary, without an equivocation, abfolutely 
 to determine wha-t fhould be done in favour of the United-Provinces, 
 and for the relief of Oftend ; that, after this, whether the council of 
 his Britifh majefty might be inclined to a war, or whether it might be 
 forced into one by Spain, there would be many other confiderable 
 matters to difcufs, in regard to the following fuppofitions ; firft, that 
 this crown fhould attack only one of the two kings, or fhould attack 
 them both -, fecondly, that the two kings fhould declare themfelves 
 the aggreflbrs ; and laftly, that they fliould endeavour to make con- 
 quefts upon the Spaniards in the Low- Countries. 
 :r.i il'' :>3"J .;'.'. 
 
 To make Cecil yet niore fenfible that he fcarce entered at all into 
 the affair, I reprefented to him, that, in cafe of the rupture with 
 Spain, which he mentioned, to render the fuperiority in favour of the 
 two kings, that of France, befides twenty thoufand men which he 
 would have in Flanders, would alfo be indifpenfably obliged to have 
 the fame number upon the frontiers ofGuienne, Languedoc, Pro- 
 vence, Dauphiny, and Breffe, not to mention the fquadrons of gallies 
 which he muft alfo have to fecure the Mediterranean ; that it was 
 neceffary even now to determine thefe matters, and to prevent being 
 expofed to a thoufand perplexing difcuffions, fufficient to deftrov the 
 harmony between the allied princes. 
 
 Thkn replying more particularly to what Cecil had faid, I told him, 
 I could not conceive for what reafons he was for cafting upon the king 
 of France the whole or greatcfl: part of the expence of a war, in which 
 Henry would be only .equally concerned with the king of England j 
 ' Vot.IL Ff that
 
 2i8 M E M O I R s O F s U L L y. Book XV, 
 
 that if by fuch means the Britifli council fought to diftrefs Henry, it 
 but ill underftood its interefts, nor confidered that, though an equality 
 of expences fhould be ftipulated, France would certainly have other 
 ■expences to defray, perhaps even greater than thefe; fuch were thofe 
 for the defence of her coafts and frontiers, which, by diverting part 
 of the enemy's forces, would not be lefs ferviceable to England than 
 to France. I added, that, for all thefe reafons, I thought the Eng- 
 lifh council took a very improper time to demand the payment of the 
 fum lent to France; that Henry was fo far from expecfling any fuch 
 matter, that he had given me no orders about it ; that I only knew, 
 from the place which I filled in the council of finances, that his inten- 
 tion was to difcharge it by annual payments, as had been agreed with, 
 the late queen ; and that within the current year he propofed to pay 
 two hundred thoufand livres ; but again, that the Britifh council took, 
 a very wrong method to obtain the payment of this debt, by fliewing, 
 from their unreafonable difficulties and fufpicions, that their fole view 
 was more and more to exhauft France; which condudl was very ma-r 
 lignant, and abfolutely oppofite to that of Henry, who, in all his ac- 
 tions, manifefted nothing but honefty and good faith, and laboured 
 only for the public good. 
 
 What I faid made not the imprefllon upon my hearers which I 
 defired j on the contrary, the Englifli took fire, and protefted, if any 
 thing farther was infilled on, they would abandon the States entirely. 
 Cecil more efpecially, in this conference, completed his making him- 
 felf known to me for what he really was ; he made ufe only of double 
 expreflions, vague propofals, and falfe meanings, being perfedtly fenfi- 
 ble that reafon was not on his fide. The moderation and fincerity 
 which loppofed to his ill defigning fubtilties, forced him into contradic- 
 tions, which, when by a fingle word I made him feel the ridiculoufnels 
 of what he faid, put him into confufion. Sometimes thinking tointi^ 
 midate me, he magnified the forces of England ; fometimes he en- 
 deavoured to fhew the advantages to England of the pretended offers 
 of Spain ; he watched opportunities to wreft any words which might 
 drop from me of the deputies to his advantage, and even malicioully 
 fuppofed that we had faid things which we never thought of; he pro- 
 ceeded fo far, as to endeavour to raife difcord between me and the de- 
 puties, by calling upon me the refufal of openly affilling the States : 
 he, and iiis collègues by his direâion, demanded that France Ihould 
 immediately pay to England, in part of what (he owed, forty or fifty 
 thoufand pounds fterling ; and he lold the deputies, that thefe fums 
 
 fliould
 
 Book XV. M Ë M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 
 
 fhould be employed for the relief of their moft preffing necefiîties, and, 
 upon my refufal, they all faid it could be imputed only to me, becaufe, 
 faid they, all the money in France was in my difpofal. If all the merit 
 of thofe we ufually call able politicians confifts in thus endeavouring 
 to enfnare the open and undefigning, and to make thefe bear the 
 blame of their wickednefs, while they at the fame time enjoy all the 
 benefits of it, a politician is then truly a very defpicable thing. What 
 piqued me the moll was to fee that thefe minifters, who were here 
 only to fet forth the intentions of the king, impudently fubftituted 
 their own inftead of them ; for I knew well, and was firmly perfuad- 
 ed, from the manner in which this prince had talked to them in my 
 prefence, that he had given them quite contrary commands. 
 
 The deputies, who had returned, and were prefent during this, 
 again retired, greatly diiTatisfied no doubt, and in more perplexity 
 than before ; whereupon Cecil again changed his battery : he 
 faid, that fince the king of France could not enter into a war but in 
 conjun6lion with England, the latter could not do it, unlefs her ex- 
 pences therein w^ere defrayed by France and the States ; which nei- 
 ther of them being really able to do, the befl: conduft therefore which 
 the two kings could purfue, would be to continue to live in friend- 
 fhip, but without intermeddling with any foreign difputes whatfo- 
 ever. This, probably, \vas what the fecretary really propofed ; and, 
 notwithfianding the length and frequency of his difcourfes, was all 
 he had ever uttered with fincerity. 
 
 As I did not think proper to make any reply to this, the Englifh, 
 Relieving perhaps that they had gained their point with me, faid, they 
 would relate to the king every thing which had paffed in the con- 
 ference, and would demand an audience from him for me, wherein 
 all things {hould be expeditioufly fettled on this footing, and this au- 
 dience would probably be my laft, and that wherein I ihould take my 
 leave, becaufe, after this, nothing more would remain to be done. 
 If I kept filence upon this occafion, moft certainly it was not becaufe 
 I acquiefced in what they faid ; on the contrary, the manner in which 
 they had again expofed themfelves, and as it were confefled them- 
 felves to be liars and impoftors, had infpired me with the utmoft con- 
 tempt for them ; but I judged, that expoftulation or pallion would be 
 fo far from making them quit a refolution which they had concerted to- 
 gether, that perhaps it might rather tend to promote a rupture, where- 
 as, as matters were at prefent fituated, friendfliip at leaft fubfifted be- 
 
 F f 2 tween
 
 210 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book. XV. 
 
 1603. twcen the two kings, and as this friendfliip might be more ftrongly 
 cemented by a double marriage (which was pubhcly talked of) fome 
 more favourable opportunity might probably hereafter occur. How- 
 ever, I did not abfolutely defpair of the fuccefs of my commiiîîon> 
 becaufe I thought I perceived the king had no concern inthe defigns 
 which his counfellors thus endeavoured to put in execution. 
 
 To come at a certainty in refpeil to this, was what I propofed in 
 my third audience, for I do not confider as fuch my reception on Sun- 
 day. Cecil had demanded it for me from the king, and this prince 
 fent Erlkine to tell me, that it fhould be on the day after the con- 
 ference here related, and that I fiiould bring but few of my retinue 
 with me, becaufe he wanted to difcourfe with me in particular; and 
 this was further confirmed to me by a Scotch lord, who was extremely 
 intimate with my friend the earl of Mar. The lords, Hume and Sea- 
 ford about noon came to accompany me from London, and, upon 
 my landing at Greenwich, I was received by the earl of Derby, who 
 conduced me into the king's apartment. I had with me only four 
 gentlemen and two fecretaries. 
 
 The king of England took me by the hand, and, commanding 
 that no one fhould follow him, he led me through his cabinet into his 
 gallery, the door of which he alfo fecured. He embraced me twice, 
 with expreffions that fhewed how greatly he was fatisfied with the 
 king of France and me, and how fenfible he was of his mofl chriflian 
 majefly's having fent him the man who, of all his kingdom, was 
 moft neceflary to him ; he infifted, that making ufe of the prefent 
 opportunity, I fhould fpeak to him without any referve. This mo- 
 ment therefore feemed favourable to me, to complain to him of his 
 ,'--iâ33ilw • and, after the ufual complimentary thanks, I accordingly 
 '°,Ê zï^-i >:r;i at it was much more advantageous to me in all refpeâsto 
 vrn " ' with him than his counfellors, who, after having very ill exe- 
 cuted his orders in the laft conference, had alfo, without doubt, given 
 him a falfe account of what had paffed between them and me and the 
 Flemifh deputies ; and I promifed, if he would give me leave, to give 
 him a fincere and juft relation of every thing. 
 
 The king approving my propofal, I acquainted him with all that 
 had paffed between us the preceding evening ; I infifl:ed more efpecially 
 upon the demand to difcharge the debt owing to England, and on the 
 afperfion upon his moft chriflian majefty and me, with which it had 
 
 been
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 221 
 
 been accompanied ; I added, that if after having filled my letters to Hen- 1 60-^ . 
 ry only with elogies on the generofity, the prudence, and the perfeél 
 friendfhip of the prince to. whom I had the honour of fpeaking, and 
 this becaufe he himfelf had authorifed me to do it, both by his words and 
 adlions, I fiiould be obliged, on a fudden, to write to lii'm in a quite 
 contrary ftyle, without having any reafon to alledge for it, other than 
 difficulties entirely frivolous, the king my mafter could not but think 
 I had afted the part of a flattering, and perhaps an unfaithful minifter, 
 to the interefts with which he had entrufled me ; and it would befides, 
 bie confidered as the effedl of a determined friendfliip with Spain, from 
 whence, perhaps, a rupture might enfue between the two kings, 
 whofe interefl as well as inclination required their continuing in a 
 confiant ftate of union. I thought I ought not to hefitate upon inform- 
 ing the king of England, that there were feveral of thofe whom he ad- 
 mitted into his council who were neither well difpofed in themfelves, 
 nor well affeâed to his perfon ; that, without naming them to him, 
 he ought to confider as fuch all thofe who appeared fo little felicitous 
 for his glory, and the honour of his crown, as to advife him, under the 
 name of an ally, to render himfelf the flave of Spain ; that he would 
 do well to be, in fome degree, dithdent of fuch perfons whofe charac- 
 ters he was not perfedlly well acquainted with, and to be guided rather 
 by his own wifdom, than the reprefentations of his minifters. 
 
 It was no difficult matter to infpire the king of England with a diffi- 
 dence of his minilfers, for he was naturally but too much inclined to 
 it. The change which I perceived in his countenance when he heard 
 my lafl: words, hisgefture, and fome expreffions thatefcaped him, con- 
 vinced me my obfervation was Juft ; I even thought I plainly perceived, 
 that either from an effe6c of this diffidence, or from the •:. '-'" ^ 
 laviffied on him, this prince was at lafl in the moft favoural ■[■'. ' '' 
 tion I could wifli him ; I therefore embraced this opportunity to .. 
 duce in our converfation fome general hints of a projeft, by whici., 
 with the affiftance of his Britannic majefty, the tranquility of all Eu- 
 rope might be fecured. Having faid this, I remained filent, as though 
 I had been apprehenlive of fatiguing him by too long a difcourfe : but 
 I knew the curiofity of James would be excited by the little I had faid ; 
 accordingly he replied, that my difcourfe had not appeared tedious to 
 him, but that it would be proper to know what o'clock it was. He 
 went out, and afked feme of his courtiers whom he found at the end 
 of the gallery, and they telling him that it was not three o'clock, 
 " Well, Sir, faid the- king to me, returning, I will break off the party 
 
 "for
 
 ?2-2 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XV. 
 
 1 603. " for the chace which I had made for this day, that I may hear you 
 ' " to the end, and this employment will, I am pcrfuaded, be of more 
 " fervice to me than the" other." 
 
 The reafon that induced mc to hazard a ftcp of fuch confequence, as 
 that of communicating to king James the great defigns upon Spain 
 and all Europe, which had been concerted between Henry and Eli- 
 zabeth, was, that being perlliaded this prince was already of himfelf 
 inclined to the alliance with France, he only wanted to be determined 
 in this refolution from fome great and noble motive ; and becaufe, on 
 the other fide, his minillers conflantly brought him back to their man- 
 ner of thinking, apparently becaufe he could not fupport himfelf againft 
 them, from a peri'uafion that they oppofcd hisfentiments only through 
 ignorance of them. However, this did not prevent my taking the 
 following precaution, which I judged to be very ncceffary. 
 
 I THEREFORE refumcd the difcourfe, and told him, that, without 
 'doubt he had fometimes thought, and with good reafon, that a man 
 in poflelTion of the places and honours with which I was known to be 
 inverted, never quitted his port but for a very urgent occafion j that 
 •this was my cafe ; that though my commiilîon was only to require an 
 union between France and England, yet neverthclefs, from the opi- 
 nion I had conceived, which fame had not been filent in reporting, of 
 his genius and abilities, I had refolved, before I quitted the kingdom, 
 to difcourfc with his Britannic majefty on fomcthing infinitely more 
 confiderable ; but that what I had to acquaint him with was of fuch 
 a nature, that I could not reveal it to him without expofing myfelf to 
 ruin, unlefs he would engage by the moft folemn oath to keep it a 
 fecret. James, who liftened to me with a profound attention, hefitated 
 however at taking the oath which I required ; and, to render it un- 
 neceflary, he endeavoured himfelf to difcover what it was of fo intereit- 
 ing a nature which I had to communicate to him. But finding my 
 anfwers to the different quertions which he fucceflively afked me gave 
 him not the leafl light into the affair, he fatisfied me at lafl by the mod 
 facred and folemn of all oaths, I mean that of the holy facrament. 
 
 Though I had now nothing to fear from his indifcretion, vet, how- 
 ever, I carefully weighed all my words ; and beginning with an arti- 
 cle, in which I knew the king of England was moll interelted, I mean 
 religion, I told him, that however I might appear to him engaged 
 in worldly honours and affairs, and how indifferent foever he might 
 
 perhaps
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF S U L L T. 
 
 perhaps have fuppofed me to be in matters of religion, yet it was no 
 lefs certain that I was attached to mine, even fo much as to prefer it 
 to my family, fortune, country, and even king; that I had negledled 
 nothing which might incline the king my mafler to eftablifh it in 
 France upon folid foundations, being under great apprehenfions left it 
 might one day be overwhelmed by fo powerful a fadtion, as that of an 
 union of the Pope, the Emperor, Spain, the arch-dukes, the catholic 
 princes of Germany, and fo many other ftates and communities intereft- 
 ed in its fuppreffion ; that my fuccefs hitherto had been tolerable; but 
 that perhaps I was indebted for it only to jundlures purely political, 
 which had engaged Henry in a party oppofite to the houfe of Auftria. 
 That becaufe thefe circumftances might change, or becaufe I, who 
 was the only perfon that would ufe any endeavours to make Henry 
 continue firm in this political plan, might lofe my place and his favour, 
 I did not fee how the king of France could refift a party, which both- 
 his religion, and the example of others, would call upon him to em- 
 brace. That this confideration had long infpired me with the thoughts 
 of finding a perfon for the execution of this defign, who by his rank, 
 and power would be more proper than me to accomplifli it, and fix 
 Henry in his fentiments. That having found all that I had fought for 
 in the prince to whom I had the honour of fpeaking, my choice had 
 not been difficult to fix. In a word, that it depended only upon him- 
 felf to immortalize his memory, and become the arbitrator of the fate 
 of Europe, by a defign to which he would always appear to have put- 
 the finifhing hand, though he might not be more concerned in the ex^ 
 ecution than his moft Chriftian majefty. 
 
 There remained only to explain to him the nature of this defign, 
 of which at firft I gave nothing farther than a general idea, under the 
 notion of a projeâ: for an afl"ociation of all the princes and ftates in 
 Europe, whofe intereft it was to diminiflithe power of the houfe of 
 Auftria, the foundation of which fliould be an ofi^eniive and defenfive 
 alliance between France, England, and Holland, cemented by the- 
 clofeft union of the two royal houles of Bourbon and Stuart. I re- 
 prefented this aflbciation in a light which {hewed it might be very eafily 
 formed. There was not the leaft difficulty in regard to Denmark, 
 Sweden, in a word, all the proteftant princes and ftates; and it might 
 be rendered fufficiently advantageous to engage in it the catholic princes 
 alfo : for example, the turbulent and ambitious difpofition of the duke 
 of Savoy might be foothed with hopes of obtaining the title of king; 
 and the princes of Germany, with promifes to diftribute among them, 
 
 thofe.
 
 224: M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XV. 
 
 1 603 . thofe parts of it which the houfe of Anftria poffefTed, as Bohemia, Au- 
 ■ ftria, Hungary, Moravia, Silefia, &c. and to re-eftablifli their antient 
 privileges : even the Popehimfelf might be gained, by granting him 
 the property of thofe countries of which he only poffeffed the feoda- 
 lity. In regard to the king of France, though I endeavoured to per- 
 fuade James that he had hitherto had no concern in this projedt, which 
 I pretended was entirely of my own forming; I, however, faid, that 
 when I fliould have communicated it to him, I could fafely engage he 
 would have no thoughts, either of retaining any conquefts which 
 mif^ht be made, or of being recompenfed for them ; though, accord- 
 ing to all appearances, the greateft part of the burthen would fall upon 
 him, as well in the expences necellary for the carrying on the enter- 
 prife, as his own perfonal fervices. I imagined it was moll proper to 
 give the affair this turn in regard to Henry, that he might not be un- 
 der too ablblute an obligation. 
 
 The king of England immediately ftarted fome objedlions, upon the 
 difficulty of uniting fo many different princes fo differently dilpofed ; 
 the fame nearly which Henry had made when we had lafi difcourfed 
 upon it at Montglat, upon his return from Metz: though from the 
 flight Iketch which I had given him of the defign, he, however, ap- 
 peared highly to approve it, and expreffed a defire of being more cir- 
 cumftantlally informed of it. In conformity with which cieiire, the 
 following is the fubftance of what I faid to his Britannic majelly. 
 
 Europe is divided into two fadions, which are notfo juftly diflin- 
 guiflied by their different religions, becaufe the catholics and proteftants 
 are confounded together in almofl all places, as they are by their poli- 
 tical intereftsj the firftis compofed of the Pope, the Emperor, Spain, 
 Spanilh Flanders, part of the princes and towns of Germany and 
 Switzerland, Savoy, the catholic fiâtes of Italy, whijch are Florence, 
 Ferrara, Mantua, Modena, Parma, Genoa, Lucca, &c. Herein like- 
 wife mufl be comprifed, the catholics difperfed in other parts of Eu- 
 rope, at the head of which may be placed the turbulent order of Je- 
 fuits, whofe views, no doubt, are to fubjedl every thing to the Spanifh 
 monarchy. The fécond includes the kings of France, England, Scot- 
 land, Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden; the repubhc of Venice, the 
 United-Provinces, and the other part of the princes and towns of Ger- 
 many and Switzerland : I do net take in Poland, Pruflia, Livonia, 
 Mufcovy, and Tranfilvania, though thefe countries are fubjed: to the 
 chriftian religion, becaufe the wars in which they are almofl continu- 
 ally
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ally engaged with the Turks and Tartars, render them in fome man- 
 ner foreign in regard to thofc of the weftern part of Europe. 
 
 Were the power to be eftimated in proportion to the pomp of 
 titles, the extent of territories, and the number of inhabitants, it ap- 
 pears, on the (lighteft glance, not very favourable to the fécond of thefc 
 factions, and the fuperiority would apparently be determined in favour 
 of the tirft : neverthelefs, nothing is more erroneous than fuch an opi- 
 nion, which may thus be proved; Spain, which muft here be named 
 firft of her fadlion (though from rank and dignity fhe is only the 
 third) becaufe flie is in reality the foul of it ; Spain, I fay, including 
 her dominions in the Eaft and Weil-Indies, does indeed poiïefs an 
 extent of territory as large as Turky and Perfia together. But if it 
 be true (and that it is i'o cannot be doubted) that the new world, in 
 recompence of its gold and other riches, deprives Spain both of her 
 fliips and inhabitants, this immenfe extent of territory, inftead of 
 being ferviceable, is burdenfome. 
 
 And if we confider the other powers of this party, we fhall every 
 where find reafon to diminish our ordinary ideas. The pope feems 
 firmly attached to Spain ; and, furrounded as he is on all fides by this 
 formidable power, and having no reafon to expecfl fuccours from any 
 of the other catholic princes, it is, no doubt, his interefl: to be fo. But 
 as he doe?, in facft, confider his fituation as but little different from real 
 fervitude; and as he is not ignorant that Spain and the jefuits only 
 make a vain appearance of fupporting his authority, it mav, doubt- 
 leCs, be concluded, he only wants an opportunity to free himfelf from 
 the Spanilh yoke, and that he would readily embrace a party which 
 ihould offer to render him their fervice, without the running any great 
 riik ; and Spain has in reality this opinion of him. 
 
 In regard to the emperor, he has nothing in common with Spain 
 except his name, which feems only to ferve to increafe the jealoufies 
 and quarrels which fo frequert'v arife between thefe two branches of 
 Auflrian power : befides, what is his power ? it confifts merely in his 
 title. Hungary, Bohemia, Auftria, and other neighbouring countries, 
 are little better than empty names. Expofed as he is, on one fide, to 
 incurfions of the formidable armies of the grand fignior ; liable, on 
 the other fide, to fee the territories under his dominion tear themfelves 
 in pieces, by the multiplicity and diverfity of the religions which they 
 contain ; under continual apprehenfions alfo, left the eleftoral princes 
 
 Vol. II. ^ ë fiioul'^
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XV. 
 
 fliould rife and make an attempt to regain their ancient privileges. In- 
 deed the prefent emperor, all things juftly confidered, might perhaps 
 be claffed among the moft inconfiderable of the European powers : 
 befides, this Auftrian branch appears to me fo deftitute of good fub- 
 jedls, that if it hath not foon a prince, either brave or wife enough to 
 unite the different members of which Germany is compofed, it will 
 have every thing to fear from the princes of its circles, whofe only 
 aim it is, to get their liberty, in religion and eledion, reftored to them. 
 I do not except even the eleftor of Saxony, though he appears the 
 moft fincerely attached to the emperor, as to him of whom he holds 
 his principality, becaufe it is evident his religion muft, fooner or later, 
 fet him at variance with his benefaftor. But fuppofmg the emperor 
 to receive all the returns of gratitude which he can expedl from this 
 ele6tor, this will amount to nothing, or but very little, fo long as 
 he fhall be under apprehenfions from the branch of John-Frederic,, 
 whom he has deprived of this eledlorate. 
 
 Thus, from a thorough examination of all particulars, it appears», 
 that almoft all the powers on which Spain feems to depend for aid, 
 are either but little attached to her, or capable of doing her little 
 fervice. No one is ignorant, that the general view of the princes and 
 cities both of Germany and Switzerland is to deliver themfelves from 
 the dominion of the emperor, and even to aggrandife themfelves at 
 his expence. Nor has he any greater dependence on the ecclefiaftical 
 princes, than on the others. A foreign emperor is what they moft wifh, 
 provided he is not a proteftant. Nothing could give the arch-dukes a 
 greater pleafure, as much Spaniards as they are, than a regulation, by 
 which they fliould, in Flanders, become fovereigns independent of 
 Spain, weary at length of being only her fervants. It is the fear of 
 France alone that binds the duke of Savoy to the Spaniards; for he 
 naturally hates them, and has never forgiven the king of Spain, for 
 doing fo much lefs for the daughter which he beftowed upon him, 
 than for her younger fifter. As to Italy, it need only be obferved, that 
 it will be obliged to acquiefce in the will of the ftronger party. 
 
 It is therefore certain, that the fécond of th^ faisions here defcribed 
 has nothing to fear, provided it underftands its own interefts well 
 enough to continue in a conftant ftate of union. Now it is alfo cer- 
 tain, that in this fcheme thefe fo natural motives to difunion do not 
 occur; and that all of them, even that caufed by the difference of re- 
 ligion, which in fome fort is the only one, ought to give place to the 
 
 hatred
 
 Book XV. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 hatred againfl: Spain, which is the great and common motive by which 
 thefe powers are animated. Where is the prince, in the leaft jealous 
 of his glorv, who would refufe to enter into an aflbciation flrengthen- 
 ed by four fuch powerful kings as thofe of France, England, Sweden, 
 and Denmark, clofely united ? It was a faying of Elizabeth's, that 
 nothing could refift thefe four powers, in ftricl alliance with each other. 
 
 These truths being fuppofed, it only remains to examine, by what 
 methods the houfe of Auftria may be reduced to the monarchy of Spain, 
 and to poffefs that dominion only. Thefe methods confift either in ar- 
 tifice or force, and I have two means for each of thefe. The firit 
 of the fecret means is, to divefl: the houfe of Auftria of the Indies ; 
 Spain havingnomorerightto prohibitan intercourfe with thefe countries 
 to the reft of the Europeans, than fhe has to deflroy their natural in- 
 habitants ; and all the nations of Europe having alfo a liberty to make 
 eftablifliments in the new difcovered countries as foon as they hxve 
 palled the line, this enterprize would therefore be eafily executed, only 
 by equipping three fleets, each containing eight thoufand men, all 
 provided and viâ:ualled for fix months; England to furnifh the ihips, 
 Flanders the artillery and ammunition, and France, ks the moft pow- 
 erful, the money and foldiers. There would be no occafion for any other 
 agreement, than that the conquered countries fhould be equallydivided. 
 
 During this, the fécond of thefe means fliould be fecretly prepared, 
 upon occafion of the fuccefiion to Cleves, and the death of the Emperor 
 W'hich cannot be far diftant, in fuch manner, that under favour of the 
 opportunities which thefe two incidents might furnifli, reafons might 
 be found to divell the houfe of Auftria of the empire, and her other 
 dependencies in Germany, and therein to reflore the antient free 
 manner of eledtion. 
 
 The firft of the two open and declared means is, in conjundion 
 to take up arms, and drive the Spaniards entirely out of Flanders, 
 in order to ere6l this ftate into a free and independent repub- 
 lic, bearing only the title of a member of the empire ; and this, when 
 the forces of the allies are confidered, will not be found difficult. The 
 United Provinces, comprehending in them Liege, Juliers, and Cleves, 
 form a triangle ; the firft fide of which, from Calais to Embden, is 
 entirely towards the fea : the fécond is bounded by France, viz. by 
 Picardy, as far as the Somme; and by the country of Mefiln, as far as 
 Mezieres : the third extends from Metz, by Triers, Cologn, and 
 
 G g 2 Metz,
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book X\^. 
 
 Metz, as far as Dufleldorp. It is only neceiïary to fecure thefe 
 three fides in fuch manner that they rnay be inaccelTible to Spain, which 
 may be done without difficulty, England taking upon her the firfl, 
 France the fécond, the eleftors and the other interelled princes the 
 third. All the towns which fliould happen to be upon this line, ex- 
 cept perhaps Thionville, which might require to be forced, would, 
 upon a menace to be put under contribution, immediately fubmit. 
 
 The fécond of the two laft means, is for the league above mention- 
 ed generally and in concert to declare war againft Spain and the whole 
 houfe of Auftria. What is moft eflential to obferve in regard to this 
 war, is, that France and England fliould renounce all pretences to any 
 fliare of theconquefl:, and relinquiHi them to thofe powers who were 
 not of themfelves capable of giving umbrage to the others. Thus 
 Franche-Comté, Alface, and Tirol, naturally fall to the Switzers. The 
 duke of Savoy ought to have Lombardy, to be ered:ed, with his other 
 dominions, into a kingdom ; the kingdom of Naples falls to the pope, 
 as being moft convenient to him ; Sicily to the Venetians, with what 
 may be convenient for them in lilria and Friuli. Thus it appears, 
 the mofl folid foundation of this confederacy would arife from all the 
 parties being gainers by it. The reft of Italy, fubjedl to its petty 
 princes, might perhaps be fufFered to continue under its prefent form 
 of government, provided that all thefe little ftates were altogether 
 confidered as compofing only one body or republic, of which they 
 fhould be fo many members. 
 
 This is a pretty juft account of the manner in which I acquainted 
 his Britannic majefty with the defign to which I endeavoured to gain 
 his approbation. I farther added whatever I thought might tend to 
 obviate his doubts, and confirm him in favour of it. I confefied that 
 I was not myfelf able to elucidate the defign; that I was not furprifed 
 that his majefty had at firft perceived great difficulties in it ; that 
 Henry would, no doubt, find many in it alfo, but that they only pro- 
 ceeded from my own weaknefs, and the impoffibility of fhewing 
 clearly what to be perfedly explained required much time and long 
 difcourfes ; that I was convinced in my own mind, the defign was not 
 only poffible, but that alfo the fuccefs of it was infallible ; that if any 
 thing was found defedtive in the fcheme as I had conceived it, it 
 might eafily be rcftified by the genius and abilities of four great kings, 
 and fome of the beft generals in Europe, to whom the execution of 
 it would be entrufted. 
 
 I
 
 Book XV. M E M O I R S O F. S U L L Y. 
 
 I THEN returned to the alliance between the two kings of France 
 and England, and I told his Britannic majefty, that this alliance being 
 the chief and necelTary foundation of the confederacy which I had pro- 
 pofed to him, this muft therefore ncceflarily begin it, without paying 
 any regard to the difcourfes of prejudiced perfons, or being afFedted by 
 fuch frivolous confiderations as thofe of the debts of France and Flan- 
 ders to England. I affured him that England had nothing to fear from 
 France, for that Henry's great preparations of arms and ammunition, 
 and his amafllng fuch vaft fums, were only defigned hereafter to enable 
 him of himfelf toaccomplifli the greateil part of this important defign; 
 at leaft, that I could flatter myfelf with fuccefs in engaging him in it, 
 from motives of glory and the public fervice, which operated fo power- 
 fully upon the mind of this prince. I touched James in his moft fenfible 
 part, his ambition to immortalize his memory, and his defire of being 
 brought into comparifon with Henry, and of fharing his praifes. 
 
 My earneftnefs to fucceed gave fuch force and clearnefs to my ex- 
 preflions, that this prince, entering into my full meaning, embraced 
 me with a kind of tranfport proceeding from his friendiliip for me, and 
 a fenfe of the wrong meafures which hitherto endeavours had been ufed 
 to make him purfue. " No, fir, faid he, do not fear that I fhall ever 
 ** fail in what we have together agreed upon." He protefled with 
 the lame ardour, that he would not on any confideration have re- 
 mained ignorant of what I had told him ; that he would never contra- 
 di6l the good opinion which the king of France and I had conceived 
 of him J that he really was what I thought him ; that his reflections 
 upon what I had faid would yet farther confirm him in the fentiments 
 with which I had infpired him ; that he would even now engage to 
 fign the plan of alliance which I had prefented to him on Sunday, and 
 wherein he had himfelf made Ibme inconfiderable alterations; that I 
 fhould alfo fign it in the name of the king of France, unlefs I rather 
 chofe to carry it with me unfigned, to fliew it to his moll Chriftian 
 majefty, in which cafe he gave me his royal word, that upon my 
 bringing or fending it back at the end cf a month or fix weeks, ap- 
 proved and figned by Henry, he would immediately, and without the 
 leafl difficulty, join to it his own fignature. He concluded, by obligingly 
 afluring me, that for the future he would do nothing but in concert 
 with the king of France. He made me promife the fame fecrecy in 
 regard to all perfons, except the king my mafiier, which I had been 
 fo free as to require of him ; and this he extended fo far, as to for- 
 bid- 
 
 229
 
 230 M E M O I R s F s U L L Y, Book XV, 
 
 1603. bid me ever putting upon paper certain things, which upon this occafion 
 he revealed to me, and which I therefore lupprefs. 
 
 Our conferencehad begun about one o'clock, and continued upwards 
 of four hours. The king called in admiral Howard, theearls of Northum- 
 berland, Southampton, Mar, kwd-Mouiitjoy, and Cecil, and declared to 
 them, that having deliberately confidered my reafons, he was refolved 
 to enter into a clofe alliance with France againfl Spain. He reproached 
 Cecil in very ftrong terms, for having, both in his words and adtions, 
 adied contrary to his commands; which explanation the fecretary re- 
 ceived very aukwardly. " Cecil, faid this prince to him, I command 
 " you, without any reply or objeâion, in conformity to this my de- 
 " lign, to prepare the neceffary writings, according to which, I v/ill 
 " then give the dexter *, and all aflurances to the ambafladors of mef- 
 *' fleurs the States." This was the firft time he had diftinguifhed 
 them by this title. Then turning to me and taking me by the hand, 
 he faid, " Well, Mr. ambafTador, are you now perfectly fatislied with 
 " me ?" 
 
 Î REPLIED by a profound reverence, and by making his majefty the 
 fame proteftations of fidelity and attachment as if it had been to my 
 own king, and I defired he would let me confirm it to him by kilTing 
 his hand. He embraced me, and demanded my friendfliip with an air 
 of goodncfs and confidence which very much difpleafed feveral of his 
 counfellors that were prefent. Upon my departure, he gave orders to the 
 earl of Northumberland to accompany me to the Thames, and to Sid- 
 ney to efcort me to London. 
 
 * This cxprellion fignifies an oath, or promife of alliance, made by prefenting the 
 jright hand. 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XVI. 
 
 AL L that now remained to be done, was to put the finlfhing 1603. 
 hand to the feveral particulars agreed on between the king of 
 England and me, and fignified by this prince to his minifters, 
 and to form them into a treaty, or rather into a project of a treaty, 
 between the two kings : for indeed a peace, whofe final and principal 
 effedl was to proceed from the acceptation of his moft Chriilian ma-!- 
 jefty, into whofe hands it was firft to be tranfmitted, could be called 
 by no other name. And, upon this occafion, I was perfedly fenfible 
 of the injury my negotiation received from the unhappy precaution 
 which neceffity had obliged Henry and me to take in the council of 
 France, not to propofe any thing to the king of England but as of 
 myfelf. 
 
 James, being more entirely perfuaded than I could have wiflied 
 him, that I had adted only from the fuggeftions of my own defires, 
 and for the fecurity of the proteltant religion againft all events which 
 might happen, had never, from the fecrets which I had revealed to 
 him, confidered me as the inftrument of the king my mafler ; .and 
 looked upon it as doing a great deal, to engage himfelf firft, upon very 
 promifing appearances, indeed, that the king of France would concur 
 
 with
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. BookXVL 
 
 with him even with greater readinefs. But how great is the diffe- 
 rence between fuch a general engagement, hable to many various in- 
 terpretations, and a treaty, wherein, by virtue of a full power from 
 the king, I might, with all the care and exadtnefs poffible, have in- 
 ferted every particular in that clear and diftindl manner, from whence 
 the bonds of all political treaties acquire their ftrength and duration. 
 I fliould not fo confidently aflert, that, upon this occafion, inftead of 
 the mere formula, I had reafon to expe<ft his Britannic m.ajefty's fig- 
 nature of a complete treaty, which it would not be poffible for him 
 to retradl, had not the murmurs, of which the letters of the count of 
 Beaumont to the king are full, in regard to this deficiency of a figned 
 blank, been an authentic teflimony, that 1 have here advanced no- 
 thing from fuggeftions of vanity or felf-love. 
 
 But I fliould reproach myfelf with being guilty of injuftice, werel 
 to appear fufpicious of the good faith of king James ; on the contrary, I 
 affirm no prince in Europe could (Tiew himfelf more jealous of it. But 
 it happens, from I know not what fatality, that the thing in the world 
 which one would think ought to be lead expofed to the caprice of for- 
 tune, I mean a political agreement or treaty, the pure effeâ of a mind 
 free in its operations, and mafter of its fentiments, is, however, the moft 
 changeable and uncertain ; thecontrading parties in no other inftance 
 would incur the imputation of having forfeited their word, yet in this 
 they almoft always fail in the execution, provided they can find the 
 fmallefl colour or pretence for fo atrocious a perjury j as if eluding a 
 folemn promife or engagement were not the fame as a direifl violation 
 of it. I did not doubt, that, as foon as I was gone, the counfellors of 
 his Britannic majefty would ufe their utmofi: efforts to render ineffiîdtual 
 what they had not been able to prevent ; and I expedled that Cecil 
 would be one of the mod adive for this purpofe, for the viâory which 
 I had gained over him, the reprimand which he had received from the 
 king on my account, and his confufion from the converfation which I 
 had had with him, when it came to be publicly known, were fo many 
 wounds which altogether had abfolutely mortified him. 
 
 Nevertheless, it will readily be admitted that I had reafon to be 
 fatisfied with the fuccefs of my negotiation : my own fituation in the 
 affair con fidered *, its conclufion was as happy and advantageous as it 
 
 * This embaffy of M. de Rofny is without talcing notice of many modern 
 mentioned with great clogiums, in almoft writers who have fpoke o[ it in the fame 
 all the hiftories and memoirs q^ that time, manner, though fome of them, as the au- 
 
 could
 
 Book XVI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 233 
 
 could be ; for I had gained the glory of having fucceeded in an enter- 1603. 
 prife that was thought to be extremely diflkuTt, without running the ^-/"V"^ 
 rifque of being accufed of exceeding the bounds prefcribed by my com- 
 miffion. The king and his council had it in their option to retrench, 
 augment, or alter whatever they thought proper, in an agreement, of 
 which I had neither made them nor myfelf the guarantees ; and this 
 was performing all that it was poffiblc for me to efFedl: as to its real 
 utility, when considered in refpeel of Henry's defign, to which I would 
 readily have facrificed all other confiderations, if I had not completely 
 fucceeded, it was becaufe I could not perform more, without View- 
 ing a difregard to the terms prefcribed, not only in my public, but 
 even in my private inflruftions. However, from what I had done there 
 arofe one real and very fenfible advantage; and this was, that, in a 
 conjunélure, wherein there were fo many juft caufes to fear an inti- 
 mate union between England and Spain, this union was abfolutely 
 fruftrated, and his Britannic majefty engaged in another, from which 
 he could neither fo foon nor fo eafily return to the former. 
 
 I THEREFORE immediately fet about drawing up the form of a 
 treaty, which having finiflied, I prefented to the king of England 
 and his counfellors, to be by them finally revifed and examined : they 
 read it feveral times, fucceflively retouched it, and made fome incon- 
 fiderable alterations ; at lad it was abfolutely determined in the fol-^ 
 lowing manner. 
 
 The king of England, after returning his moft chriflian majefty 
 înany thanks for the very agreeable manner in which he had prevented 
 him, and for the quality of the ambaffador he had fent him, renewed 
 and confirmed the antient treaties of alliance between Elizabeth and 
 Henry, and alfo between Scotland and France, and exprefled his in- 
 tention of applying them perfonally to himfelf by the prefent treaty, 
 which in a manner, comprehended them all, befides its other princi- 
 pal defign of their own perfonal defence againfl Spain, and the fafety 
 and prefervation of their dominions, fubjedts, and allies, in fuch man- 
 ner and at fuch times as the two kings (hould judge proper. The 
 
 thors of Villcroi's memoirs of State, and of lume of Siri, Mem. recond. Befides the 
 
 the hiftory of the duke of Bouillon, had detail of the marquis de Rofiiy's embafly 
 
 no intereft in exalting the glory of that to London, which in every point agrees 
 
 minifter. P. Matthieu's account of it is with what has been faid here, p. 226, &feqi 
 
 conformable to that here given e\en in the we find quite through this hiftorian many 
 
 moft minute circumftances. Vol. n. p. 577, very curious remarks on the council and 
 
 & feq. See alfo the manufcripts in the perfon of king James, as well as on the 
 
 king's library, vol. 9590, and the firft vo- affairs of the Ènglilh court, 
 
 VoL.ir. H h United-
 
 23 4 M E M O I R S O- F S U L L Y. Rook XVL 
 
 1603. United-Provinces were declared to enjoy the benefit hereof, and they 
 were the only allies herein exprefsly named ; in regard to whom it 
 was alfo flipulated, that proper meafures fhould be taken, either 
 perfectly to fecure their liberty, or at lead:, that in cafe they were 
 confidered as fubjetls to Spain or the empire, it fliould be on condi- 
 tions which would procure them perfeâ. peace and tranquility, and 
 at the fame time free the two allied kings from all apprehenfions of 
 a too powerful and abfolute dominion of the houfe of Auflria in thefe 
 provinces. 
 
 However, befides that the two princes mutually engaged to de- 
 clare themfelves openly, when either fliould require it of the other, 
 in order to prevent the effedls of the court of Madrid's artifices, it 
 was alfo agreed immediately to furnifli the States-general with fuc- 
 cours fufficient to fecure them from opprefiion ; the number of men 
 who were to compofe thefe fuccours was not determined ; it was 
 only agreed, that they fliould be fent from England alone, and that 
 the expences of the whole armament fliould be defrayed by his moft 
 chriflian majefly, one half purely with the money of France, the other 
 half in dedudlion of the fum due from France to England. It was 
 likewife agreed, that thefe proceedings of the two crowns in favour 
 of the Low-Countries fhould be purfued with as much fecrecy as was 
 polTible, to avoid a diredt infringement of the treaty of peace con- 
 cluded with Spain. On a fuppofition that this power, confidering 
 this adlion as an abfolute infraction, lliould make rcprifals upon the 
 two protedting kings, the following refolution was taken; if the 
 king of England were attacked alone, the king of France fl:ould fur- 
 nifh him with an army of fix thoufand French at his own expence, 
 during the whole time of the war, and in four years, and by equal 
 proportions, difcharge the remainder of his debt. England fliould 
 a6l precifely in the fame manner, in regard to France, in cafe the 
 ftorm fhould fall upon her ; the choice of either fea or land fhould 
 be in the option of the party attacked, nor fhould England in this 
 cafe require any part of her debt. Finally, fhould Spain at once der- 
 clare war againft both the allied princes, in order to adl offenfively,, 
 and at the fame time promote the fecurity of Flanders, his moft chrif- 
 tian majefty fhould have an army of twenty thoufand men on the 
 frontiers of Guienne, Provence, Languedoc, Dauphené, Burgundy, 
 and BrefTe ; he fhould likewife have the fame number of forces in 
 Flanders ; and fhould farther divide the Spanifh forces, by direcfting 
 his galleys to cruife in the Mediterranean. His Britannic majefty on 
 his fide, befides a land army of at leaft fix thoufand men, which he 
 
 fliould
 
 Book XVÎ. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y: i^^ 
 
 fiiould keep in confiant readinefs, fliould fend a fleet into the Weft- i'6o3. 
 Indies, and (hould order another to cruife upon the coafts of Spain. 
 All payment of debts fliould be fufpended, and each fliouId defray its 
 own expences. The alliance, hitherto kept a profound fecret, fliould 
 now be made public, by a treaty offenfive and defenfive between the 
 two kings i neither of whom, without the other's confent, fliould 
 either lay down his arms, diminifli the number of forces agreed on, 
 nor begin any preliminaries or conference for an accommodation. 
 
 Such was the fubftance of the projedled treaty which had given me 
 fo much trouble and anxiety. James figned it, and I figned it after 
 him ; after which, I thought of nothing but returning as foon as pof- 
 fible into France, where it was to be changed into a treaty with all 
 the forms. I did not fail to advife Henry of it, from whom, however,. 
 I concealed or difguifed part of this important information, and like- 
 wife the detail of what had laft happened to me with the king of 
 England, in prefence of his counfellors : my difpatches had been fo long, 
 {b frequent, and yet fo imperfedl, and written in fo much hafl:e, that 
 perhaps it was not adting amifs to fpare his majefl:y the trouble ; for 
 lie muft have armed himfelf with great patience to read them. This, 
 however, was not the only caufe of my filence; for the regularity 
 which Henry obferved in writing to me, both to inform me of all ma-^ 
 terial tranfadlions in the council of France, and to fend me new orders 
 and new inftruftions, conformable to the feveral changes that hap- 
 pened in the bufinefs of my negotiation, fufliciently perfuaded me 
 nothing of this kind either fatigued or difgufted him ; but, befides 
 that upon thefe occafions, it is a fl:roke of good policy, always to 
 keep fomething in referve, to infure a better reception upon one's re- 
 turn, I was unwilling to expofe the whole fecret of my negotiation to 
 the hazard of a difcovery. An accident which had but lately hap- 
 hened, contributed ftill more to increafe my circumfpeétion. I have 
 not mentioned this in its proper place, that I might not interrupt the 
 relation of matters of greater confequence. 
 
 Among the great number of letters which I fent from London, fome 
 direfted to Villeroi and the council, and others to the king only, one 
 of thefe laft, dated the 20th of July, was never received by Henry, 
 which he difcovered from the contents of my difpatch by the next polfj 
 and gave me immediate notice of it : it was a letter of the greateft con-» 
 fequence. The courier to whom I entrufted it wïs one of my own 
 domeftics, of whofe fidelity and honefty I was perfedly fatisfied : I 
 
 H h 2 queftioned
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVL 
 
 que/îioned him, and he anfwered, that, upon his arrival, the king 
 being gone to hunt, he had carried the letter to Villeroi, and had 
 given it to one of his clerks ; that he did not know this clerk, and had 
 forgot to afk his name, being at that moment interrupted by Louvet, 
 who alio came and fpoke to this clerk, and at the fame time deliver- 
 ed him feveral other packets directed for his mafter. This account I 
 fent to his majefty, entreating hiin to make all poflible inquiries about 
 it. After great trouble, and many informations, his majefty was able 
 to give me no other fatisfa6lion than that he had been told, and did 
 believe, the fault was in the poft-mafter of Ecouan. 
 
 I HAD before had reafon to be fufpicious, and the affair of the clerk, 
 whofe roguery I was alfo well acquainted with, having entirely opened 
 my eyes, I no longer doubted, that there was a traitor employed in 
 the king's office, and even that this could be no other than one of thofe 
 under Villeroi. I wrote to Henry, and told him, that notwithftand- 
 ing his account of this affair, I was of opinion it could only have hap- 
 pened at the time and place which I had defcribed to him in my for- 
 mer letter : this clerk, whoever he was, being gained by the enemies 
 of the ftate, to difcover the contents of the letters which I wrote to his 
 majefty from London, could not refift his defire to open this, the di- 
 reéiion of which excited his curioiity, for I wrote upon the cover j. 
 " Packet to be given into the king's own hands, without being opened." 
 He repented it no doubt, when he found he could make no ule of it, 
 its moft effential contents being exprelTed in a cypher, the meaning of 
 which he could no ways difcover; and this confideration confoled me 
 for the lofs : but he had committed the fault, and apparently thought 
 it better to throw the letter into the fire, than deliver it opened. L 
 afterwards difcovered the truth, which juftified thefe conjedlures. 
 
 Henry could have wifhed that I had pradlifed upon the queen of 
 England and the prince her fon, as I had on king James, thereby to 
 gain a perfedl knowledge of both their characters and inclinations ; but 
 as, notwithftanding the reports which had been current, this princefs 
 remained ftill in Scotland, and would not aiTive for fbme time, his ma- 
 jefty did not think it a fufficient confideration forme to make a longer 
 flay at London, whilft feveral other affairs almoft as important required 
 my prefence at Paris; and he was the firft to prefs me to return as foon 
 aspofilble. This order was perfeftly agreeable to me: envy and malice 
 triumphs moft over the abfent; my friends loft yet more than myfelf from 
 
 my
 
 Book XVF. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y; 237- 
 
 my not being among them. I entrufted Vaucelas * my brother-in-law 1603. 
 with the care of carrying the queen of England the letters from their *— — v — -* 
 majeflies which' I had brought for her ; and I inftruéled him in what 
 he fliould do and fay, to obtain what the king delired to know con- 
 cerning this princefs- 
 
 Whilst I was very bufily employed in preparations for my de- 
 parture, the wound which 1 received in my mouth at the fiege of 
 Chartres broke out afrefh, and caufed a fever, which retarded my 
 departure for fome days, and even prevented my writing as ufual to 
 the king. But as foon as I was fomewhat recovered, I demanded my 
 audience of leave of the king of England, who had the goodnefs to 
 fpare me the trouble of going to Greenwich upon this occafion, by 
 fending to acquaint me, that he would come to London on purpofe to 
 receive me, and that he iliould be at Weftminfter ready to give me 
 audience in the morning as early as I pleafed, becaufe he propofed to 
 go a hunting the fame day, " to diffipate the uneafinefs, added he, very 
 " obligingly, which he fhould feel for my departure." 
 
 I ATTENDED his majefty fo early in the morning, that he was not 
 dre/Ted, and waited near an hour, which time I employed in viewing 
 the magnificent tombs and other curious antiquities for which the ca- 
 thedral of St Peter's Weftminfter is celebrated. I was received by his 
 Britannic majefty with all poffible marks of efteem and affeâ;ion ; and 
 he replied to the compliment which I made him on the regret I felt 
 from my departure, that his own, of which he had informed me, was 
 alfo mofl true, and the more fo as he could not hope for my return, 
 becaufe my many and various avocations would detain me in France : 
 but he protefted, and confirmed his proteftations in the moft folemn 
 manner, that, by whatever perfon his moft Chriftian majefty fliould 
 fend back the treaty, of which I carried the form, he would fign it 
 without any farther difcuffion. He fpoke of this his new alliance with 
 Henry in a very afFeding manner, faid he confidered this prince as his 
 fole model as well as his friend ; and protefted, that he ftiould look upon 
 all thofe who were enemies to him, as enemies to himfelf. To ftiew 
 me that he had not forgot any of his promifes, he made a kind of re-- 
 
 * Andrew de Cochefilet, Baron de Vau- The houfe of Cochefilet is mentioned in 
 celas, count de Vauvineux, &c. He was Du Chefne, as one of the moft antient in 
 afterwards counfellor of ftate and ambafla- Perche, originally of Scotland, and allied 
 dor in Spain and Savoy ; he was the bro- to the kings of Scotlan/i Ot the houfc of 
 ther of the duke of Sully's fécond wife. Baliol in Normandy. 
 
 capitulation ^
 
 Memoirs of sully. Book xvl. 
 
 capitulation of all of them. He promifed not to permit any intereeffion 
 or accefs to him, from any of the fubjefts of the king of France ; and 
 required the fame deference from the king of France, particularly 
 with regard to any jefuits who might be found in diiguife, either 
 within his dominions, or on board any of his fliips ; he praifed 
 Henry extremely for having banifhed this order out of the kingdom, 
 and faid, that he advifed him from his heart, never to be guilty of 
 fuch an error as to recal them ; he infifted on this article the moft ; 
 for indeed he hated the jefuits no lefs than he did Spain ; and this 
 averfion was increafed by his confidering them as his perfonal enemies; 
 nor did he appear perfeflly fatisfied till I had engaged, as abfolutely as 
 I could, tofend thefe aflurances, which he required of his moft Chriftian 
 majefty, in writing. He gave me tvi'O letters for the king and queen of 
 France, purely complimentary, in anfwer to thofe which he had re- 
 ceived from them, wherein the article of the French ambaflador was 
 not flightly touched *. 
 
 Being furnifhed with thefe letters and the form of the treaty, I re- 
 folved to flay no longer than the next day. Having taken my leave of 
 all thofe gentlemen who were with me for this purpofe, I departed 
 from London, taking the fame road as at my arrival. Sidney and the 
 Englifh vice-admiral efcorted me to the fea-lide, and took care to pro- 
 vide me and all my retinue with every thing we wanted, both for our 
 journey by land and paflage by fea. 
 
 But I fhould before have mentioned the prefents which I made in 
 England, in the name of his moft Chriftian majefty. That to king 
 James was fix fine horfes richly caparifoned, to which Henry added 
 alfo another gift, which ought to be efteemed ftill more confiderable; 
 this was a gentleman called Saint- Anthony, in all refpefts the beft 
 and moft complete horfeman of the age; that to the queen of Eng- 
 land, was a large and moft beautiful Venetian glafs, the golden frame 
 of which was covered with diamonds ; and that to the prince of Wales, 
 was a golden lance and helmet, enriched likewife with diamonds, a 
 fencing mafter, and vaulter : the duke of Lennox, the earl of North- 
 umberland, in a word, all thofe whom I have occafionally mentioned, 
 befides fome others, were prefented, fome with boxes, and others with 
 crotchets, buttons, egrets, rings, and chains of gold and diamonds ; 
 feveral ladies alfo received rings and pearl necklaces. The value of all 
 
 * Matthieu the hiftorian fays, the king prefent of a chain fet with dbmonds of 
 of England made the marquis of Rofny -a great value. 
 
 thefe
 
 Book XVÎ. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 thefe prelents Including twelve hundred crowns which I left with 
 Beaumont to be diftributed in certain places, amounted to fixty thou- 
 fand crowns. Henry's views in making lb many rich prefents, a con- 
 fiderable part of which were even continued as penfions to fome Eng- 
 lifh lords, were to retain them, and attach them more ftrongly to his 
 interefts. I made them partly from my own knowledge, and partly 
 from the recommendations of Beaumont, my chief care being to diflri- 
 bute them fo as to avoid giving any caulb of jealoufy between thefe 
 Englifh lords, and to prevent kir>g James himfelf from conceiving 
 any jealoufy of my intention. The precaution which I ufed for this 
 purpofe was to aflc his permiffion, to acknowledge, by fome fmall 
 gratuities, the fervices I had received in his court. 
 
 At Dover I received a letter from Henry, wherein he acquainted 
 me, that he had arrived at Villers-Coterets the 9th of July, at which 
 place he impatiently waited for me : he pafled fome days Here, 
 during which the queen made a journey to Lieffe. I did not take any 
 reft at Dover, and ordered all things to be in readinefs to embark the 
 next day. The weather was fo bad in the night, that the Englifh vice- 
 admiral very ferioufly advifed me to alter my refolution. The leaft 
 delay appeared no lefs infupportable to all my retinue than to myfelf, 
 efpecially to thofe city fparks who find themfelves out of their element, 
 when they are off the pavement of Paris : they all prefled me with fuch 
 eagernefs immediately to quu Dove^, and Henry's letter flattered me 
 with fo favourable a reception, that I confented to fail as foon as we 
 could. Repentance foon followed our precipitation ; we met with fo 
 violent a tempeft, that we were in the utmoft danger; we were the 
 whole day in cioffing the chr.nnel, and fo extremely fea-fick, that 
 though we were three hundred of us, had a veiTel with only twenty 
 ■men attacked us, we muft have furrendered. 
 
 xA. SECOND letter which I received from Henry at Boulogne, ren- 
 dered it neceflary for me not to lofe a moment. At this place I quit- 
 ted thofe who had accompanied me, after having thanked them for 
 the honour they had done me, and left them to go wherever they 
 thought proper. FIis majefty had taken care to order poft-horfes to 
 be in readinefs in all the proper places upon the road, in cafe my 
 health would permit me to make ufe of them. I therefore took poft 
 at Abbeville, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and arrived the next 
 day at eight in the morning at Villers-Coterets. ■ 
 
 I WOULD
 
 -40 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y, Book XVI, 
 
 I WOULD not take any repofe till I had firft received the honour of 
 faluting his majefty. I found him in that walk of the park which 
 leads to the foreft, where he propofed to take an airing on fome horfes 
 that were to be brought there to him ; Bellievre, Villeroi, De Mailles, 
 and Sillery, were walking with him, and in one of the walks adjacent 
 were the count de Soiflbns, Roquelaure, and Frontenac. Imme- 
 diately upon his perceiving me, though at a diftance, he faid, as De 
 Maiffes afterwards informed me, " There's the man I have fo much 
 " wiflied to fee, he is at laft arrived ; my coufin the count of Soiflbns 
 ♦' muft be called, that he may be prefent at the brief relation he will 
 ** give us of what he has feen, heard, faid, and done, of which he 
 •' has wrote me nothing; let my horfes be fent back, I fliall not nov/ 
 " go into the foreft," 
 
 His majefl;y would not fuffer rne to kneel to kifs his hand, but em- 
 braced me twice very clofely. His firft words were, that he was per- 
 fedly fatisfied with my fervices ; that he had not thought my letters 
 tedious, and that he fliould take pleafure in hearing what I had not 
 related in them. I replied, that this relation would be fomewhat long, 
 and could not well be made, but as opportunity (liould prefent, to 
 difcourfe on fo many different matters, I began with the perfon of 
 the king of England, which I defcribed to him nearly the fame as I 
 have already in thefe Memoirs : I did not omit either the admiration 
 which this prince exprefled for his majefty, or the delight he took on 
 being compared with him, nor his defire to render himfelf worthy of 
 the comparifon. I related the proofs which he had given me of his at- 
 tachment to France, of his contempt for the chimeras with which 
 Spain had endeavoured to infpire him, and how far he was from 
 efpoufing the party of the revolted French calvinifts. King James was 
 fenfible from his own fituation, how very unfit this laft procedure 
 would have been, having fo great a number of feditious in his own 
 dominions, that I was very much deceived, if they did not one day 
 caufe him much trouble. I added, that if I had myfelf been difpofed 
 to give ear to them, the chiefs of this fadlion had given me fair oppor- 
 tunities to enter with them into very ferions enterprifes : I mentioned 
 the affair of the loft difpatch, and fpoke my fentiments of it with free- 
 dom. I then returned to the king of England, and acquainted his 
 majefty with what he was ignorant of in regard to my laft audience, 
 and, together with the form of the treaty figned by us both, I prefented 
 to him the two letters from his Britannic majefty, and another letter 
 
 wrote
 
 Book XVI, M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 241 
 
 wrote to his majefty, fince my departure from London, by the count 1603. 
 of Beaumont, which I had received upon the road. îlenry ordered 
 Villeroi to read all tliofe letters to him. 
 
 Beaumont in his letter acquainted the king, that the queen of 
 England, with her children, was inftantly expeâed in London, from 
 whence (he would go direâly to Windfor to refide there with the king; 
 that many were apprehenfive her arrival would caufe difturbance in 
 affairs, and might infpire the fadious with courage; that happily there 
 was no able man among them; that the Spanifh ambaffador was atlaft 
 arrived in England, and, with another from the duke of Brunfwic, was 
 faid to be aâually at Gravefend, from whence they were immediately 
 to proceed to London, his Britannic majelly having fent Ihips to protedl 
 the Spanifl:! ambaflador in his paffage againft thole of the States; that 
 count d'Aremberg depended fo entirely upon the alterations which this 
 amballador would make in affiiirs, that being informed of his arrival, 
 he was gone before him to Windfor, there to wait his coming : nor 
 did Beaumont diffemble his own fears of the effedts which it might 
 have on a prince fufceptible of new impreffions, not fo much from 
 what he would gain from the magnificent offers of Spain, as from his 
 own natural timidity, his weaknefs, and even fcruples, left, in fupport- 
 ing the United-Provinces, he fhould countenance a parcel of rebels. 
 
 Beaumont wrote tljus from the communication which had been 
 made to him of a plan for an agreement between Spain and the States, 
 defigned and drawn up in Germany, of which he even gave the pur- 
 port in this letter; but he feemcd perfuaded the deputies of the Low- 
 Countries would never confent to it, though the emperor iliould be 
 guarantee of it, becaufe they thought it neither ftrong enough to 
 oblige Spain to obferve it, nor even fufficiently impartial, to hope from 
 it a perieft peace with that crown ; befides, they had a general 
 fufpicion of all propofitions wherein France and England were not 
 concerned. He obferved, that thefe deputies were likewife upon the 
 point of returning home, with a refolution to animate their republic to 
 a vigorous defence, from the certainty my convention with his Bri- 
 tannic majefty had given them, that they Ihould not be abandoned by 
 the two kings, and from the permiffion which James had given them 
 to raife foldiers in Scotland, to be commanded by my lord Buccleugh, 
 whom they had accepted as colonel of thefe recruits : finally, Beau- 
 mont concluded his letter, by faying, that, in order to be ftill more 
 perfectly informed of every thing that paffed, and to remind the king 
 
 Vol, IL li of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVL 
 
 of England of his promifes, if neceflary, he was going himfelf to Wind-) 
 for. I take no notice of thofe paffages in this letter, wherein Beau- 
 mont gave the higheft praifes to my condudl and my negotiation. 
 
 Vjlleroi having finiflied reading the plan fo,r a treaty, "Well, 
 " coufin, faid Henry, addrefling himfelf to the count of Soiflbns, 
 " what do you think of all this ? give me your opinion of it freely." 
 J readily imagined what reply he would make, and the count did 
 not deceive me. " Since you require it of me, faid he, I muft fay, 
 " that I think the marquis of Rofny has very great credit with the 
 " king of England ; and that he is in a marvelous good intelligence 
 *' with the Englifli, at leafl if his relation, and all which you have 
 •' been informed of, is true ; for which reafon he ought to have 
 " brought much more advantageous conditions, and a treaty in a bet- 
 " ter form than that which he has prefented to you, which is really 
 *' nothing more than a mere projedtof hopes and fair words, without 
 " any certainty that they will ever be executed." " What you have 
 " faid is truly very fine and good, replied Henry : nothing is fo eafy 
 " as to difcover faults in the adlions of others." His majefty ftill con- 
 tinued to fpeak, as if to make my apology, and altogether my elogy. 
 He faid, I was the only perfon in France who, with fo limited a 
 power, could have performed what I had; that my credential letters 
 were not even demanded of me at the court of London, which beha- 
 viour was not to be paralleled ; that he had forefeen and expedled the 
 difficulties with which I had struggled, and that he had not hoped I 
 could have fo eafily conquered them ; that he was perfeâly fatisfied, 
 and that he only repented his not having given me Carte-blanche. 
 " Rofny, faid he, in his condudl has given me an example, which con- 
 " firms to me the truth of a Latin proverb, though I do not know 
 " whether I fpeak it right, " Mitte fapientem, & nihil dicas :" 
 ** and I am certain, that, if his prefence fliould again become necef- 
 ** fary on the other fide, he will always be ready to return, and ferve 
 *' me with the fame ability and addrefs which he has here fliewn." 
 I fupprefs a great part of what, upon this occafion, the gener- 
 ous foul of Henry infpired him with for my defence : what gave me 
 the mofi: fenfible fatisfadion, and which I confidered as infinitely fu- 
 perior to all the praifes he beflowed upon me, was his adding, that he 
 had nothing to fear from thus praifing me to my face, becaufe ha 
 knew that thofe praifes, inflead of making me vain and lefs diligent, 
 would only increafe my defire of ading flill better. Thefe words 
 filenced the count of SoiiTons.^
 
 'ô' 
 
 Book XVI. MEMOIRSOFSULLY, 243 
 
 I THEN anfwered feveral queftions which the king afked me, touch- j gg- 
 ino- the nature and power of the three kingdoms of Great-Britain, on 
 the charadler of the EngHfh, and what they thought of their new 
 kine. After this, the converfation turned on the affair of Combaut. 
 Henry, after I had given him a circumftantial relation of it, affiired 
 me that he approved of my condu(5l therein, confidering it as equally 
 dangerous either to favour, or pretend ignorance of the efcape of the 
 criminal, to endeavour to excufe him, or openly to vindicate him. I 
 acquainted his majefty with the charafter of young Servin *, fuch as I 
 have already given. The king having twice afkcd whether dinner 
 was ready, went in to fit down to table, having firft direded Villeroi 
 to provide me my dinner, and ordered me to go and take my repofe 
 till the dext day, as being what I mull: very much v.ant, after having 
 rode poft, and that fucceeded by a pretty long walk. He ordered my 
 good friends Frontenac and Parfait, to ferve me from his kitchen, till 
 my own equipage and attendants were arrived ; " And to-morrow 
 " morning, faid he, we will renew our difcourfe." 
 
 'Ù' 
 
 In the afternoon, the king took the airing in the forefl:, which he had 
 intended in the morning ; in the evening at fupper, he fent me two 
 excellent melons and four partridges; at the fame time acquainting 
 me, that I fhould come to him early the next morning, before any of 
 his counfellors were with him; which I accordingly did. Though it 
 was very carly,he was drelTed, and had breakfafted, when I entered his 
 apartment, and was diverting himfelf with looking at a game of ten- 
 nis then playing in the little court of the caftle, which was generally 
 ufed for this diverfion. " Rofny, faid he, we will take a walk while 
 " the frefhnefs of the morning continues ; I have fome queftions to 
 " afk you, and fome matters to difcufs, on which I have been think- 
 *' ing the whole night. I arofe at four o'clock, thefe things having 
 " prcffed my thoughts fo ftrongly, that I have not been able to llcep." 
 He took me by the hand, and we walked into the park, where we 
 continued near two hours alone. Bellievre, Villeroi, and Sillery, 
 having joined \is, the king continued walking another hour with us 
 four. Our mornings were generally fpent in the fame manner, dur- 
 ing the three following days which his majefty palled at Villers-Co- 
 terets. In thefe converfations, I gave him an exadt and particular 
 
 * L'Etoile makes mention of him. " It is furprifin^, fays he, how it could happen, 
 ** that the plague Ihould find means to attack fo great a plague as he." 
 
 I i 2 account
 
 244 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book: XVI. 
 
 1603. account of all the mofl fecret and important matters with which he 
 ftill remained to be acquainted- 
 
 I RECEIVED feveral letters from Beaumont, the contents of which 
 may ferve as a fupplement to the affairs of England, which I have 
 already related. The arrival of the qtieerï at London did not occa- 
 fion all that diforder which had been apprehended ; the diicontented 
 found her not to be what they had conceived. It fecmcd as though 
 her fudden change of lituation and country had made as fudden a 
 change in her inclinations and manners;; from an effedl of the ele- 
 gancies of England, or from thofe of the royal dignity, fhe became 
 difpofed to pleafures and amufements, and feemed wholly engaged in. 
 them and nothing elfe ; flie fo entirely negle(fled or forgot the Spa^- 
 ni(h politics, as gave reafon to believe fhe had, in reality, only pre- 
 tended to be attached to them through the neceffity of eventual con- 
 juncîlures, Kintore, who had accompanied her, openly continued his 
 profeffion of attachment to France. Some ladies, in whom this piin- 
 cefs repofed the greateft confidence, pofitively affured Beaumont fhe 
 was not fo perfed; a Spaniard as was believed. Beaumont contrived 
 to get himfelf prefented to her, and made my excufes to her for not 
 having been able to flay till her arrival, nor wait upon her myfelf 
 with the letters from their majefties. 
 
 During all this the Spanifh ambaffador, whofe arrival in England 
 had been fo pofitively afierted, was not yet come. Count d'Aremberg, 
 who was fo far deceived in his expedlation as to go and wait his arrival 
 at Windfor, found himfelf at laft obliged to demand without him his 
 audience of the king, who granted it. I am ignorant of what palled 
 in it : I only know that he demanded a fécond, for which the king 
 made him I'uffer a thoufand delays, which however can only be at- 
 tributed to this prince's difiafl:e of bullnefs, and his paffion for the 
 chace, which feemed to make him forget all other affairs ; for at this 
 very time, his condudl and difcourfe was fo far from giving the Spa- 
 nilii partifans any caufe to defpair, that, on the contrary, he appeared 
 chfpofed again to fall into his former irrefolution. Beaumont did not 
 know to what to attribute this change, whether to his natural difpofi- 
 tion, or to the infinuations of Cecil, who ufed all the means he poffibly 
 could to make him fail in the obfervance of his promifes. Happily 
 many new incidents concurred to iupport this prince againft all temp- 
 tation-s of this kind; and the Spaniards were fo imprudent in their 
 condudl, as to be themfelves tl>e principal caufes of it. 
 
 No
 
 Book XVI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 24^ 
 
 No fooner was the Spanifli ambafl'ador arrived in London (for he 1603. 
 did at laft arrive there) than both court and city, and all affairs were 
 mit into a violent ferment, the effecfls of various cabals, intrigues, mif- 
 trufts, and fufpicions. Hefoon multiplied the number of his creatures, 
 by his extraordinary liberalities to all thofe whom he confidered as 
 neceflary to be gained. He endeavoured to tamper with the Scotch 
 troops, and engage them in theSpanifh fervice, as the States had done 
 in theirs : this would have been a decifive ftroke, which Holland 
 could not evade any otherwife than with the affiftance of her protec- 
 tors, by retaining thefe troops in her own fervice. All thefe proceed- 
 ings of the Spaniard, being purfued with a fpirit of pride aud inde- 
 pendence, were fo much the more difagreeable to James, as his natu- 
 ral weaknefs produced in him a repugnance to oppofe them by an 
 exertion of his authority. He would have given the world to be 
 freed from his perplexity, by the departure of the ambaflador. A 
 whifper was likewife current concerning a confpiracy of the Englidi 
 catholics * againft James's perfon. Beaumont conftantly treated this 
 infinaation as a calumny ; and indeed, whoever is acquainted with the 
 true ftate of this body in England at this time, will, in its weaknefs 
 and the meannefs of its fentiments, difcover an unanfwerable argu- 
 ment to difprove it. 
 
 But a more certain and undoubted confpiracy was that of fome 
 Englifli lords, who formed the defign of ftabbing the king. Their 
 chiefs, for the defign was proved, and it was believed they had under- 
 taken it at the inftigation of Spain and the arch-dukes, were lord 
 Cobham, Raleigh, Gray, Markham, and feveral others of the princi- 
 pal fervants, and even the intimate confidants, of the late queen, tho' 
 they had appeared among the moft forward to do homage to her fuc- 
 cefibr. Neverthelefs Cecil was not named in the cabal; the affair was 
 public, and was the fubjedt of much difcourfe. A religious difpute, 
 which arofe in the conference between the proteftants and puritans, 
 increafed the diforder. The converfation of the court turned entirely 
 upon the difputes and quarrels which happened between particular 
 perfons. The earl of Northumberland flruck colonel Vere in the face, 
 in prefence of the whole court, and was confined at Lambeth by the 
 king's order, who was juftly incenfed at fo difrefpecflful and outrage- 
 ous an infult. The earl of Southampton and lord Grey gave each 
 
 * It produced a proclamation, whereby king James baniflicd tlie jefuits out of his 
 dominions. Mem. d'Etat de Villeroi, vol. III. p. 217. 
 
 Other
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVI. 
 
 other the lie in the queen's prefence, and ufed feveral other atrocious 
 expreflions ; but they were reconciled to the king by afking pardon 
 of the queen for their imprudence, and to each other by an interven- 
 tion of the royal authority, commanding them to forbear any atls of 
 violence. After which, without any other fatisfaftion, they converfed 
 together as friends : from whence one would be apt to imagine they 
 were of opinion, that the king's name and authority preferve the ho- 
 nour of thofe who cannot vindicate it for themfelves. 
 
 When from the accounts which Beaumont gave me In his letters, 
 of all thefe public and private differences, I found the affair was in the 
 moft favourable fituation I could defire it, I embraced the opportunity 
 to put the fin ifliing hand to the work which I had begun at London : 
 I did myfelf the honour of writing to his Britannic majefly ; I in- 
 formed him, that the king of France had with pleafure ratified tlie- 
 plan concerted between his majefty and me, and that he had fent the 
 count of Beaumont the neceffary power to reduce it into luch a form 
 as his majefty fliould judge proper ; I repeated the proteftations of 
 obedience and attachment, which I had before made him; I affured 
 him, that by this I was fo far from offending the king my mailer, 
 that, on the contrary, I ferved and obeyed him. 
 
 I WROTE at the fame time to Beaumont, and informed him of 
 what had happened to me upon my return into France, of my con- 
 verfations with the king, and his inclination to fend me again at a pro- 
 per time into England. With this letter I alfo fent Beaumont the treaty , 
 finned by his majefty, and gave him likewife the necelfary inllruftions 
 for maintaining the good intelligence which this treaty eftablifned be- 
 tween the two crowns : this would in fome meafure depend on that 
 which fliould fubfift between the ambaffador of France at London, 
 and that of England at Paris. This latter had taken offence at the 
 fuperfcription of a letter, wherein a title had been given him which 
 v/as either improper, or fuch as he did not like. 1 took the blame 
 of this upon myfelf, and repaired it as well as I could. 
 
 Beaumont having received the treaty, acquainted the king of Eng- 
 land therewith, who referred him diredly to Cecil. He was allonifhed 
 to find this fecretary on afudden become tradable, give his approba- 
 tion of it with great readinels, and without making the leaff difficulty j 
 on the contrary, he was lavifli in his praifes of his moft chriftian ma- 
 jefly and me: all things confpired to promote itj the treaty was there- 
 fore
 
 Book XVI. MEMOIRS OF S IT L L Y. 
 
 • fore received, figned, and accompliflied, in the mod authentic and 
 iblemn manner. Dauval being arrived in France from Beaumont with 
 an account of this good news, I m de my acknowledgements to his Bri- 
 tannic majefty-in a fécond letter : and to employ all forts of counter- 
 batteries againft the Spaniards, who fet no bounds to their prefents, 
 we imitated them in this refpedl, and even gave penfions to all the moft 
 diliinguiflied perfons in the court of king James ; the heft and moft 
 beautiful horl'cs were induftrioufly procured wherever they could be 
 found, and they were fent, together with magnificent furniture, as 
 prefents to this prince. 
 
 Thus was Spain dlfappointed in thofe great hopes flie had conceived 
 to our prejudice, from the accellion of the king of Scotland to the 
 throne of England, and which probably were the motives for her 
 making thofe great armaments which (lie did this year. On the 27th 
 of May, a fquadron of twelve SpaniOi galleys, manned with three thou- 
 fand foldiers, and completely equipped, were beaten by only four 
 Dutch veffels ; which was the fécond lofs of this kind that Spain had 
 lately fuffered : Frederic Spinola, who commanded this fquadron, was 
 killed in the engagement. Spain, to retrieve thefe misfortunes, made 
 fuch preparations on every fide for war, as fpread a terror amongfi: all 
 her neighbours J fhe made herfelf miftrefs of the IVIediterranean, by the 
 galleys that Charles Doria commanded there ; and veflels in the mean 
 time were building in the port of Lifbon, for the embarkation of 
 twenty thouiand foldiers. This work was purfued with fuch indefati- 
 gable labour, that it was not remitted even on Sundays and holidays. 
 
 Every one talked his own way about the occafion of fuch formida- 
 ble preparations : ibme faid, that they were defigned againft Flanders, 
 particularly Oftend ; others, that they were deftined for the conqueft 
 of Barbary, hecaufe the kingof Cufco having promifed the council of 
 Madrid to aflift that crown in the reduction of the important city of 
 Algiers, they provided a fupply of men and money, which that prince 
 kept to himfelf, without being at much trouble about the performance 
 of his word. Many perfons were perfuaded that Spain had a defign 
 upon France itfelf : the firft notice his majefty received of it, was at 
 the fame time that he was advifed to be attentive to the caftle of If, and 
 to the iflands on the coaft of Marfeilles. I was then in England ; his 
 majefty wrote me an account of it, but did not feem to give much cre- 
 dit to thofe informations, although he was not ignorant that the duke 
 of Savoy was very folicitous to do him this bad office; but he knew 
 
 ■ likewise--
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVI. 
 
 likewife that Spain thought this advice of the duke's very interefted ; 
 and the pope gave him repeated airurances of the contrary, which there 
 was great room to think proceeded indireéUy from the council of Spain, 
 who had reafbns for not provoking this prince too far. 
 
 In reality, all this was unravelled by taking into confideration, what 
 was carrying on with king James, by a double négociation of France 
 and Spain at the fame time ; and his majefty took the part which pru- 
 dence direâed, which was, to give new orders for the ftriel obferva- 
 tion ofdifcipline in Languedoc, Provence, andDauphiné. Monfieur Le- 
 Grand, who had lately obtained that the artillery of the city of Beaune 
 Should not be taken away, was fent into his government of Burgundy, 
 ■ ' with orders to adl in concert with Lefdiguieres, and to throw himfelf 
 into Geneva, if the duke of Savoy feemed to have any intention of mak- 
 ing a new attempt upon this city, although the council of France at 
 the fame time earneftly advifed this little republic to liften to the me- 
 diation oiîered by fome Svvifs cantons, to terminate by an advantageous 
 agreement that kind of tedious and long war which had fo long fub- 
 fifled between them and Savoy. However, the tranfportation of arms 
 from France into Spain, or Spanhh Flanders, was prohibited ; and Bar- 
 Emeric Go- rault caufed four thoufand five hundred pikes of Bifcay to he feized at 
 bier de Bar- Saint- John-de-Luz, which a French merchant of Dieppe had em- 
 barked for the Low Countries, notwithflanding this order. 
 
 The long ftay which was made by Doria on the coaft of Genoa with 
 the galley-s before rr>entioned, was another myftery that could not be 
 found out. He had failed for the coa/i of Villa-Francha, as if with 
 a defign to take the three fons of the duke of Savoy on board, who ap- 
 peared to be waiting at Nice only tor an opportunity of being conveyed 
 to Spain ; their father, it was laid, fent them there to be educated, 
 and to be raifed to the firft dignities of the Hate *, the government 
 of Milan, and the viceroyfliip of Naples and Sicily, bemg thofe he 
 moft eagerly panted after, probably becaufe he ilat-tered himfelf, that 
 thofe titles would afford him an opportunity to fnatch fome part of 
 thole territories for himfelf. But every one was deceived ; Doria paf- 
 fed by without landing or flopping at Villa-Francha : neverthelefs, 
 there were perlons who continued to believe that it had been his deftgn, 
 but that his refentment for Savoy's not paying him thofe honours, nor 
 
 * The facojjd of tbefe princes was made viceroy of Portugal, and the third arch- 
 bifhop of Toledo and cardinal. 
 
 efteeming 
 
 rault.
 
 Book XVI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 efteeming him fo highly as he thought he deferved, had prevented his 
 execution ofiti others maintained that it was agreed upon between 
 the duke of Savoy and him, that he fhould a(fl in this manner, to give 
 the duke a pretence for flaying longer at Nice, where, faid thefe con- 
 iedlurers, he only waited for an opportunity to make an attempt upon 
 Provence ; and others again thought they had difcovered the reafon of 
 his departure, to be an order which they fuppofed he had received from 
 Spain to go and join his fquadron to the great naval army of the Spa- 
 niards : or pofTibly the council of Madrid had nothing elfe in view, but 
 to accuflom her neighbours to preparations and motions, for which they 
 could not guefs the caufe. However that may be, this did not pre- 
 vent the voyage of the children of Savoy into Spain ; after a delay of 
 fome time longer at Nice, they pafled on the twentieth of June within 
 view of Marfeilles, without faluting the caftle of If; their convoy 
 confifted of nine galleys, four of Malta, three of the Pope's, and two 
 of Savoy. 
 
 In the mean time, fome other Spaniili troops were upon their march 
 from Italy to Flanders. His majefty was the more attentive to their mo- 
 tions, becaufe he was informed that Hébert, who had left France and 
 retired to Milan, continued his former intrigues with the count of 
 Fuentes : the fecret was difcovered by a letter that Hébert wrote to 
 his brother, who was a treafurer of France in Languedoc. Thefe 
 troops, as I was informed by his majefty's letters to me at London, 
 quitted Savoy, and paifed the bridge of Grefm on the firft of July j 
 they confined often Neapolitan companies, commanded by Don Inigo 
 de Borgia, and only Don Sancho de Lune remained in this canton 
 with a fmall body of troops, with a view no doubt to haften the treaty 
 depending between Savoy and Geneva, which was concluded accord- 
 ingly on the 1 5th of the fame month. The remainder of the Spanifli 
 troops that were drawn from Italy, confifted of four thoufand Mila- 
 nois, commanded by the count de Saint George, who took the fame 
 rout. 
 
 Notwithstanding thefe fupplies, by which the archdukes re- 
 ceived a great accefîîon of flrength, yet Henry was ftill of opinion, that 
 the Spaniards would not complete their enterprife upon Oftend this 
 year ; they themfelves feemed to think that time alone could effeâ: 
 it, their forces being confiderably diminifhed. The thoufand horfe 
 that attended the duke of Aumale were reduced by defertion to lefs 
 than five hundred, and thofe that remained were fo great an expence' 
 to their own commanders, that they cxpe<5ted to be foon obliged to 
 
 Vol. II. Kk difband
 
 ME MOIRS OF SULLY, Book XVL 
 
 difband them. Such was the fituation of the United-Provinces during 
 this year, wherein they gained likewiie another advantage over their 
 enemies ; a fmall number of Dutch veflels who were going to load 
 fpices, meeting with fourteen Portuguefe galleys belonging to Goa, 
 gave them chace,took five, in which they found great riches, and dif- 
 perfed the re/1:. 
 
 Europe, during the courfe of this year, had not more tranquillity 
 in the eart than the well. Mahomet the third, to fecure himfelf as 
 he thought in the throne, cut the throats of twenty of his brothers. 
 Buried in the receffes of the feraglio, he did not perceive that his mo- 
 ther, to whom he entirely abandoned the government, abufed his au- 
 thority : and was firfl informed of it by the Janizaries, who came one 
 day in a body, and in a manner that fhewed they would neither brook, 
 a denial nor delay, demanded the head of the two Capi Agas, who di- 
 reéled the council of the fultana-mother, and the banifhment of this 
 fultana herfelf, which he was obliged to comply with immediately. 
 He afterwards put his own fon, and the fultana his wife to death, and 
 was himfelf feized with the plague, of which he died. 
 
 But it is now time to refume the affairs of the kingdom. His 
 majefty having returned from Villers-Cotercts to Fontainebleau, I left 
 him in this laft place, and came to Paris, to attend my ufual employ- 
 ments : thefe were to make the receivers-general of the diitricfts, and 
 other perfons in office, bring in exadl accounts; to cafhier thofe 
 who were convidled of any mifdemeanour, as it happened to Palot a 
 receiver in Languedoc and Guienne; to make a provifion of fums 
 neceffary to keep the old allies of the crown, and to acquire new ones, 
 and the maintenance of thofe that refided in foreign courts for this pur- 
 pofe; and laftly, by the mere force of frugality and economy, to enrich 
 the treafury, by difcharging all the debts his majefty had contradled 
 during the league, and the other engagements of the ftate, at the 
 head of which his majefty generally placed the penfions he allowed 
 the Swifs cantons, and was always very folicitous to know if they 
 were difcharged : the fewer allies we had in Italy, the more neceftary 
 the king thought it to footh and manage them. He made a prefent 
 of a fuit of armour, which he had one day worn in battle, to the Ve- 
 netian refidents at Paris ; that republic earneftly requefted it of him, 
 and fet fo high a value upon this prefent, that they hung up the fuit of 
 armour, with a kind of ceremony, in a place where it was publicly ex- 
 pofed to view, and ferved for a monument to pofterity, of their venera- 
 tion, of a prince who was fo juftly famous for his military virtues. 
 
 As
 
 Boûfc XVI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L V. ^51 
 
 As the new economy, which I had introduced into every branch of i6oî. 
 the revenue, cut off the greateft part of thofe profits which the cour- < 
 tiers and other perfons about the king drew from different places, and 
 leffened the prefents his majefty made them from his own purfe, they 
 fell upon methods to fupply this vacuity ; to which the prince, de- 
 lighted with an opportunity of fatisfying them, confented fomuch the 
 more willingly as it coft him nothing : this was to prevail on his ma* 
 jefty to pafs innumerable ediifls, granting certain privileges and tolls 
 upon particular parts of trade, to be enjoyed by them, exclufively of 
 all others. When this trick was once found, there was nothing that 
 promifed profit, which did not get into the brain of one or other 
 among thofe who thought they had a right to fome favour from the 
 king i intereft gave every man invention, and the kingdom immedia- 
 tely fwarmed with thofe petty monopolies, which, though fingly of 
 little confequence, yet altogether were very detrimental to the public» 
 and particularly to commerce, in which the leafl obftrudtion produces 
 mifchief. I thought it my duty to make frequent and earneft re- 
 monftrances to the king on this iubjedlj and therefore made no fcru- 
 ple to expofe myfelf to the anger of the count of Soiffons, with whom, 
 as I have already faid, I could never live three months together with- 
 out a quarrel. 
 
 The count of Soiffons prefented a petition to the king at Fontaine- 
 bleau, in which he propofed that a grant fliould be made him of fif- 
 teen-pence upon every bale of goods exported : a defign that muft 
 certainly have been fuggefted to him by fome of his friends, for he 
 could never have thought of it himfelf ; nor did he know all the con- 
 fequences of it, at leaft he affured the king that this toll would not 
 bring in more than thirty thoufand livres a year; and fo well per- 
 fuaded him of the truth of what he had afferted, that his majefty, 
 who thought himfelf obliged to beftow a gratuity of this value 
 upon him, and being likewife vanquifhed by repeated importunities, 
 granted his requeft, without giving me, who was then at Paris, any 
 notice of it. Henry, that he might be troubled with no farther fo- 
 licitatlons about it, caufed an edidt to be expediafed for the count, 
 which he figned, and the feal was placed to it; but fome remains of 
 a Icruple with regard to trade, the importance of which he was fully 
 fenfible of, made him, in granting this favour, referve a verbal condi- 
 tion, that it fhould not exceed fifty thoufand livres, prefs too hard up- 
 on the people, nor be too great a burthen upon trade. 
 
 K k 2 That
 
 252 MEMOIRSOPSULLY. Book XVL 
 
 lôcî. That evening the king refledting upon what he had granted, 
 
 began to have fome fufpicion that he was impofed upon : he wrote to 
 me inftantly, and propofed the thing to me as an indifferent quefrion» 
 without telHng me what had paffed, or naming any perfon. I knew 
 not what to think of fuch a demand, but fet myfelf to work, and, 
 taking to my affiftance the accounts of the cuftoms and domain, and 
 entries of provifions, I found that the annual amount of this tax would 
 not be lefs than three hundred thoufand crowns -, and I could not but 
 think it flill of more importance, when I refledledon the trade of hemp 
 and linen, which it feemed likely to ruin in Brittany, Normandy, and 
 great part of Picardy ; I therefore went immediately to Fontainebleau, 
 to make my report to his majefty. The king confeffed to me all that 
 had happened, with many marks of aflonifhment that his confidence 
 had been thus abufed. The true remedy had been to have caufed the 
 edidl to be brought back, and have entirely fuppreffed it, as being ob- 
 tained by a falfe pretence : but that I might not be embroiled with 
 the count of Soiffons, who could not be long ignorant that it was I 
 who had opened his majefty's eyes, it was agreed upon between us tcv 
 have recourfe to another method, v/hich was to hinder the parliament 
 from regiftering the edidt. All that was neceffary for this purpofe, 
 was to fend no letter with it, either under the king's hand or mine > 
 this was an agreement that had long been made between the king and 
 the fovereign courts; and without this formality, whatever other orders 
 were produced, the parliament knew what they had to do, ancî 
 would not regifler any thing. I was certain however, and I told his 
 majefty fo, that this expedient would not preferveme from the refent- 
 ment of the count, and of the marchionefs of Verneuil, who I dif- 
 covered was concerned in this bufinefs ; but I refolved to hold firm 
 againft the count, provided his majefty would be proof likewife to 
 the folicitations of his miftrefs, which he promifed me, and added, 
 that he would openly fupport me. 
 
 Two or three days after my return to Paris, the count of Soiffons 
 came to my houfe, and paid me many compliments, having, as he 
 faid, occafion for a Maximilian de Bethune at full length : he thought 
 by (hewing me great kindnefs, and condefcending to be familiar with 
 me, he fliould eafily obtain my fignature, without being obliged to telL 
 me for what purpofe he demanded it. I anfwered coldly, pretending 
 to be quite ignorant of the matter, that I never figned any thing with- 
 out knowing what it was : the count then found that he muft have 
 
 recourfe
 
 Book XVr. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 recourfe to other means ; he acquainted me with what his majefty 
 had lately done for him, and faid,. that as he was not ignorant of the 
 private agreement between the king, the fovercign courts, and me, 
 the fignature which he demanded was a letter to the parliament of 
 jBrittany, and the court of aids at Rouen. 
 
 At this declaration, I afflimed an air ftill more ferious, and pre- 
 tended to be greatly fiirprifed that the king had given me no intima- 
 tion of the aftair, nor communicated it to the council, to whom refo- 
 lutions of fuch confequence were always made known j and from 
 thence took occafion to tell the count, that an edidl of this nature, 
 which bore fo hard upon the public intereft, deferving to be excepted 
 from the general rule, I could not take the danger upon myfelf j that 
 therefore he muft addrefs himfelf direâly to his majefty, or bring me 
 at leaft an order figned by him, which would ferve to juftify me againft 
 the reproaches I could not fail to draw upon myfelf fome time or other 
 for my compliance. The count replied, with much bitternefs, that I 
 only made ufe of this extreme caution to ruin his delign, and to break 
 with him entirely ,- but finding thefe words could not alter my refolu- 
 tion, he went away grumbling. I heard him mutter fomething be- 
 tween his fhut teeth concerning our former quarrels ; and he went to 
 difcharge his choler at the houfe of the marchionefs de Verneuil. 
 
 This lady, although as much enraged with me as the count of 
 Soiflbns, was yet come to make mc a vifit, jufl: as I was leaving my 
 clofet to go to his majefty, who had returned to the Louvre. She 
 could not have cholen a worfe time ; the too eafy king had juft fuffer- 
 ed a fcore of edidts, all in the Ipirit of the firft, to-be extorted from 
 him, and, to fay the truth, of but little confequence. I fet out with a full 
 refolution to make a new attempt upon the king in favour of the peo- 
 ple, who would be prevented by thefe extortions from paying the land- 
 tax. The marchionefs ailcing what paper it was I had in my hand, 
 " This is a pretty bufinefs, madam," anfwered I in a paflion, yet afFeft- 
 ing to be much more angry than I really was, " you are not the laft 
 *' among thofe that are concerned in it;" in effedt, her name made 
 the fixth article. I then opened the memorial, and read to her all the 
 names, with the titles of the edicfls. " And what do you intend to 
 " do with this ?" faid fiie. " I intend, anfwered I, to make fome 
 *' remonilrances to the king upon it." " Truly," replied flie, no 
 longer able to contain her fpleen, " he will have little to do to take 
 ** your advice, and offend fo many great people. And on whom, pravi 
 
 *' would
 
 £54 M E M O I R S F S U L L Y. Book XVI. 
 
 60^. *' vvouîd you have the king confer favours, if not on thofe w^ho are 
 " mentioned in this writing, his confins, friends, and miflrefs ?" 
 " What you fay, madam, replied I, would be reafonable enough, if 
 *' his majefty took the money all out of his own purfe; but to make 
 " a new levy upon the merchants, artifts, labourers, and countrymen, 
 " it will never do j it is by them that the king and all of us are fup- 
 •< ported, and 'tis enough that they provide for amafter, without hav- 
 *.< ingfo many coufins, friends, and miftrefles to maintain." 
 
 Madam de Vemeuil loft none of my words, flie dwelt parti- 
 cularly upon the laft ; and, in the rage with which flie was tranf- 
 ported, made ufe of them to form a thoufand wicked flanders. She 
 riew immediately to the count of Soiffons, and told him, that I had 
 faid the king had but too many relations, and that it would be happy 
 for him, and his pecple, if he could get rid of them. The count, 
 mad with rage, went the next morning, and demanded a conference 
 with the king ; after a long enumeration of his fervices, he told 
 him, that I had fo outrageoufly injured his honour, that he muft 
 abfolutely have my life, unlefs his majefly would himfelf do him juf- 
 tice. Henry, feeing him in fuch violent emotion, afked him, with 
 great compofure, what I had done or faid, and whether the affront 
 he had received was direftly from me, or had been related to him 
 by another perfon. The count not caring to enter into any expla- 
 nation, replied, that if we were both together in his majefty's pre- 
 fence, not all the refpedt he ought to have for a perfon who was dear 
 to him fhould hinder him from doing himfelf juftice; and added, 
 that what he had faid was true, and he ought to be believed on his 
 word, for he was not accuflomed to lie. " If that was the cafe, 
 *' coufin," faid the king, in a voice fuch as muft naturally put him 
 into confufion, " you would not be like one in your family ; for we 
 " always produce your elder brother, in particular, as remarkable for 
 " this : but fince it was a report made to you, tell me who made it, 
 ■^' and what he faid, and then I fhall know what I ought to do, and 
 " and will endeavour to fatisfy you, if you are to be fatisfied with 
 ** reafon." The count replied, that he had taken an oath not to name 
 the perfon from whom he received his informations, but that he was 
 as well convinced of his veracity as his own. " So then, coulln, an- 
 " fwered the king, you excufe yourfelf from anfwering my queftion, 
 •* on account of an oath you have taken to the contrary ; and I like- 
 " wife will take an oath to believe no more of your complaint, than 
 ** what monfieur de Rofny himfelf fliall acknowledge to me ; fotl 
 
 " have
 
 Book XVI. M E M I R S O F § Û L L V. i^^ 
 
 « have as good an opinion of his veracity, as you can poffibly have of iôôt.. 
 ** thofe who tell you thefe fine tales." 
 
 The count of Soiffons, when he went out of the king's prefence, 
 difcovered fuch an excefs of fury againfl me, that his majefty thought 
 it neceflary to give me notice of it ; which he did by Zamet and La 
 Varenne, whom, at the fame time, he ordered fo aik me, if I had not 
 by fome vvord or action given offence to the count. I anfwered, that 
 e\'er {mce the viilt I had received from the count at the arfenal, which 
 was above fifteen days ago, I had never fpokc to him, or any of his 
 people j that the marchionefs de Verneuil indeed had been at my houfe, 
 but neither (he rwr I had mentioned the count. " Oh !" faid the king, 
 when thefe words were repeated to him, " we need not doubt any 
 ** longer from whence this mifchief proceeds, fince Madam de Ver- 
 ** neuil is named ; for fhe is fo full of malice, and has fuch a ready 
 " invention, that to the lead word of monfieur de Rofny's fhe would 
 " add a hundred, nay a thoufand ; but for all that, this affair mufl 
 " not be negledled." The rage in which his majefty had feen the 
 count, gave him reafon to apprehend that he would take fome violent 
 refolution againft ûie ; he therefore fent La Varenne to tell me, that I 
 iliould never ftir out of my houfe without being well attended, and 
 that he dcfired I would fpare nothing for my fecurity ; adding, with 
 great goodnefs, that all the expence I could be at in guarding myfelf, 
 would be far below what it would coft him if he fliould lofe me *. 
 
 I CANNOT quit the article of this new creation of edi(5ts, without 
 taking notice of an arret of council, much more antient, by which a tax 
 of anchorage was ordered to be levied on all the foreign veffels that 
 anchored in our ports. This at the bottom was no more than what 
 was paid by our veffels in foreign ports j neverthelefs it was with regret, 
 and only by his majefty's exprefs orders, that I carried it into execution, 
 
 * L'Etoile's Journal treats at large of " no confideration for any thing, fays fa- 
 
 this difFcrence, which the king put an end " ther Chalons, but the king's fervice ; 
 
 to, by obliging the count of Soiflbns to be " nor could any refpedl for perfons of the 
 
 contented with a letter of fatisfadlion which " greateft quality, princes, or even the 
 
 M. de Rofny wrote to him : and accord- " queen herfelf, prevail on him to make 
 
 ing to Matthieu, Heny IV. made the " the leaft concellion, where he thought 
 
 count de Soiflbns and the marquis de Rof- " the king's interefl or glory came in 
 
 ny come into his apartment, and reconciled " queftion : this got him many enemies, 
 
 them, ibid. 592. De Thou alfo fpeaks " .ind was the caufe that, after the king's 
 
 «fit, b. cxxix. The fleddincfs of M. de " death, the queen took the management 
 
 Rofny has procured him great commun- " of affairs OLit of his bauds." Hill, de 
 
 dations from our hiftorians, *' H« had Fr. vol. III. p. 255. 
 
 looking
 
 2s6 M E M G I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XVI. 
 
 1603. looking upon it to be one of thofe exadlions which was moft likely to 
 deprefs the vigour of our trade. The parliaments of Rouen and Rennes 
 made great oppoluion to the regiftering them, and the maréchal d'Or- 
 nano beftirred himfelf greatly, having money owing him from the 
 ftate, which had been charged upon that part for his reimburfement. 
 The eftablifhment of commiffioner-examiners, lieutenants-particu- 
 liers, affeffeurs-criminels, and other officers of judice, met with no 
 lefs difficulty from the fame court of Rouen, which more than any 
 other oppofed thefe new edidts ; the laft were made with an intention 
 to fatisfy and fend back the colonels and captains of companies, who 
 had waited at Paris a long time for their pay, in confequence of thefe 
 new regulations : probably it was the meeting with fuch obftacles as 
 thefe to his defigns, that had long made Henry folicitous to fupprefs 
 the chamber of requefls in all his parliaments. He had laboured very 
 earneflly to effeft this, and adually began with that of the parliament 
 of Touloufe this year, which continued to be fupprefled notwithftand- 
 ing all the objedlions that were made to it by his own council, in 
 which all the debates ran contrary to him. 
 
 The quarrel between the count of SoIlTons and me, made a great 
 noife ; but the king, to fliew me that it had produced no alteration in 
 his friendship, fent me notice by Beringhen fome days afterwards, that 
 he intended to pafs by Rofny, in the journey he was upon the point of 
 making to Normandy, and that he expe<Sted I fhould treat him there 
 with his court. The princes, princefies, and the conftable were all 
 that the king permitted to be of this party. The preparations I made 
 were worthy of him who did me the honour to be my gueû : but the 
 entertainment was diflurbed by an unforefeen accident; the rivers were 
 fo much fwelled by a fudden florm, that the offices of Rofny were 
 overflowed*, the fruit fpoiled, as well as the labour of the fervants ; the 
 ladies were terrified, fuppofing the danger to be much greater than it 
 really was. I removed their fears by caufing a conduit to be opened, 
 through which the water ufed to have a paflage, and which had been 
 filled up to make the paflage more commodious for his majefl:y and 
 for the carriages. I had already begun to make the road and the 
 bridge at the entrance to Rofny, but neither were yet completed. 
 
 * I believe L'Etoile a little exaggerates " de Rofny, that heaven and earth were 
 this accident, when he fays their majefiies " combined againft him, and that he ought 
 
 with great difficulty efcaped the danger. " boldly to take care of himfelf." 
 *' The king, adds he, laughing told M. 
 
 The
 
 Book XVI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 257 
 
 The waters did great damage for ten leagues about, but I came i6o^. 
 off for two or three hundred crowns. O^V^Sj 
 
 His majefty proceeded as far as the Lower Normandy, but did not 
 go beyond Caen : he took the government of it from Crevecœur- 
 Montmorency, who was accufed of carrying on correfpondencies 
 with Bouillon and d'Auvergne, particularly with Tremouille, whofe 
 kinfman he was ; and gave it to Bellefonds. From Caen the king 
 pafied through Rouen *, where he fettled entirely all the affairs of that 
 province. In this city he declared his pleafure concerning the mar- 
 riage of my daughter, whom, as it was formerly mentioned, the prin- 
 cefs Catherine had propofed for the duke of Rohan, and who had 
 fince tîiat time been demanded in marriage by monfieur and madam 
 de Fervaques, for monfieur de Laval the fon of that lady. His ma- 
 jefty at Rouen ordered me rather to prefer Laval ; but he once more 
 altered his opinion. 
 
 The affairs of religion were in part the occaflon of the journey his 
 majefly had lately taken; and the duke of Bouillon had like wife a 
 fhare -f- in it. He was not yet quite difcouraged from his attempts upon 
 the king of England : he was flill in the court of the eledlor palatine, 
 whom he advifed to build a citadel upon the ground which divided his 
 territories from' France, for the defence, he faid, of the true religion ; 
 and had the boldnefs, without afking his majefly's leave, to folicit 
 Erard, his firft engineer, to come and draw the plan of this fortrefs 
 for him. To ferve his ambition every thing feemed lawful, and facred 
 as well as profane things were proftituted to that purpofe. He pub- 
 lifhed a writing this year, in which he exclaimed, in a moft outrageous 
 manner, againft the whole body of the proteflants : he had already 
 drawn great advantages from this ftratagem, and feconded it on his 
 fide by counterfeiting perfedtly well great uneafinefs and apprehenfion 
 of the miferies which hung over the proteftants, in confequenceof the 
 new refolutions that were taken by the council of France, to whom he 
 attributed thefe libels. However, it was no difîîcult matter to prove, 
 that they had been compofed by his friends, and fent into England 
 with a view to hinder his majefly from fucceeding in his endeavours 
 
 * " The king was attacked at Rouen f It is in vain to endeavour atany jufti- 
 
 " with fo violent a loofenefs, as to void fication of the duke of Bouillon. His own 
 
 *' blood, which the phyficians faid caTC hiftorian gives up his defence, after the de- 
 
 " from his having eaten too great a quan- po/ition of the count d'Auvergne, b. v. 
 " tity of raw oyfters." L'Etoile an. 1603. 
 
 Vol. il LI - to
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVL 
 
 to gain king James : but it was upon weak and hot-headed perfons- 
 that Bouillon always impofed ; and on them indeed his pains were 
 not all caft away. An aflembly of proteftants was held at Saumur 
 and Poitou, on occafion of the king's lafl indifpofition, in which Du- 
 Pleffis extolled this duke in a manner not only ridiculous, but like- 
 wife infolent and prefumptuous J for the praifes he gave his hero- 
 feemed to be all at the king's expence, whom he calumniated with- 
 out any refpeél to his perfon or dignity. 
 
 Of all thefe aflemblies, none made fo much noife as that which was 
 held at Gap, the latter end of this year. The eledlor palatine, and the 
 duke of Bouillon, by their letters and creatures, caufed queftions ta 
 be propofed in it which had a ftrong tendency to the rekindling a war.. 
 The minifter Ferrier, by their orders, ufed his utmoft endeavours to 
 prevail upon the proteftants to infert amongft their articles of confef- 
 ilon, thit the pope is the antichrift : furely it could not be called a 
 fpirit of religion, but rather of difcord and intrigue, that prefided at 
 the decifion of this ridiculous tenet, which they likewife propofed to 
 fend printed to all the univerfities of Europe. As foon as the king was 
 infornied of this fcandalous proceeding, he fent me orders from Fon- 
 tainebleau, where he had refided fince his return from Normandy, to 
 put a ftop to the licentioufnefs of the proteftants, and, above all, to 
 hinder this new article of faith *from being received, Villeroi like- 
 wife, by his commands, prefied me to exert myfelf on this occafion. 
 I wrote immediately to Saint-Germain -f- and Deft^ordes ; and whe- 
 ther it was owing to the arguments I made ufe of to fliew them the 
 folly of their condudl, or the advice I gave them not to irritate Henry, 
 who they faw was refolved not to fpare them, I know not, but the 
 article in queftion was at length fupprefted. The pope, I believe» 
 was under great appreheniions about itj for he was fo extremely en- 
 raged, that it was with difficulty his majefty could appeafe him : and 
 probably it was to this incident, that the jefuits owed their re-efta- 
 blifhment in France. The holy father had the confolation to fee his 
 dominions filled with an acceffion of monks of every kind, Auguftins 
 reformed, Recoiets, barefooted Carmelites, ignorant fryarsj and amongft 
 the other fex, capuchin nuns, folietans, and carmélites : fo many re- 
 ligious orders were never inftituted at one time as in this year. 
 
 * See the life of Du-Pleffis-Mornay, t Deputies from the calvinift party to 
 
 h. il. p. 296, where we find the fteps taken refide at court, according to the cuftom of 
 
 b/dc Mornay, to procure the reception of that time, 
 ihis abfurd tenet. 
 
 The
 
 SooK XVI. M E M ï R s O F s U L L Y. 259 
 
 The boldnefs of the proteftants, on this occafion, will not appear 
 fo furprifing, if it be confidered that they had even gone greater lengths 
 upon another, when they were infolent enough to offer their media- 
 tion to the king, in favour of certain foreign princes with whom he 
 had reafon to be dilTatisfied. I was continually repeating to them, that 
 thofe rebellious proceedings would fall heavy upon them one dav 
 or other, and that they would groan for them a long time : but they 
 had prophets whofe predidlions were far more agreeable to them than 
 ■inine. Bouillon, La Tremouille, Lefdiguiercs, and Du-PIelîis, to 
 render my reprefentations ineifeftual, and myfelf the objedl of their 
 hatred, infinuated every where, that I facrificed, on all occafions, that 
 verv religion for which I pretended fo much zeal ; and that, by this 
 pradice, I enriched myfelf with wealth and preferment, to which 
 other men had a better claim : nor did the Papifts, except perhaps a 
 very few, confider themfelves as at all obliged to me for that which I 
 <3id upon principles of pure equity; for by the malignity of my ftars, 
 or the invidioulhefs of my place, I muft honeftly own I loft my labour. 
 
 While thefe complaints of the proteftants againll: me ran higheft, 
 I went one day to his majefty, with an intention to make him fuch re- 
 prefentations as would fecure me againft the effecfls of their malice. 
 The king was then in a gallery near his chamber, walking with the 
 duke of Montpenfier, cardinal Joyeufe, and the duke of Epernon : he 
 made me a fign to approach, and afked me whether I could guefs the 
 fubjed: of his converfation with thofe three gentlemen. I anfwered 
 only with a bow. " We were talking, faid the king, of thegovern- 
 *♦ ment of Poitou, and they have advifed me to give it to you; could 
 " you have imagined this ? they being fuch good catholics, and you 
 ** fuch an obftinatc huguenot." I did not even know that this 00- 
 vernment was vacant. Lavardin, who was governor of Perche and 
 Maine, had the reverfion of it after the death of Malicorne, who was 
 very aged and infirm, and intended to refign his own for it; but re- 
 'fledling that all his eftates were fituated in the provinces he was at pre- 
 fent governor of, he releafed Malicorne from his engagement, and both 
 together came to refign this government to the king, that he might 
 difuofe of it in favour of one of his natural ciiildren. 
 
 Henrv likewife infifted upon my gueffing his motives for preferring 
 tne to this port, rather than any other perfon, or thofe even that were 
 fo near to him. I had nothing to alledge, but the knowledge his ma- 
 
 L 1 2 jefty
 
 26o MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XVL 
 
 jefty had of my fidelity and ardour for his fervice. The king replied, 
 that his true reafon for giving it me, was, hecaufe I was an huguenot, 
 but a reafonable one, and zealous for the good of my country ; that the 
 proteftants beholding me in this light, could not but be highly I'atisfied 
 with his choice; and that he did not doubt but that his whole kingdom 
 would be no lefs fo, fince I was capable of infpiring them with more 
 dutiful fentiments, of giving them juft notions of their king, and of 
 teaching them to rely on his goodnefs, and to refpedl and love his perfon; 
 and that, by fufFering the gratuities which he granted to die principal 
 members of this body to pafs through my hands, the authority which 
 the duke of Bouillon flill preferved amongft them might be deftroyed. 
 His majefty added (without doubt becaufe thefe three gentlemen, who 
 were alfo joined by BrilTac, Ornano, and Roquelaure, were prefent) 
 that although he felt fo ftrong an affeétion for his religion, as to wifh 
 with the utmofi: ardour to fee it embraced by all the huguenots, and 
 by me in particular, yet he could never forget that God had made ufe 
 of that body, and of the cities of Rochelle, Bergerac, and Montauban 
 efpecially, to free him from the oppreflion of Spain, to aflîft him in 
 fupporting his juft claims, and to Cave, even his life from the fury of the 
 leaguers; that, on this account, however difcontented he might be with 
 thofe cities for difcovering lefs duty and afFeélion for him than formerly, 
 yet neverthelefs he thought himielf obliged in honour, to continue 
 the fame gratuities he had always allowed them for their fortifica- 
 tions and colleges. The king repeated feveral inftances which the 
 province of Poitou had hitherto given, of its inviolable attachment to- 
 its lawful prince, " when no Bouillon, faid he, was there to excite 
 " them to fedition ;" and could not hinder himfelf from faying, that, at 
 this very time, the welfare of the kingdom depended upon maintaining 
 a peace with the proteftants. 
 
 After this, his majefty told me, that I might treat diredly with 
 meilleurs de Lavardin and Malicorne, repeating, that it was more far 
 the intereft of the ftate, and therefore more agreeable to his inclinations, 
 to give this government to me, than to his own children. All that 
 were prefent faid fomething in approbation of what his majefty had 
 done, and praife of me ; and I made my acknowledgment to all, 
 either in words or by low bows. I difpatched Montmartin immediately 
 to Lavardin and Malicorne; and he tranfacfted the bufmefs with fuch 
 prudence, that, by a fcafonable prefent of a thoufand crowns to thofe 
 whofe advice they took in this affair, I got this government from them 
 for twenty thoufand crowns. Upon their refignation, Du-Frefne fent 
 
 me
 
 Book XVI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 261 
 
 me, on the lixteenth of December, the patents for the government 1603, 
 of Poitou, Châtelleraudois, Loudunois, &c. This made my revenue 
 from governments amount to thirty thoufand livres; namely, twelve 
 thoufand livres from the governments of Mante and Gergeau, which 
 I already poflefled, and were both very lucrative for private govern- 
 ments, efpecially Gergeau, on account of the garrifons ; and eighteen 
 thoufand livres from that of Poitou : in this fum, however, I have 
 always included my falaries for the two pofts of fuperintendant of 
 the fortifications, and of the works. 
 
 I MUST not omit giving fome account of the attempts that were 
 made this year in France, to eftablifli the fluff manufactures, and 
 efpecially filk ones. Henry, who was carried with ardour to every 
 thing which in his opinion could contribute to the glory and utility 
 of the kingdom, fuffered himfelf to be perfuaded, by Les Bourgs and 
 Des Cumans, that it was a mighty eafy matter not only fo fupply 
 filks for our home confumption, which ufed to be brought from fo- 
 reign countries and diftant regions, but alfo to carry on a confiderable 
 trade with foreigners for this merchandiie. For this purpofe, all that 
 is neceffary, faid they, is to give encouragement to filk weavers to 
 come amongft us, to increafe the breed of filk-worms, plant mulberry- 
 trees, and ereâ: large buildings fit for thefe fort of manufadlures. I 
 exclaimed loudly againft this fcheme, which I never approved : but 
 the king was fo prejudiced in favour of it, that all my remontrances 
 were ineffeftual, 
 
 I REMEMBER that onc day, when his majefty did me the honour 
 to vifit me at the arfenal, to confer with me upon the neceffary me- 
 thods for eftablifiiing thefe manufadures, which could not be done 
 without a great expence, we had a pretty warm debate about it. " I 
 " know not," faid he to me, finding I received all the propofals he 
 made me on this fubjedl, with that referve and coldnefs which I al- 
 ways affumed when I was not in his opinion, " I know not, what 
 " whim this is that you have taken in your head, to oppofe a fcheme 
 " fo well calculated to enrich andembellidi the kingdom, to root out 
 •' idlenefs from among the people, and which I fliould find fo much 
 " fatisfadion in completing." I replied, that this laft reafon had fo 
 much weight with me, that, if I could fee the leaft probability of 
 fucceeding in the fchemes for a filk manufadure, I (hould content 
 myfelf with reprefenting to his majefty tliat he would purchafe this 
 fatisfadion at rather too high a price, and deftroy by it that which he 
 
 propofcd
 
 262 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XVI. 
 
 1603. propofed to himfelf in the execution of thofe great defigns, which, by 
 his command, I had mentioned to the king of England j but that I 
 entreated him not to be offended with me, if I preibmed to tell him, 
 that I could not, as he did, fee either gloiy or utility refulting from 
 this eftablilhment. I then alked him, if he v/ould permit me to give 
 him my reafons for thinking fo differently from him. '•' I give you 
 *' leave, faid he, but upon condition that you afterwards hear mine, 
 " which I am perfuaded, are more convincing than yours." I then 
 made the following obfervations to his majefty. 
 
 That it was through a wife difpenfation of providence, which de- 
 figned that all the nations of the earth, or of one continent, fhould be 
 obliged by their common neceffities to have an intercourfe with each 
 other, that this country was fitted to produce one thing, and that an- 
 other, exclufively of all the refl : France had the good fortune to be fo 
 favourably diflinguiflied in this diflribution of benefits, that no coun- 
 try probably, except Egypt, fb univerlally abounded with whatever 
 fupplied the neceffities, or contributed merely to the conveniences of 
 life, to the reft of the world : her corn, grain, and pulfe, her wine, 
 cyders, flax, hemp, fait, wood, oil, dying drugs, that immenfe quan- 
 tity of cattle, great and fmall, which ufually ferve her inhabitants 
 for food, -putting her in a condition not only to envy none of her 
 neighbours on the fcore of any of thefe advantages, but even to dif- 
 pute with them thofe which make up all the trade they carry on ; 
 Spain, Italy, and Sicily, are of this number. 
 
 It is certain that her climate refufes filk; the fpring begins too 
 late, and an exceffive moifture almofl always prevails j and this in- 
 convenience, which is abfolutely irremediable, effeâs not only the 
 filk-worms, which, on this account, are hatched with great diffi- 
 culty, but likewife the mulberry-trees that thefe infefts feed upon; 
 for which a mild and temperate air is neceffary in the feafon wherein 
 they put forth their leaves. The difficulty of multiplying them in a 
 country where none ever grew, cannot but be very great : it will be 
 five years at leaft before there can be any certainty of their coming to 
 perfcdlion ; during which we rifle the lofs of time, labour, and the 
 produce of the ground they are planted in. But are thefe difficulties, 
 which ought to diffuade us from eagaging in an enterprize, the fuc- 
 cefs of which they do not render doubtful but impoffible, a real lofs 
 to us ? That is the queftion.
 
 Book XVI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 263 
 
 A COUNTRY life affords Co many various labours and employments, iôo'î. 
 that in France none need be idle but thofe who refolve againft all 
 work; therefore it is neceifary to begin, by curing people of this lazy 
 difpoiition, which, if real, is the only thing worthy of attention. But 
 how is this done by offering them the culture of filk. for an em- 
 loyment ? firft, they leave one profefllon, which brings them in a 
 certain and fufficient income, for another, where their gains are cafual 
 and doubtful. It would not indeed be very difficult to make them 
 prefer this to the former, becaufe it is but too natural to quit a hard 
 and laborious kind of life, fuch as agriculture is, confidered in its 
 full extent, for one that, like working upon filk, does not fatigue the 
 body by any violent motion. But even this is another argument to 
 prove the dangerous confequences of fuffering the country people to 
 be thus employed : it has been a common obfervation, at all times anc^ 
 in all places, that the bell foldiers are found amongft the families of 
 robuft, laborious, and nervous workmen : if, inftead of thefe, we en- 
 lifl; men who are brought up to no other labour than what a child, 
 if taught it, has ftrength to perform, we fhall be foon convinced 
 they are no longer fit for the military art, which requires, as I have 
 often heard his majefly himfelf obferve, a ftrong conftitution, confirm- 
 ed by laborious exercifes, that tend to maintain iu its full vigour the 
 whole flrength and force of the body. And this military art, the 
 fituationof France, and the nature of her politics, make it abfolute- 
 tely neceffary to hinder from degenerating or being depreffed. 
 
 At the fime time that we enervate the country people, who in every 
 refpedl are the true fupporters of the ftate, among thofe of the city we 
 introduce luxury, with all her train of mifchiefs, effeminacy, floth, 
 voluptuoufnefs, and that domeflic extravagancy which is not to be 
 feared that people who have but little, and know how to be fatisfied 
 with that little, will ever plunge into. In France we have already too 
 many of thefe ufelefs citizens, who under habits glittering with gold 
 and embroidery conceal the manners of weak women. 
 
 The objection, that immenfe funis of money are carried out of 
 France into foreign countries for the fupport of this luxury, proves the 
 truth of what I have jail obferved, and deftroys the inference they 
 pretend to draw from it; would they reafon juflly upon the inconve- 
 niency that arifes from this commerce, and this importation of vain 
 and unneceffary merchandifes, they would be convinced, that the beft 
 
 thing
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVL 
 
 tiling that could be done, would be to fupprefs the ufe of them en- 
 tirely, and abfolutely prohibit their being brought into France ; at 
 the fame time to fix, by good and fevere regulations, the richnefs of 
 cloaths and furniture; and to put every thing of this kind upon the 
 fame footing as they were in the reigns of Lewis XI. Charles VIII. 
 and Lewis XII. * That neceffity which obliges us to drefs in one fort 
 of ftuffs rather than another, is the mere vice of fancy; and the price 
 that is fet upon them, an evil we fall into with full convidlion. Were 
 we to confider, though but with the flighteft attention, the fource of 
 what is called the fafhion, we fhould find, to our fliame and confufion, 
 that a fmall number of perfons, and thofe the moftdefpicable of agreat 
 city, which inclofes all forts indifferently within her walls, for whom, 
 if we were acquainted with them, we flîould feel that contempt we 
 have for men without morals, or that compaffion we have for fools,' 
 ■that thefe very men difpofe neverthelefs of our purfes, and keep us en- 
 flaved to their caprices. 
 
 But filk cloaths are not the only things which require reformation by 
 the royal power ; there is as much to be done with refpedl to diamonds, 
 jewels, ftatues, and pidtures, if it be confidered as a grievance, that 
 foreigners take away our gold and filver : we mull likewife take into 
 confideration, equipages, kitchen-furniture, moveables, and every thing 
 in which thefe metals are made ufe of. If we refleft upon the amazing 
 extravagance that prevails in France, thefumsfquanderedfoolilhlyingar- 
 dens, buildings, coflly works, entertainments, liquors, and what not ; if 
 we think on the exorbitant price paid for offices, of marriages fet up to 
 
 * Many cdidts of this kind were ifTued " turned him round, the better to furvey 
 
 at different times during the reign of Hen- " his old-fafliioned drefs, being a fliort 
 
 ry IV. againft which the dealers in filk. at " holiday-gown, lined with taffety, his 
 
 Paris prefented many ufelefs remonftrances " jacket and the refl of his cloaths orna- 
 
 to the king and M. de Rofny. The Me- " mented with filks of different kinds, in 
 
 xnoirs for the hiilory of France relate in " the manner they were formerly wore by 
 
 what manner that minifter received the " merchants, he faid to him, Honeft 
 
 fieur Henriot, who fpoke for them, a good " friend, what reafon can you and your 
 
 old merchant, whofe manners and drefs " company have to complain, when you 
 
 bore the markb of the fimplicity and plain- ',' are much finer than I am ? Is not this 
 
 nefs of the tradefmen of former times. — " damaflc, this taffety ? &c. And after 
 
 " The next day, fays the writer of thefe " turning them into ridicule fent them a- 
 
 " Memoirs, they waited on M. de Sully, " way without giving them any other fa- 
 
 " who anfwered them only with difdain " tisfaction ; which made them fay, as 
 
 " and ridicule ; for Henriot having put one " they were returning. The fervant is 
 
 " knee to the c^round, that nobleman im- " ruder and haughtier than his mafler." 
 
 " mediately raifed him up; and having Vol. II. p. 278. 
 
 audtion.
 
 -ÊooK XVI. MEMOIRS OF SOLLY. 
 
 audlion, what is there that wants no reformation ? we cannot charge 
 to foreign manufaftures the tenth part of the money that is thrown 
 away in France, without the lead necefTity. The care which the law 
 and the finances would require, would engage us in an endlefs digref- 
 fion : thefe two bodies of men, of which the one ought to be the 
 guardians of regularity, and the other of parfimony, feem only to have 
 been brought into the world, to deftroy both the one and the other. 
 Thefe are the only people that know what it is to be rich ; and how 
 they come by this wealth, may he iten by the manner in which they 
 fpend it: the eld chancellors, firfl pref.dents, counfellors of ftate, and 
 the heads of the courts and revenues, if they were to come into the 
 •world again, would not know how to find thofe who now fill their 
 places, and refemble them in nothing but their titles *. 
 
 I SAID every thing I could think of on this fubjcft, that carried with 
 it any force, to bring the king over to my opinion; but I could not 
 
 * Though filk, and other materials of 
 luxury, are in flriclncfs no otherwife good 
 or bad, than according to the good or bad 
 «lie made of them ; yet, as it is really more 
 common to apply them to bad than to good 
 purpofes, the good intention of the author, 
 and the purity of his morals, cannot be 
 fufficiently praifed. The rigid defenders of 
 the chriflian do(f!:rines do, and always will, 
 efpoufc his fentiments : but it muft be ac- 
 knowledged, that the politicians of the 
 prefent times, even thofe who are mofl: 
 fevcre, think differently: they find no- 
 thing conclufive in thofe examples of anti- 
 quity which are produced againft luxury, 
 even in refpeil to the times from which 
 they are taken, much lefs in regard to the 
 prefent. According to their opinion, other 
 caufes brought about thofe revolutions 
 which were attributed to it ; which caufes 
 having now loft their force, fuch revolu- 
 tions do not, nor can they happen again : 
 the increafe of gold and fdvcr in Europe, 
 occafioned by the mines of thofe metals 
 difcoi'ered in America^ .Tnd whence this 
 part of the world has been enriched with- 
 in the laft two centuries, has introduced 
 by its natural confequence luxury or fuper- 
 fluity, which makes the neceflary exchange 
 againft the redundance of money, otherwife 
 
 Vol. il 
 
 an ufelefs drug. This has entirely changed 
 the face of Europe, unavoidably influenced 
 the fvftcms of government, and left no 
 means of aggrandizing any ftate except by 
 commerce, which opens every inlet to lux- 
 ury; no incoriveniences arife from hencCj 
 till it exceeds what the profits of commerce 
 will aftord : befides, experience demonftrates 
 more clearly than reafoning can, that it is 
 not at all incompatible, either with order, 
 fuborJination, or a military fpirit. 
 
 As to what relates to filk, fhould we 
 even fuppofe with M. de Sully, that France 
 is improper to produce it, his manner of 
 reafoning will neverthelefs be imperfect, as 
 he feems to have been ignorant how much 
 the tnanufafture adds to the value of the 
 original materials, and of what advantage 
 that is to the kingdom. If any one (hould 
 flill remain uncominccd of this truth, he 
 ought to be fent for conviâion to our 
 mantifafturcs of filk at Lyons, Tours, &c. 
 and in fpight of what our author fays in 
 this place, the eftablifliment of the manu- 
 fadlures of ftuft's of all kinds, which was 
 begun in the reign of Henry IV. will al- 
 ways compel us to fpeak in praife of him. 
 See on this article, iL'Eflay politique fur la 
 commerce, chap. 9. p. 105, fécond edit. 
 1736- 
 
 M m 
 
 prevail.
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVl- 
 
 prevail. " Your arguments are very ftrong, faid he to me ; and F 
 " would rather chufe to fight the king of Spain in three pitched 
 " battles, than engage all thefe people of the law, the offices, and the 
 ** city efpecially, their wives and daughters, whom you have brought 
 " upon my back, with all your whimlical regulations." " Then it is 
 " your pleafure, Sire, replied I, that I fliould fpeak to you no more 
 " upon this fubjeâ : however, time and experience will convince you, 
 ♦' that France is not fitted for thefe gewgaws." I was obliged to 
 content myfelf with endeavouring only to prevail upon the king to 
 alter his intention of taking the Tournelles, and that whole enclofure, 
 for the new buildings he projeded for his filk manufadlories. I re- 
 prefented to him, that he would one day deflroy what it would cofl 
 him fo much to build, and brought to his remembrance, that once, 
 when he was laying with me the foundations of a defign, far more 
 noble and juft, the Tournelles had been deftined for another building 
 of a very different kind *. " As things fhall fall out," replied Henry ; 
 and this was all I could get from him. He followed Zamet, who 
 came to tell him, that the dinner he had ordered to be prepared for- 
 him at his houfe, was ready. 
 
 It was not, I confefs, without deep regret, that I faw fuch largs 
 fums of money fquandered, which might have been employed to fo 
 many ufeful purpofes. I made a calculation of the expence Henry 
 was commonly at every year, in buildings, in play,. for his miflrefles, 
 and hounds, and found that it amounted to twelve hundred thoufand 
 crowns, a fum fufiicient to maintain a body of fifteen thoufand foot : 
 I could not, though I rifqued the danger of lofing his afixâion, be 
 filent upon this fubjecTt. He commanded me to give fix thoufand 
 livres to madam de Verneuil, too happy once more to purchafe, at this 
 price, that domeftic quiet which was fo often interrupted by his wife 
 and his miftrefs : but fortunately for him, he efcaped any broils this 
 year. It was the current report at Fontainebleau, and for a long time 
 believed, that the queen was again with child, but it was afterwards 
 found to be a miftake ; which the king did me the honour to inform 
 me of. 
 
 * The building here meant, was in- names of fo many provinces. The defign 
 
 tended to be a magnificent fquare, of for it was made in 1608, but the death 
 
 feventy-two fathom on every fide, which of Henry IV. put a flop to the execu- 
 
 vvas to be called the fquare of France ; tion of it : under the following reign \Xr 
 
 eight ftreets were to have opened into it, was executed in part, and was called the 
 
 of eight toifes in breadth, bearing the royal fquare. 
 
 The
 
 Book XVI. MEMOIRS OF BULLY. 
 
 267 
 
 TiiR colony that was fcnt to Canada this year, was among the num- 
 ber of tliofe things that had not my approbation : there was no kind 
 of riches to be expecfted from all thofe countries of the new world, 
 which are beyond the fortieth degree of latitude. His majefl:y gave 
 the condudl of this expedition to thefieur Du-Mont*. 
 
 1603. 
 
 * See in the Septenary, the defcription 
 of a voyage made to Canada by the ficur 
 Du-Mont. There is alfo a relation of the 
 manners of the inhabitants of this part of 
 the new world ; but it is very unfaiihful, 
 and filled with fables. AI. de bully is again 
 miftalcen in this point; our new colonies 
 are a proof of it. ^Ve refer for a further 
 account of this matter to L'EfTai politique 
 fur ]e commerce. 
 
 Liberty and prote£lion, thefe two words 
 which comprehend the only true means of 
 bringing the internal commerce of a nation 
 into a flourifhing ftate, may, in another 
 fenie, be applied to the trade carried on to 
 the two Indies; that is to fay, as the au- 
 thor of thefe Memoirs remarks, that none 
 of the trading nations of Europe fhould be 
 excluded from it, but that it fhould be in- 
 difcriminately fhared amongft them all ; 
 and that the method of carrj-ing it on to the 
 jnoft general advantage, is by exclufive 
 privileges, granted not to private perfons, 
 but to whole companies, adting under the 
 name, and by the authority of the king. 
 1 ought not to forget obferving here, 
 
 that the firfl: company for carrying on a 
 trade to the Eaft-Indies was eftabliftied in 
 France, under the reign of Henry IV. and in 
 the year after his death. It was formed by 
 a Fleming, called Gerard-le-Roy. The 
 cdi6l of its eftablifliment, which bears date 
 the firft of June 1604, grants many ex- 
 emptions and privileges to this company; 
 the fifth and fixth articles are fomething re- 
 markable, it being therein faid, that gen- 
 tlemen might become members of this com- 
 pany, without derogation to their gentility. 
 The difficulty of procuring the necefl'ary 
 funds, the difunion amongil the members, 
 and all the other caufes, which have fo 
 often fince occafioned the deftrudion of 
 this inftitution, prevented its having the 
 propofed efted at that time : it was referv- 
 ed for the celebrated M. Colbert, to place 
 it on a more folid and durable bafis. The 
 hiftory of this company, the many advan- 
 tages whereof are at prefent more known 
 than ever, would carry me too far; and 
 moreover is to be found already in many 
 good books. 
 
 M m 2 
 
 M E M O I R S
 
 E M O I R s 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK xvn. 
 
 1 604.. "W BEGAN this year, as I had done all the preceding ones, by the 
 I performance of a ceremony annexed to my employment, which 
 -^ was to prefent their majefties with two purfes of filver medals. 
 When I went to pay them the accuftomed compliments on the firft 
 day of the new year, I came into their chamber fo early in the morn- 
 ing, that I found them flill in bed. Befides the purfe of filver, I had 
 caufed two purfes of gold medals to be flruck, which they received 
 with great pleafure. Roquelaure, Frontenac, and La-Varenne, com- 
 ing that moment into the room, the converfation turned entirely up- 
 on thefe medals, of which the emblem was an open granado, and the 
 device alluded to an anecdote in ancient hiftory concerning Darius * 
 and Zopyrus. The king was the more pleafed with the defign, 
 becaufe he found it affedl the malecontents of France in fuch a man- 
 ner, as he had a few days before direéled me to make it affecft them. 
 His rnajefly the next day made me a prefent of his pidiure, in a box 
 ornanKinted with diamonds 3 and the queen fent my wife a diamond 
 chain and bracelet of great value. 
 
 * As an explanation of thefe medals Thofe who intereft themfelves in fubjefls. 
 
 would be of little confequence, I forbear of this nature, may fee the feries of thefe 
 
 to give any; nor do. I take any notice of medals, vol. II. p. 6. of the Old Memoirs, 
 
 them in the beginning of any other years, where they are colledled by the author. 
 
 The
 
 BookXVIL memoirs OF SULLY. 
 
 269 
 
 The death of the duchefs of Bar, his majefty's only * fifter, was 
 the firft interefting event to the court this year : Henry appeared great- 
 ly affliâ:ed at it ; he wore deep mourning, and not only' ordered 
 the whole court to do fo likewife, but alfo the firft gentlemen, and 
 
 1604. 
 
 * The fufpicion fome conceived of this 
 princefs having been poifoned, was entirely 
 groundlefs ; her death was attributed by 
 others to the potions flic took to make her 
 pregnant ; it rather feems to have been oc- 
 cafioned from her phyficians having treated 
 her as being with child, tho' (he was not. 
 Andrew Du-Laurens, whom the king ient 
 to her, was not miftaken in this rcfpeft, as 
 the reft were ; but the princefs herl'elf was 
 fo firmly perluadcd of her being with child, 
 by the extreme defire fhe h;id to find it fo, 
 that file refufed to take any of the medi- 
 cines prefcribed by that phyfician ; ima- 
 gining he wanted to fave hef life, at thé ex- 
 pence of the child's fhe believed herfelf to 
 have conceived ; whereas fhe was not at all 
 folicitous about the prefervation of her own 
 life, provided that of the fuppofed infant 
 could be faved. She perfifted in this notion 
 and thefe fentiments till the laft moment 
 of her life, always crying out, " Save my 
 " child." Her body having been opened, 
 it clearly appeared Du-Laurens had been 
 extremely right in his judgment; that in- 
 ftead of a real pregnancy, her illnefs was 
 occaiîoned by an inward tumour or fwell- 
 ing, which for want of an application of the 
 proper remedies to difperfe it, had brought 
 on an inflammation. 
 
 This princefs was a rare exarrlpleof con- 
 jugal affection; whenever fhe fawor heard 
 any new-married women fpoken of, fhe 
 iifed to make it her wifh, that they might 
 love their hulbands as afteclionately as fhe 
 loved hers. She often repeated this verfe 
 of Propertius, changing the word Vmus in- 
 to Dcus : 
 
 Omnis amor ntagnus, fed operto in conjuge 
 major : 
 
 Hanc Venus, ut vivat, ventilât ipfa facem. 
 Her corpfe was carried to Vendôme, and 
 depofited by her mother's, queen Jane of 
 Albret, The pope had at length granted 
 this difpenfatjon, which hud been /u Icnjj 
 
 folicited, but the dutchefs died before it ar- 
 rived in Lorrain. 
 
 Henry IV. took it much amifs, that the 
 pope's nuncio, inftead of the compliments of 
 condolence, which he received from all the 
 princes in Europe on his fifter's death, only 
 ipokc to him of his holinefs's fears for the 
 falvation of that princefs, who had died out 
 of the bofom of the church ; and anfwered 
 him with fome warmth and indignation, 
 but very judicioufly, that it was a notioij- 
 inconfifient with the goodnefs of God, to 
 fuppofe, that the moment when a perfon 
 breathes his laft was not fufEcient for his 
 mercy to open the gates of heaven to any 
 finner whatever ; " I have not, added he, 
 " the leaft doubt of my fifter's being fav- 
 " ed." De Thou, and Chronol. Scpten. 
 anno 1604. 
 
 What Amelot de la HoufTay advances in 
 his notes on cardinal D'Offat's letters, that 
 this princefs had no more afteâion for her 
 hulband than he had for her, is contrary to 
 the opinion of all other hiftorians : there is 
 more foundation for his notion, that the 
 defign of the journey the duke of Bar 
 took to Rome, was lefs to folicit the dif- 
 penfation for his marriage, than to oppofe 
 it ; but that the pope did not fuffer him- 
 felf to be fo impofed on. The palace here 
 fpoken of is the palace of Soiifons, for- 
 merly called. The queen's palace, becaufe it 
 had belonged to queen Catherine of Medi- 
 cis, who left it by her will to her grand- 
 daughter, Chriftina of Lorrain ; but by 
 reafon of queen Catherine's debts, it was 
 fold in 1601, and bought by the duchefs 
 of Bar. It was fold again in 1604, for one 
 hundred thoufand livres, or thereabouts, to 
 the count of Soiflbns, whofe daughter, 
 Mary of Bourbon, transferred it, as part of 
 her portion, to prince Thomas Francis of 
 Savoy-Cari^nan, grandfather of prince Eu- 
 gene. 
 
 officers
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. BocyK XVII. 
 
 officers of his bed-chamber, the grand mafler, and officers of his 
 wardrobe, the pages, and, in a word, all his houfhold; the fame re- 
 gulation was obferved in the queen's family. 
 
 The duchefs of Bar, before flie left France, had contracfted fomc 
 debts in Paris, which were not yet paid. Without doubt, this princefs 
 had been prevented only by death from difcharging them, fince fhe 
 had fent jewels from Lorrain to be pawned to her creditors, who had 
 made a feizure of her houfes, furniture, and other effedls. Her houfes 
 were, a palace at Paris, a houfe at Fontainebleau, and another at Saint- 
 Germain, which the king her brother had given her; and, among other 
 furniture, there were pidlures in her gallery, chamber, and clofets, 
 which were well worth keeping in the royal palaces, and which the 
 king wifhed to have for that purpofe ; but they had made the duchefs's 
 debts fo confiderable, that he did not think it fit to defire them till they 
 were all cleared. Thefe debts amounted to twenty thoufand livres. 
 
 I WAS afterwards commiffioned by his majefly to take an inventory 
 of the furniture and jewels belonging to this princefs : that which ren- 
 dered this employment very difficult to execute, befides the different 
 kinds of debts and efïedts, was the fpecifying of thole that the king of 
 France and the duke of Bar had a right to, and the claims they both 
 made to the rings the princefs had pawned in Paris, Madame de Pan- 
 geas gave us a very exadl account of what rings and other jewels the 
 princefs was pofTefTed of, either before or after her arrival in Lorrain, 
 and of what her moveables in France confifted; and the inventory was 
 regulated by this writing. The whole was regiflered with great exad:- 
 nefs, in the prefence of two or three members of the council, named 
 by hismajefty, and the dukeof Lorrain'scommiffioners; and this done, 
 each of the two princes took pofleffion of thofe efFeâs that either be- 
 longed, or were to be returned to them. The dutchefs's palace at Paris 
 was, by the king, deflined to be fold, becaufe part of the money for 
 which it was ûri\ purchafed was not yet paid; and the fum produced 
 by this fale was fufficient to fatisfy the firft owner of it, and all the 
 other creditors. The king gave the houfe of Fontainebleau to the 
 queen, and that at Saint-Germain to the marchionefs of Verneuil. But 
 as this fale could not be made immediately, and the creditors demand- 
 ing fureties, it was by their confent, agreed between the two princes, 
 that the jewels fhould be depofited in my hands, without any other 
 fecurity than my word : they remained there till ihc ibllowing year, 
 when the queen having taken them, I was difcharged by a writing, 
 
 dated
 
 Book XVII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L V. 271 
 
 dated 28 June, 1605, and figned by Des-Marquets and Bontemps.. I 1604. 
 fliall now proceed to the re-eftablifliment of the Jefuits, which I have ' 
 promiled to give fome account of. 
 
 Notwithstanding the arret that feemed to deprive them of all 
 hopes of ever fettling again in France, yet they had found means to 
 engage the court in their interefts, and to make, even in his majefty's 
 council, fuch a great number of protestors, whofe voices, joined to 
 the earned and almoft continual folicitations of the Pope, the houfeof 
 Lorrain, and many other perfons both within and without the king- 
 dom, fo greatly ftrengthened their party, that it was not poffible for 
 Henry to refift any longer ; and indeed it muft be confefled, that he 
 yielded without much reluflance. Some Jefuits who had gained ac- 
 Gefs to his perfon on account of what had pafTed the preceding year 
 during his journey to Metz, behaved with fo much addrefs, and made 
 fuch advantage of that permiffion, that Henry began to fee them with 
 pleafure *, and even to admit them familiarly to his prefence. Thofe 
 who were thus fent to try their fortune, and who we may be af- 
 liired had been chofen with all the difcernment of a fociety that un- 
 derftood mankind perfedtly well, were the fathers Ignatius, Mayus, 
 Cotton, Armand, and Alexander; for father Gonthier did not yet 
 fhew himfelfj his turn of mind, which was rather ardent than com:- 
 plying, was not yet wanted. 
 
 When the Jefuits were thus fecure of great part of the court, and' 
 flattered themfelves that their enemies in the council would be either 
 the weakell party, or fuch as would not contradidl a propofal they 
 knew to be agreeable to the king, they prefented a petition in form to 
 his majelty ; who having in effedt taken a refolution very favourable 
 for them, ordered the conftable one day to affemble a council at his 
 houfe, compofed of the chancellor, mefTieurs de Chateau-neuf, Pont- 
 
 * The favourable reception the Jefuits Jefuits. This Jefuit putting Henry IV. in 
 
 met with at court and in Paris, was prin- mind of his promife to recal that order at 
 
 cipally owing to their qualifications as a proper time, faid to him, " Sire, your 
 
 preachers ; thofe who are named here were " time is now come, it is nine months 
 
 excellent in that refpeâ. We fhall foon " fince you made this promife, and wo- 
 
 have occafion to fpeak of father Cotton. " men are delivered at the end of nine 
 
 Father Laurent Mayus, or Mayo, was " months." " True, father Mayo, an- 
 
 born in Provence ; he was a man of great " fwered that prince, but don't you know 
 
 wit and conduit, and one of thofe who the " kings go longer than women do." Chro- 
 
 moft efFedtually aflifted the Pipe's nuncio no], Septen. anno 1603. 
 in procuring the re-eftablifhmejit of the 
 
 carré,
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIL 
 
 carré, Villeroi, Maifies, the prefident De Thou, Calignon, Jeannin, 
 Sillery, De- Vic, and Caumartin j there to hear from La-Varenne, the 
 moll zealous folicitor the Jefuits had, the fociety's propofals, and what 
 arguments they could offer to fupport them ; to dehberate upon them j 
 and to bring him an exaél account of what palled *. 
 
 His maiefty would have been very well fatisfied to have had me of 
 tnis council, and his reafon for not naming me to the conftable among 
 the others, was (as he told Oferai, thefirft groom of his bed-chamber, 
 who afterwards repeated it to me) becaufe he believed this commiffion 
 would not be agreeable to me. But Sillery here exerted all the arts of a 
 courtier j he affefted ta his maiefty fo much furprlfe that this council 
 Ihould be held without me, accompanied with all thofe treacherous 
 praifes which envy and malice make ufe of on certain occafions, that he 
 laid the prince under a neceffity of telling him I lliould be there like- 
 wife. The views of this artful courtier were, to make me only anfvver-^ 
 able for all the inconveniences which they forefaw might equally attend 
 a denial, or grant of the Jefuits requeft, for every one knew it was a 
 nice affair. I gueffed Sillery's motive for adling in this manner, and 
 it was not long before my fufpicions were fully confirmed. 
 
 * The parliament of Paris having been 
 informed of the king's refolution touching 
 the recal of the Jefuits, fent the firft pre- 
 fident de Hailay as their deputy to his nia- 
 jefly, to prefent their remonftrance againft 
 it. The prefident fpoke to the king with 
 great vehemence ; the fubflrance of his 
 ipeech may be feen in Ds Thou, who af- 
 ter having related, as an eye^witnefs, what 
 pafled on this occafion between the king 
 and his parliament, complains of a v/riting 
 whi^h came abroad at that time, under the 
 title of, The king's anfvver to the remon- 
 ftrance of the parliam.ent ; and which is a 
 continued feries of reproaches from that 
 prince to the firft prefident, and of praifes 
 of the Jefuits : whereas the only anfwer 
 the king made to the deputies of the par- 
 liament was, that he thanked them for the 
 folicitude they difcovercd for ;he preferva- 
 tion of his life, and that he would take all 
 necefiary meafures not to run himfelf into 
 any dangers. The length and fpirit of this 
 writing tcftjfy in favour of M. DeThou; 
 
 but, on the other fide, this anfwer of 
 Henry IV. whether- true or fiflitious, is fet 
 forth in the 4th volume of Villeroi's State 
 Memoirs, p. 400, and confirmed by Mat-» 
 thieu, that prince's hifloriographer, whom 
 Henry IV. himfelf furnifhed with me- 
 moirs of his hiftory, vol. II. book iii. On 
 this authority, which is of great weight, 
 father Daniel has cited it in liis Hiftory of 
 France, in folio, vol. III. p. ig29- Thefe 
 things would induce one to believe this was 
 the real anfwer of Henry IV. at leail in 
 fubftance ; and M. De Thou agrees, that 
 after the king's anfwer, w'hich contained 
 an order to regifter his edift, the parlia- 
 ment having made a fart'.er attempt to 
 avoid regiftering it, his ti-.îa efty fent for 
 them a fécond time, and declared his will 
 to them with authority, and even with an- 
 çer ; and afterwards fent Andrew Hurault 
 de MaiiVes, one of his fecretaries of Irate, 
 to the parliament, to caufe his edict to be 
 regiftered without any modification. 
 
 The
 
 Book XVII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 273 
 
 The council being aflembled, and myfelf prefent, as one of the 1604. 
 members, the queftion was put to the vote ; when Bellievre, Villeroi, 
 and Sillery, direifling their eyes to me, Sillery fpoke for the others, 
 nnd faid, that thele gentlemen, as well as himlelf, yielded to me the 
 lionour of deciding upon this queftion, as to one who was better ac- 
 quainted with the affairs of ftate and the king's inclinations than any 
 that were prefent. I was already not too well difpofed towards Sil- 
 lery, and this ftroke put me quite out of humour with him : inftead 
 of a compliment, with which any other courtier would have paid 
 his flattery, I anfwered to his meaning, and that without any dif- 
 guife. I told him, that I faw no reafon for altering a cuftom fo ge- 
 nerally received as that of voting according to rank, efpecially on a 
 fubje that my fentiments, whatever they were, would, on account 
 of my religion, be fufpeded of partiality ; unlefs it was with a defign 
 to give the world a difadvantageous interpretation of my words, as 
 I knew many that were prefent expeâed to have an opportunity of 
 doing; and had even done it beforehand, by groundlefs charges upon, 
 a point on which I had not yet declared my thoughts ; and added, in 
 plainer terms, that although I fliould vote firfii, yet I would not give 
 the perfon that fpoke to me fo great an advantage as he feemed to 
 hope for ; but that I would do nothing till I had firft confulted my 
 oracle. And in reality I was refolved to have a conference with his ma- 
 jefty, before any refolution was taken in the matter in debate. " I find 
 ** then," faid Sillery, fmiling malicioufly, and affe(fling ignorance of 
 the meaning of my laft words, " that we muft wait for your opinion 
 " till you have taken a journey to the banks of the Seine, four leagues 
 " from hence." Ablon it was that he meant, the place where the 
 proteftants had their affemblies. " Monfieur, replied I, your enigma 
 *' is not very obfcure ; however,. I afiure you, that as in religious mat- 
 *' ters, not men, but the words of God, are my oracles, fo in affairs of 
 *' flate I am guided only by the voice and the will of the king ; which 
 " I intend to be particularly informed of, before any thing be deter- 
 ** mined upon a bufinefs of this importance." Then addreffing my- 
 felf to the whole company, I told them, in a tone of vice fomewhat 
 raifed, that great inconveniences muft infallibly be the confequences 
 of a precipitate refolution in this cafe. 
 
 After this difcourfe, which might be taken for that a(51: of delibera- 
 tion I had jull: before declined, the conftable taking advantage of the 
 hint I had furniflied him with, and pleafed likewife with having an . 
 opportunity to dome fome fervicej for, ever fince that he had receiv- 
 
 VoL.II. Nn ed
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIL 
 
 cd from me in the affair of maréchal Biron, his former prejudice- 
 againft me was changed into a fincere affeftion, faid, that he was en- 
 tirely of my opinion, as to the neceffity there was of knowing the par- 
 ticular inclinations of his majefty, before any thing was refolved on r 
 and added, that it would not even he improper to deiire him to be pre- 
 fent at their debates, if it was only to put a ftop to thofe little heats- 
 and animofities, that had already begun to appear in our firft fitting, 
 Viileroi, (hewing an impatience to proceed, which furprifed every one 
 that knew his difpofition, faid, that fince this affair could no other- 
 ways be terminated than by the re-eftablifliment of the jefuits, it was 
 needlefs to protradt it any longer ; and, after giving all the weight he 
 could to his holinefs's interpofition, and anfwering for the faithful per- 
 formance of the promifes made by the fociety, he explained the mo- 
 tives of the king's conduâ: in this affair, who had not, he faid, referred 
 it to a council, the members of which were all appointed by himfelf, to 
 be contradided, but to avoid taking upon himfelf the annulling, by 
 his authority, fo folemn an arret of parliament as that againfl: the je- 
 fuits; and concluded, by complaifantly faying, that it was fit his ma- 
 jefty (hould be fpared the difagreeable neceffity of deciding folely this 
 queftion. Viileroi certainly highly honoured us all by this fpeech; 
 and the council, no doubt, owed him great acknowledgments. De 
 Thou ridiculed this opinion, as Viileroi had done ours; he (hook his 
 head, and faid, that, if his majefty's defign had been fuch as Viileroi 
 reprelented it to be, not to meddle in this affair, he would have re- 
 ferred it to the decifion of the parliament, as likewife the examination 
 of the jefuits propofals ; and hence taking occafion to give his own 
 fentiments of the matter, he added, that if the king would avoid the 
 blame he would incur by aâing otherwife, and the danger that would 
 refult from it both to the ftate and his own perfon, this was the only 
 part he could take, namely, to refer it to the parliament. Certainly 
 this was not (peaking like a courtier : but neither his advice nor that 
 of Viileroi was followed. The reft of the counfellors declared, by 
 a fingle word, that they thought it neceffary his majefty (hould be 
 applied to, before they proceeded any farther ; and this was the end 
 of our firft fittina:. 
 
 The next day I had a private conference with his majefty ; and the 
 firft thing Î brought upon the carpet being the debates on the preced- 
 ing evening, I perceived the king expeded I fliould tell him my fenti- 
 ments of them. I did not hefitate a moment as to the part I (hould 
 fake J and truth obliges me to confefs, it was not very favourable for 
 
 the
 
 Book XVIÎ. MEMOIRS O "F ÔULLY. 
 
 the jefuits *. I told his majefty, that I could not poflibly compre- 
 hend how, after an arret of parliament publiflied by his order, and for 
 a caufe as neceflary as juft, he fliould lUffer himfelf to be ftill preju- 
 diced in favour of an order, from which both himfelf and the flate 
 had nothing but mifchief to expedl. Here I could not help bring- 
 ing the king of England to his remembrance ; and, having no inten- 
 tion to protraft my difcourfe to any length, I contented myfelf with 
 barely entreating him to difpenfe with my affifting at fuch hateful 
 deliberations: or if not, to let me know his will precifely, and com- 
 mand me fo abfolutely to regulate my vote according to it, that 1 
 might find my excule in the necefiity of obeying him. " Well, faid 
 " Henry, fince we are alone, and you have leifure to difcourfe on this 
 " matter, tell me freely what it is you fear from the re-eftablifliment 
 *' of this fociety, and afterwards I will tell you what I hope from it, 
 " to the end that we may judge whofe arguments have the moll: 
 •' weight." I would rtill have excufed myfelf from this tallv, faying, 
 that it was abfolutely needlefs, fince his majeftyhad already taken his 
 refolution. But he replied, that that fliould not hinder him from pay- 
 ing fome regard to my reafons ; and commanded me fo pofitively to 
 enter into this difcufllon, that I could no longer refufe to fatisfy him. 
 
 The public has no advantage to hope from the refîoration of the 
 jefuits in France -|-, which it may not promiie itlelf from any other 
 religious order ; and for the exclufion of the jefuits there are particu- 
 lar reafons, arifing from the inconveniencies which follow from their 
 eftablirtiment in this kingdom. Thefe reafons and inconveniencies 
 
 * It is fail! in the manufcript of the terbalance the leaft real facSt afcertained in 
 
 king's library, which we have quoted be- four words: and, to fpeak juftly, M. de 
 
 fore, that meiTieurs de Sully, de Bouillon, Sully does not prove any thing here, but 
 
 de IVIaupeou, &c. did all they were able to his paffion and animofity againft the jefuitig. 
 
 divert the king from this refolution. It gives one horror to repeat, or even to 
 
 t The following difcourfe does not con- think, of v\'hat he fays of flabbing and poi- 
 tain any thing more, nor is even fo flrong foning, which could only come from the 
 as the prefident de Harlay's, which we fee mouth of a calvinift, and an inveterate enc- 
 in De Thou, nor than what all the writ- my ; but it ought to furprife us the lefs in 
 ings at that time or fince are filled v.'ith coming from M. de Rolny, who was under 
 againft the jefuits: I feel no lefs repugnance folemn engagements to the king of Eng- 
 in traiifcribing it, than I have owned myfelf land to a6t and fpeak in that manner, 
 to be fenfible of in the preface to this viork. whenever the recalling of the jefuits fhoulJ 
 But the reader will eafily obferve here, that core in queftion, for the intcrcft of he- 
 it has been endeavoured to impofe mere rcfy, their common caufe, of which he was 
 conjectures on him as certain facts, and as zealous an efpoufer, as the king of 
 bare poffibilities as avowed defigns. Ten Great Britain a declared enemy of the 
 pages of vain declamation never will coun- church. 
 
 N n 2 are
 
 lÔOd. 
 
 "MEMOIRS OF SULLY. BookXVIL 
 
 are reducible to four heads, which are immediately feen to be of the 
 laft importance; religion, the conducft of government with refped: 
 to foreign nations, the interior government of the kingdom, and laftly 
 the perfon of the king. Let us now fpeak of the firil : the only fure 
 foundation upon which the fyftem of government, which the council 
 will henceforth follow, can be fupportcd, is union and peace between 
 the two religions prevailing in France : the jefuits muft be fuppofed, 
 by thofe who favour them, to promote this peace and union ; but in 
 truth, this can be lefs expedled from them than from any other men. 
 Their £rft ftatute places them in fach blind fubje(flion to their general, 
 or rather to the Pope *", that, though as particular men they might 
 have the moft pure and pacific intention, they can move only by the 
 will of thefe two fuperiors, of whom the Pope has a great deal of 
 mifchief in his power; and their general is always either a Spaniard 
 
 * It may be ohferved, in relation to the 
 article in the inftitution of the jefuits, which 
 enjoins a blind fubmiffion to their general, 
 that by this fubmifllon or blind obedience is 
 meant, firft, the vow they enter into after 
 a noviciat of nine years : now this vow is 
 exaflly in this, as in all other religious or- 
 ders ; its nature is perfeâly the fame, and 
 nothing is required of the jefuits, but that 
 fubmiffion and obedience, which the holy 
 fathers of the church enjoined to the faith- 
 ful, who particularly confecrated themfclves 
 to the fervice of God : befides, this obe- 
 dience ought never to be blind, but in 
 points of pcrfeflion and religious obfer- 
 vance ; it can never derogate from the laws 
 of nature, nor thofe of divine, ecclefiafli- 
 cal, or civil inftitution, for the prefervation 
 of order in the government of nations. 
 
 By this fubmiffion or obedience is alfo 
 meant, fecondly, the fourth vow which the 
 profefled of that company make, and which 
 is fuperadded by them to the three ordi- 
 nary vows of the religious orders. Now 
 this fourth vow impofes no other obligation 
 on them, in regard to the fovereign Pon- 
 tiff, but merely to obey him, when he fhall 
 command them to go on miffions for the 
 falvation of fjuls. This is the w^iole fub- 
 ftance of it, notwithftanding what multi- 
 tudes fay of it, who continually reprefent 
 this vow in the moil: odious light, and who 
 from thfnce jnceffantly take occafion to 
 
 inveigh againft the fociety : Infuper promhto 
 fpecialem ohed'icniiam Jwnnio pontifia, circa, 
 mijjioncs : " Moreover, I promife a fpecial 
 " obedience to the fovereign Pontiff, in- 
 " relation to miffions ;" thefe are the ex- 
 prefs. terms in which this vow is made. It. 
 contains four circumftances which compre- 
 hend the whole extent of it ; which may be- 
 feen in the book of the inftitution of the 
 Jefuits, or in the abridgement of it printed 
 at Bruflels, in i6go, part 3. chap. 3. 
 feft. 3. Thefe circumftances are, firft, the 
 jefuits are forbid to folicit the Pope, either 
 themfelves, or by other perfons, to be fent, 
 to one country rather than another ; fe- 
 condly, they muft obey, whether they are 
 fent amongft the Turks, or other infidels, 
 or even to the Indies, whether they are ap- 
 pointed to labour in the converfion of here- 
 tics andfchifmatics,orin theperfetStionofthc 
 faithful ; thirdly, they muft fet out imme- 
 diately for the places of their deftination, 
 without any wilful cxcufe or delay ; fourth- 
 ly, they are not to demand any necefTaries 
 or expences for their journey, but muft be 
 ready to go on foot or horfeback, with mo-- 
 ney or without, as his holinefs fhall think 
 proper, having regard only to God's fer- 
 vice. Can a vow of this nature afford any 
 manner of foundation for the injurious re- 
 flétions that have for two centuries paft, 
 both in writing and by word of mouth, 
 been caft on the fociety on this account ? 
 
 born.
 
 FooK XVir. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 277 
 
 born, or a dependent upon Spain. Now it cannot be imagined, that 1604. 
 the Pope, and the general of the jefuits, will ever contentedly fee the 
 proteftant religion forming a diftind: intereft in France ; it muft there- 
 fore be, that the jefuits, filled with the notions of Rome, men likewife 
 of dexterity and intelligence, and to complete their charaûer jealous 
 of the honour of their own party, will, by their confefilons, their fer- 
 mons, their books, and their converfation, keep up a perpetual fchifm 
 among the people ; whence will enfue difcord and contention between 
 the different members of the body politic, which will foon or late pro- 
 duce fuch another civil war, as that from which we are got free. 
 
 Nor are they lefs capable of difturbing our concord with foreign na- 
 tions, which is the fécond reafon for which good policy would oppofe 
 their revocation ; the Pope either favouring Spain by inclination, or de- 
 pending againft his will upon that crown, particularly fince the Spa^ 
 niards laft invading Italy j and thegreat view of Spain being the deftruc- 
 tion of the French monarchy ; when we confider that the jefuits arc 
 connected with both the Pope and the Spaniards, by principles, cuf- 
 tom, and eligion, what can be concluded, but that France will have in 
 her bofom a body of men always ready to take part with her enemies? 
 Here religion comes again into the queftion : the fcheme formed by 
 Henry, for the glory and tranquility of Europe in general, requires, 
 that at fome time he (hould fend an army into Italy, capable of fetting 
 the Pope free, even without his own confent, from the fliackles in 
 which he is kept by the power of Spain .; in this defign the help of 
 the proteftants will be neceffary, without which nothing can be done 
 againft the Spaniards : but the jefuits will never like a fcheme of gene- 
 ral policy, which will make the proteftants important, and cflablini 
 them in Europe. 
 
 Rather than fee the execution of fuch a defign, and become ene- 
 mies to Spain, as they muft then do, they will endeavour to walte the 
 forces of the king upon his fubjeâs, which is the third reafon againft 
 recalling them : and, what will produce almoft as much diforder in the 
 government of the kingdom, their accefs to the prince, and the in- 
 fluence which they will have over the exercife of his power, will en- 
 able them to commence another kind of war againft the minifters, and 
 men in ofiice, under the fufpicion that they have not the fame defigns 
 with themfelves. I reckon myfelf among thofe who will be firft iacri- 
 ficed to thefe new favourites. And to conclude, has not the king 
 himfelf had a dreadful- inftance of their hatred, without giving them 
 
 new
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIL 
 
 new opportunities of daggers and poifons ? and does he not know the 
 renions for which the jefuits would have put another prince upon the 
 throne of France in his place ? fuch a one as they hoped to make 
 more eafily concur in their fchemes, both general and particular. If 
 be had any doubt of it, I offered to prove it evidently to him, by a 
 paper fent me from Rome againft the cardinal D'Oflat, of which I 
 (hall fpeak prefently ; and I then added a few refledions, with which 
 that paper had fupplied me. 
 
 The king anfwered me, that he fhould like to fee that paper, and 
 ordered me to fliew it him ; but he remained invincible in his purpofe, 
 notwithftanding all the reafons that I could offer him. He told me, 
 he had only two things to oppofe to my difcourfe, which he found I 
 had formed by long premeditation ; the firft was, that it was natural for 
 the jefuits to be devoted to Spain, the only power which had courted 
 and careffed them, when they were fcorned or hated almofl everywhere : 
 that if they had found the fame reception in France, or (hould now 
 begin to find it, they would foon forget Spain *. For the truth of this, 
 he quoted father Mayus, who had declared to him, as he told me, in the 
 name of the whole fociety, their fmcere attachment, and confirmed it 
 with the ftrongeft oaths, fubmitting that he and his afibciates fliould 
 
 * Without any defign of fpeaking in fa- 
 vour of the French jefuits of that time, I 
 would only obferve, that Henry IV. formed 
 a true judgment of the difpofitions they 
 have fmce manifefled. The fervices France 
 has received from them, have diflipated the 
 reproach fo often found in the mouths of all 
 who then were enemies, that they endea- 
 voured to exalt Spain on the ruins of the 
 French monarchy : befides, the jefuits did 
 not become engaged in the league from 
 their connexions with foreign nations, but 
 from the prefent fituation of affairs of reli- 
 gion. If, from an error in judgment, in 
 which they were authorifed by the opirjion 
 of the Sorbonne, and mort: good French- 
 men, they conceived it expedient to 
 ftrengthen themfelves by a foreign fupport, 
 it was not becaufe they were enemies to the 
 nation, their country, or the government, 
 but bccaufe they apprehended fjch con- 
 nexion neceflary to promote the interefls of 
 religion ; and becaufe they, like many other 
 catholics, blinded by an excefs of zeal, er- 
 
 roneoufly imagined, that whatever was 
 done in defence of the faith was juflifiable :■ 
 they however obferved more decorum than 
 many others ; for none of them appeared 
 in Paris at the time of the barricade ; nor 
 were any of them feen to join in the odd 
 and ridiculous proceffion of 1590. Vide 
 father Daniel's hiflory of France, vol. III. 
 It may be further obferved, that the jefuits 
 were perfecuted in Spain, for being too 
 zealous in the interefl of France ; at the 
 fame time, they were charged in France 
 with being too clofely engaged to Spain. 
 No one, in faiSt, laboured fo effectually to 
 obtain the abfolution of Henry IV. and his 
 reconciliation with the pope, as cardinal 
 Tolet, a Spanifh jefuit. This appears from 
 the letters of cardinal D'Offat, between the 
 years 1595 and 1603. Hence arofe the 
 pique Spain, and Philip the iecond, had 
 againft the jefuits, and father Aquaviva 
 their general, whom, for that reafon, they 
 were continually involving in troubles. 
 
 be
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 279 
 
 be confidered as the tnofl flagrant traitors, if his promifes were not 1604. 
 fulfilled. 
 
 The king added, that thefe oaths and promifes perhaps would not 
 fo fully put me to filence, but that I might have fomething to reply; 
 but that a fenfe of his own intereft, and care for the prelervation of his 
 perfon*, determined him, he faid, not only to receive the jefuits to 
 mercy, but to treat th^m well ; for if he once reduced them to defpair, 
 and deprived them of all hopes of returning to France, there was no- 
 thing which they would not attempt againft him. His majefty then 
 dilated at large upon the credit, the artifices, and the expedients of 
 that fociety ; by which he endeavoured to perfuade me, as he appeared 
 himfelf perfuaded, that this fociety, to whatever diflance it might be 
 driven by banifhment, would have a thoufand m.eans of pracftifing on 
 his life, and that he was defirous to fet himfelf free irom perpetual 
 difquiets. He concluded with this expreffion of Casfar -f-. That it 
 was better to put one's felf at once into the power of thofe that one fuf- 
 peds, than to be continually ufing precautions againft them. 
 
 By thefe words, and the tone with which they were pronounced, 
 I eafily comprehended that his majefty had already refolved upon the 
 re-eftablifliment of the jefuits, and that nothing could dilTuade him 
 from it. Therefore, inrtead of oppofing this refolution by new ob- 
 jedions, many of which, and thofe very folid, I had ftill to offer ; I told 
 him, that fince he feemed to make the fafety of his perfon, and the 
 happinefs of his life, to depend upon the recalling this fociety, that 
 v/as fufficient to make me labour for the fuccefs of the affair as zeal- 
 cufly as La- Varenne himfelf could do; and that, when the council again 
 affembled, he fhould have proofs of it. I faw joy fparkle in the eyes 
 of this prince at my words ; and that the facrifice I made him might 
 not go unrewarded, and that I might have no caufe to apprehend the 
 blame of what might happen flaould fall upon me, he promifed me 
 two things that inflant, and gave me his royal word for the faithful 
 performance of them. One was, that neither the jefuits, nor any other 
 
 * Ventre-faint-gris f' faid Henry IV. to mel confejïhn fatius ejp, quam. cavere femper, 
 
 thofe who endeavoured to difl'uade him from fays Suetonius ; which does not ablbkitely 
 
 recalh'ng the jefuits, " will you be anfwer- fignify, that the mofl: unexpedted death is 
 
 *' able for my perfon ?" which words flop- the beft, as the text in the old memoirs ex- 
 
 ped every one's mouth. See the king's preffes it, and which is more confiftent with 
 
 MSS. vol. 9033. the context. 
 
 t Inftdias undique imminentes fubire fe- 
 
 perfori
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. BookXVIL 
 
 perfon in the world, fliould prevail upon him to declare war againft the 
 proteftants, unlefs I myfelf fliould advile him to it : the other, that 
 nothing ftiould be capable of making him remove from his perfon, a 
 minifler with whom, be his religion what it would, he was well 
 fatisfied i " and efpecially," added he, with a moft obliging familiarity, 
 " a man of whom I can fay, with the utmoft fincerity, what you the 
 -" other day told me Darius faid of his Zopirus, *" He likewife affur- 
 ed me, that he would endeavour to make the jefuits entertain the 
 fame fentiments of me that he did ; and that I fhould know, before 
 much time was pafl in what manner he expedted they fliould be- 
 have towards me. 
 
 I AM not fure whether he did not exert himfelf on this occafion that 
 very day; for I had a vifit from La-Varenne the next morning, who 
 defired as a favour, that a jefuit, who, he affured me, was ftill more a 
 Frenchman by inclination, than birth, might be allowed to pay his re- 
 fpedts to me. I anfwered La-Varenne, that he well knew every one 
 was fure of a polite reception at my houfe, and ecclefiallics efpecially, 
 who never perceived any more of my religion, than the obligation I 
 thought it laid upon me to treat them with a diftinguifhing refpedl; and 
 that, if this were not the cafe, the character he gave me of this jefuit 
 was fufficient to infurc his welcome. This French jefuit was father 
 Cotton -f-, whom he brought with him the next day as I went into the 
 
 * Zopirus, a Perfian fatrape, having cut " hearing him ; and it is no wonder they 
 ofF his nofe, ears, and lips, in order to exe- " fhould, for he has fo eng.iging a manner, 
 cute a ftratagem which put Darius in pof- " that one can never be weary of giving 
 felTion of the city of Babylon, that prince " the utmofl attention to him. ' 
 ufed to fay, He would have given twenty He narrowly efcaped, about this time, 
 Babylons for one Zopirus. Herodotus, b. v. being aflaffinated by the king's pages, who 
 
 t Peter Cotton, born 1564 at Neronde, wounded him in feveral places with a fword, 
 of one of the mofl diftinguifhed families of as he was coming in aco.ich to the Louvre ; 
 Forez. Great changes ought to be made bccaufe fome of the lords of the court bav- 
 in the idea the author here and elfewhere ing complained to the king, that the pages 
 endeavours to give us of him : he was a feeing him pafs by, had cried. Old IVcoly 
 man endowed with great fenfe, an extraor- Old Cotton, (one of the cries of Paris) his 
 dinary eloquence, and all the neceflary majefty had ordered fome of them £0 be 
 qualifications to make himfelf univerfally whipped for it : he would even have pu- 
 agreeable. " The king, fays the Chrono- nifhed this attempt on his life with great fe- 
 legie Septennaire, " conceived fo great an verity, if father Cotton had not earneftly 
 " affeiStion for him from the firft moment befought him to pardon them ; they were 
 " he faw him, that ever after he acquainted therefore only drove from court. " The 
 
 " king, fays the fame writer, on this ac- 
 " count, incrcafed the favours he con- 
 " ferred on the jefuits: he even wanted to 
 " bcftow a bifhopric on father Cotton, who 
 
 him with whatever he was going to un- 
 *' dertake. He firft preached at Fontaine- 
 *' bleau, afterwards at Paris, where every 
 " better kind of parifh was defirous of 
 
 hall
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 hall to give audiences as ufual after dinner. The jefuit approached me 
 with all imaginable demonftration of veneration and refpeft, and was 
 lavifh in his praifes of my great capacity, my fervices, and likewife 
 upon the proteélion which he faid he had been aflured I was difpofed 
 to grant his fociety, intermingled with the mod profound bows, and 
 repeated aflurances of gratitude, devotion, and obedience. I was not 
 deficient in a return of compliments and ceremony, being folicitous 
 to omit nothing the perfon and prefent occafion required. 
 
 The next day the council, flill compofed of the fame members as 
 before, aflembled for the fécond time ; and no affair was ever more 
 quickly difpatched, without entering into any difcuflion, or making a 
 needlefs difplay of arguments in favour of a queftion already decided. 
 I faid in brief, that the prefent conjundlure of the times required, that 
 the jefuits Ihould have a fettlement in France. It was refolved, that 
 they fhould take an oath to hold all the principles of true Frenchmen, 
 and eled: no one for a provincial *, who was not French by birth : 
 this they fwore to perform, and all the paft was buried in oblivion^ 
 
 *' by politically lefufing to accept of this 
 *' offer, did a fignal fervice to the order of 
 " which he was a member." 
 
 The author of the Chronologie Septen- 
 naire, had fpoke more correftly, if he had 
 faid, father Cotton was flridHy obliged to 
 rcfufe the bifhopric offered him by the 
 king, and that he did, in reality, refufe it in 
 confequence of this obligation; for the je- 
 fuits make an exprefs vov/ not to accept of 
 any ecclefiaftical dignities ; and they can 
 have no difpenfation from this vow, but 
 from the pope himfelf. Father Cotton, if 
 we form our judgment of him from his life 
 as wrote by father Orleans, was too reli- 
 gious a man to be influenced in his refufal 
 of this offer, by any other motives than 
 his principles of difintereftednefs and mo- 
 defty. Matthieu alfo fpeaks of father Cot- 
 ton with great elogiums, vol. II. b. iii. 
 J^IenrylV. in this year, made him his con- 
 feflbr, on the refignation of René Benoit, 
 parilh prieftof Saint-Euflache : and he fur- 
 ther infifted, that the office of fuperior of 
 the college of Navarre, which had always, 
 till that time, been joined to that of the 
 king's confeflbr, fhould from henceforth be 
 difunited from it. 
 
 Vol. IÎ. 
 
 * I do not find that, in the edid for re- 
 ftoring the jefuits, any mention is made of 
 this eleftion of a French provincial ; if 
 there is, it is only by implication. Thefe are 
 the conditions expreffed in it: That the je- 
 fuits fhall not found any college in France, 
 without the king's permiffion: that all of 
 them fhall be Frenchmen born; and that 
 no other fhall be f iffercd in the kingdom ; 
 that one of them fhall always refide near 
 the king's perfon, to be anfwerable to him 
 for the conduft of all the reft ; that, on their 
 entering into the fociety, they fhall take 
 certain oaths before the officials, that they 
 fhall not make any attempts on the king's 
 perfon ; that they fliall not engage in 
 any affairs to the prejudice oftheftate, &c. 
 that they fliall not do anything to infringe 
 the laws of the kingdom, the jurifdidtion of 
 bifhops, or the rights of the clergy, the 
 univerfitics, &c. that they fliall not reach 
 or adminifter the facraments in any dlocefe, 
 without the confent of the bilhop of fuch 
 diocefe ; that whatever had been taken from 
 them (hall be reftored, but that they fhall 
 not be permitted to make any new acquifi- 
 tions, without the king's exprefs approba- 
 tion ; nor fliall they be fuffcred to claim 
 
 O o 
 
 All
 
 2S2 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XVIL 
 
 1604. All I have to add is, that during the whole time, I was extremely 
 ^— — V — — ' referved, and adled with great circumfpedlion, as well with regard 
 to father Molina's opinion of grace, that was publifhed this year, as 
 upon fome propofitions of three jefuits, which occahoned high de- 
 bates between thofe that favoured, and thofe that oppofed them, 
 efpecially thefe two ; that the pope's being the fucceffor of Saint Peter 
 was not a point of faith, and that confeffion might be made by letters. 
 On this occalion, the jefuits were foon fenfible how neceflary the 
 royal interpofition in their favour was to them. Had they been given 
 over to the parliament, the Sorbonne, the univerfities, and the moft 
 part of the bifliops *, and the cities in the kingdom, their dodl:rine 
 had not taken deep root : but the king did not abandon his new fa- 
 vourites ; and even, at the folicitations of La-Varenne, gave them his 
 caftle of La-Fleche, where they foon founded a very fine college. 
 
 any fhare with their relations in the inheri- 
 tance of the eftates or effedts of their fami- 
 lies. The city of Lyons and La-Fleche 
 were the only places where they were al- 
 lowed new eftablifhments ; thofe of former 
 foundation are enumerated in the ediâ, 
 amounting in all to eleven, viz. Touloufe, 
 Auch, Agen, Rhodes, Bourdeaux, Peri- 
 gueux, Limoges, Tournon, Le-Puy-en- 
 Velay, Aubenas, and Beziers. We will 
 fuffer M. De Thou to complain, that fome 
 of the(e conditions have fmce been annulled, 
 but not from thence to claim a right of 
 charging the jefuits with having failed in 
 the obfervance of them. 
 
 As to the general of their order being a 
 foreigner, which gives fo great offence to 
 M. de Sully, it could not be required of 
 them, that they fhould never have any but 
 a native of France; the choice of a general 
 being made by different members of the fo- 
 ciety, deputed for that purpofe, and cho- 
 fen out of different nations; therefore, to 
 have required this of them, would have 
 been requiring an impoffibility. As to the 
 manner of this eledion, nothing is pofitively 
 laid down, either by the laws or praâice of 
 the fociety; for every jefuit, who fhall be 
 deemed qualified for the office, whether a 
 Frenchman, or of any other nation, is li- 
 able to be chofen, as the whole depends on 
 an abfolutely free choice. The only reafon 
 
 why father d'Aubenton, a Frenchman, 
 confelfor to his catholic majefty, was not 
 appointed the lafl general but one, was be- 
 caufe the French jefuits themfelves oppofed 
 his being chofen. Father Charles de Noy- 
 elle, on whom the office was conferred in 
 1685, was a gentleman of Artois, and a 
 fubjeft of France. 
 
 * The Septennary, on the contrary, in- 
 forms us, that immediately after the refto- 
 ration of the jefuits, they were invited by 
 many cities, bifhops, &c. to come to them, 
 ibid. f. 438. " It was," fays Matthieu, 
 p. 606, " the general defirs of all the ca- 
 " tholics to fee them reftored, from the 
 " conviction their abfence had given how 
 " neceffary and advantageous their pre- 
 " fence was for the inflruAion of youth, 
 " and the diredlion of men's confciences. 
 " They afforded their enemies no advan- 
 " tage over them, either from their mo- 
 " rals or aftions, which were fo conform- 
 " able to their doflrines, that not one 
 " fingle difcord broke the harmony between 
 " them, their hearts and their tongues 
 " being in the fame tone," &c. This 
 writer had before fpoken of them in the 
 moft advantageous terms, voL II. b. ii. p. 
 270; and his evidence is rendered lefs li- 
 able to fufpicion, by his having a perfonal 
 difference with the fociety, as appears in 
 the third book, p. 681. 
 
 The
 
 Book XVII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 283 
 
 The reftoration of the jefuits afforded matter for a real triumph to 1604. 
 Villeroi, Jeannin, Du-Perron, and above all to D'Offat, who had not 
 negledled their interelis at Rome, where he flill refided to manage 
 his majefty's affairs at that court. And here it feems proper to intro- 
 duce that memorial, which was addrefled to me from Italy againfl this 
 eccleliaflic, and which, as has been obferved, I had already men- 
 tioned to the king. 
 
 His majefly was then gone to Chantilly, to fpend a few days there 
 in the month of April, on account of the pure air, the agreeablenefs of 
 the place, the conveniency for hunting, and other country amufe- 
 ments, which his phyficians feemed to think neceffary for his health. 
 Upon fome letters I wrote to him, in which I could not difpenfe with 
 myfelf from oblerving that by his abfence a great number of affairs 
 were left undetermined, he returned immediately to Paris, notwith- 
 ftanding all the entreaties of his phyficians to prevent him. The fame 
 evening that he arrived, he remembered the memorial in qujftion, and 
 afked me for it, by which he only prevented me, it being my inten- 
 tion to fhew it him that day. I had brought it with me, between my 
 coat and waiflcoat, and I left it with him, that he might examine it at 
 his leifure. I had made no alterations in it; and added nothing, ex- 
 cept perhaps a few reflexions, which this paper had no great need of, 
 to draw upon the perfon againfl whom it was wrote his majefly's ut- 
 moft difplealbre. 
 
 The author of this memorial, who had his reafons for neither men- 
 tioning it in his own name, nor that of the perfon to whom it was ad- 
 drefled, endeavoured to prove, that D'Oflat had prevaricated in every 
 point of his commilTion, and had accepted it with no other defign, but 
 to bring matters to that pafs, that the king fhould be obliged to enter 
 into the views of the catholic leaguers of his council, and to purfue a 
 political plan very different from that they found he had hitherto con- 
 duced himfelf by. This new plan, which ftill breathed the fpirit of 
 the league that gave it birth, contifledin uniting France in intereft and 
 friendQiip with the Pope, Spain, the archdukes, and Savoy, againfl all 
 the protellant powers of Europe in general, and the proteftants of this 
 kingdom in particular; to make Henry concur with the Pope in placing 
 a catholic prince on the throne of Great Britain ; no longer to prote<fl 
 the United-Provinces ; to ufe his authority to procure a general fub- 
 miifion to the council of Trent ; in a word, to make him adopt all the 
 
 O o 2 Aulfrian
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIL 
 
 Auftrian fchemes, and all the maxims of the other fide of the Alps. 
 The jefuits were to undertake the taik of cementing this union, which 
 was to be founded upon a marriage between the children of France and 
 Spain, and the firft effedts of it the dethroning of king James *. 
 
 The author of this memorial, to prove that he did not bring thefe 
 heavy accufations againft D'Offat like a mere declaimer, juftified the 
 truth of them by that cardinal's own letters, as well thofe I have for- 
 merly mentioned, as others which he had coUedled, and by his com- 
 mon difcourfe at Rome, either in public, or to my brother, ambaffador 
 to that court, and others in private : he explained the myftery of tho^ 
 almoft infurmountable obflacles the holy father made to the king's ab- 
 folution, and the marriage of the princefs his fifter: he fhewed that 
 they proceeded from D'Olfat himfelf, who during the whole time that 
 thofe affairs were depending, abufed with impunity the confidence his 
 mailer repofed in him ; and, to prevent the reproaches he had reafon 
 to expedt from him, gave him to underftand, that he was under an 
 abfolute neceflity of perfuading the court of Rome, that his majefty 
 was of the fame opinion, and that it was with great difficulty he fup- 
 prefi'ed thofe reports which from time to time were fpread to the con- 
 trary. 
 
 It is certain, that throughout this whole affair D'OfTat afted with 
 great art, as likewife in the infinuations he fecretly gave the king, that 
 Spain, with refpeét to him, had only the moft pacific intentions, for 
 which the Pope was ready to be fecurity. All this is fo clear, and fup- 
 ported by the author with fuch inconteftable proofs, as forces belief, 
 notwithdanding that fpirit of hatred and fury, which it caunot be de- 
 nied every part of this paper breathes againft D'OfTat ; he is alfo re- 
 proached in it with afluming the charadler of a great politician, and a 
 confummate ftatefman, when he had fo much reafon to blufh for his 
 ignorance and incapacity ; and that in this ecclefiaftic nothing was to 
 be found but the meannefs of his original, having, before his advance- 
 ment to the purple, been a pedagogue and a footman -f-, and owed all 
 
 * I have nothing to add to this article, have come from Rome againft cardinal 
 
 but what has been faid in the foregoing D'Oflat. His gratitude in many places ob- 
 
 notes. liges him to fpeak of monficur de Villeroi 
 
 t The prejudice, the injviftice, and the his protsftor, and to make an almoft open 
 
 falfhood, fo apparent in this laft place, to- profeffion of his attachment to him. What 
 
 tally dtftroy all the credit that might have can be concluded from hence ? certainly 
 
 been given to this memorial, pretended to nothing in derogation of the qualities of 
 
 the
 
 Hook. XVU. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 285 
 
 the feveral advantageous changes in his fortune to the fawning arts he 1604. 
 praftiled on Villeroi, and to his flavifhly lerving the hatred of other ' — -n- — 
 catholic leaguers to the proteftants. At the conclufion of this memo- 
 rial, the author earneftly entreats the perfon into whofe hands it fliould 
 happen to fall, to fliew it to his majeily. 
 
 Setting afide all that this paper contains of the extravagant or 
 outrageous, which fliew it came from a declared enemy, it mufi: flill 
 be confefTed that D'Oflat could not efcape the reproach of having 
 flandered his fovereign, and being ungrateful to his benefa(ftor ; and 
 that he even left to pofterity the means of convitling him of thofe 
 two crimes, in the letters which through vanity he caufed to be print- 
 ed, wherein he calumniated Henry IV. as a prince who opprefTed the 
 clergy, defrroyed the nobility, ruined the third eftate of the kingdom, 
 and aéled like the tyrant of his people. 
 
 Nor is truth lefs violated in thofe furious exclamations he makes 
 againftthe proteflants. What can one think of the epithets of impious, 
 horrid, deteflable, facrilegious, with which he brands a body that 
 makes profcffion to agree with him in the belief of all the fundamental 
 articles of the dodtrine of Jefus Chrift, and have the fame veneration 
 
 his mind, and every thing in favour of the 
 goodnefs of his heart. One cannot avoid 
 cbferving, how palpably the author here 
 abuies the liberty of thinking freely : he 
 endeavours to extend it overmatteis of re- 
 ligion, almofl the only ones which ought 
 to be exempt from it ; and feems defirous 
 to exclude it from political affairs, which 
 of all others ought to ue moft fubjedl to de- 
 bate ; nothing being fo uncertain, fo much 
 dependant on the caprice of fortune, or fo 
 liable to change as they. As to the private 
 hiftory of cardinal D'OfTat, it muft be al- 
 lowed he was of the loweft extraflion ; 
 fome fay he was the fon of a quack dodtor ; 
 others, a baflard fon of the lord of CafTa- 
 nabere ; whillt others, with more probabi- 
 lity, make him the fon of a farrier, of the 
 diocefc of Auch. He was tutor to the young 
 lord of Caftlenau-Marnoac ; afterwards he 
 went to Rome, in the qu.dity of fecreta- 
 ry to Foix, and v>a' there appointed fe- 
 cretary to cardinal Lewis d'Eftc, protec- 
 tor of the affairs of France at Rome. Hé 
 
 was then fent by his majefty to Florence; 
 and at laft went ambaffador to Rome, Ve- 
 nice, &c. The bifhopric of Rennes was 
 conferred on him in 1596 ; and in 1600, 
 that of Bayeux : M. de Rofny obtained 
 Henry IV 'spermiflion for him to rcfign the 
 laft. He intended to pafs the reft of his 
 days at Rome ; and aÂually died there on 
 the 13th of March, 1604, a month after 
 the death of the dutchefs of Bar, aged fixty- 
 cight years. The laft letter he wrote was 
 to M. Villeroi, fix days before his death. 
 
 See the other particulars of his life jii 
 Amelot de la Houffaye, prefixed to the edi- 
 tion of this cardinal's letters publiflied by 
 him : he has carefully avoided taking the 
 part of the cardinal in the little differences 
 which happened betwixt him and the duke 
 of Sully ; and he afferts, I don't know on 
 what grounds, that the reafon why that 
 minirter would not write to him, was, be- 
 caufe he could not prevail on himfelf to 
 oive him the title of Monfeigneur. Note 
 
 .on the 329ih letter. 
 
 for
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVII. 
 
 for the divine writings in which they are contained, the Apoftles Creed, 
 the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer *. 
 
 As to his political errors, though in D'Offat they may well be im- 
 puted to views too narrow and confined, yet they are not the lefs pal- 
 pable. At a time when the ambitious projecfls of the houfe of Auftria 
 were in a manner ported up throughout all Europe, he expofed France 
 to the danger of being the firft vidim of them, by breaking off for 
 ever with all her allies that were to fupport her againft this proud and 
 infolcnt monarchy. And what is ftill more furprifing, this deftrudive 
 policy communicated itfelf, as if by contagion, to the greateft part of 
 thofe who were employed in the adminiftration of public affairs : and 
 what is yet more to be lamented, it gained ground upon the wifeft as 
 well as the fmalleft party -j- . 
 
 It was this policy that in the month of April this year expofed Vil- 
 leroi to one of the greateft mortifications that could happen to a man 
 in a public employment. The king, when he fet out to Fontaine- 
 bleau, where it was his cuftom to keep his Eafter, during which there 
 was a ceffation of all bufinefs in the council, took leave of his coun- 
 
 * This reafon of our author's is a very 
 weak one ; for every one knows that the 
 profeflbrs of the new religion do not ac- 
 knowledge the authority of the holy fathers, 
 the councils, or any other fources of tradi- 
 tion or faith. 
 
 t This fyftem of politics has not been 
 produtftive of the mifchiefs M. de Sully ap- 
 prehended it would occafion : on the con- 
 trary, the event of it has been as favourable 
 as it poflibly could ha\ e been. It is never- 
 thelefs true, and will in fome degree be a 
 juftification of our author's manner of rea- 
 foning on this occafion, that if the execu- 
 tion of thefe defigns, of which the deftruc- 
 tion of the proteftant religion in France 
 was the principal, had fallen into the hands 
 of any other than cardinal de Richelieu, 
 the fuccefs of it would not only have been 
 doubtful ; but if an attempt of fo great 
 confequenee as this had by ar.y means mil- 
 carried, France would, in all probability, 
 have been rcplunged into the frightful fitu- 
 ation Vue was in during the reign of the 
 children of Henry II. 
 
 Cardinal de Richelieu did not, however, 
 in every refpeét follow the plan attributed 
 to D'Oflat, Villeroi, &c. fince during his 
 whole life he was engaged in war with 
 Spain. The perfe<St knowledge he had of 
 the particular refources on which France 
 could depend, and which, if we may judge 
 from appearances, he had acquired princi- 
 pally from Sully's Memoirs, made him 
 take in, and in fome degree reconcile, both 
 thefe oppofite fyflems, by entering into the 
 dcfign of weakening the houfe of Auflria, 
 in purfuance of the one; and of deftroyirig 
 Calvinifm in France, according to the other 
 of them. I don't know of any one inflance 
 that fo evidently proves as this does, what 
 a fmglc man is capable of. The proteflants 
 of France, who had obtained a toleration 
 of themfelves, after having remained un- 
 difturbed full thirty years, were, almoft at 
 once, brought into an entire lubjeâion : 
 this happened, becaufe on the one fide there 
 was a caid;nal de Richelieu, and on the 
 other there was no linger a Henry of Na- 
 varre. 
 
 fellors
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 fellers till the Sunday after Eafler ; but on Good Friday he recalled 
 me by a letter, in which he informed me, thathe had difcovered fome 
 treafonable pradices in his court, and that he wanted to confer with 
 me ; for which purpofe he would order poft-horfes to be ready for me 
 at Ablon on Ealler-Sunday, that I might fet out for Fontainebleau 
 when the communion was over. I did fo, and this was the affair in 
 queflion. 
 
 ViLLERoi had a clerk in his office named Nicolas L'Hote, whofe Or,as others 
 family, from father to fon, had been attached to that of Villeroi ; but |"->v, Du-Por- 
 the perfon of whom we are now fpsaking, before he entered into his 
 fervice, had been fecretary to the count de La-Rochepot, when he 
 was fcnt ambaflador from France to Spain. L'Hote had wit, but of 
 that fort that ftrongly inclines the owner to artifice and intrigue. 
 During his flay in Spain he contrafled an intimacy with the Spanifli 
 fecretaries of llate, Don Juan Idiaques, Franchefes, and Prada, to 
 whom he betrayed the fecrets of the ambaflador his mafter. When 
 La-Rochepot returned to France, L'Hote finding himfelf without 
 any employment, folicited Villeroi, whofe godfon he was, for a place 
 in his office, aud was by him entrufted to decypher his difpatches j 
 which was very agreeable to L'Hote, as it afforded him an opportu- 
 nity of carrying on his firll trade with fecurity. 
 
 Barrault *, who fucceeded the count de La-Rochepot in Spain, 
 perceived, a fliort time after, that the fecrets of his prince were known 
 to that court; and in vain tortured his imagination to difcover from 
 whence this misfortune proceeded. Not being able to fix upon any 
 particular perfon, he entreated his majefty, in a fhort letter addrefled 
 to himfelf; to look upon ail the clerks in his fecretaries offices, efpe- 
 ecially thofe belonging to Villeroi, as fufpedled perfons. This trea- 
 chery extended its influence to all our other ambaifadors to the feveral 
 courts of Europe, who were extremely aflonifhed, and complained 
 to the king, as Barrault had done, that the contents of their difpatches 
 were known at thefe courts as foon as they received them from 
 France, and very often before. 
 
 * Emeric Gobier de Barrault. It is re- foot on his throat, and, in the moft out- 
 
 lated of this ambaflador, that being one rageous terms, oblige him to ask quarter, 
 
 day at a comedy in Spain, in which the he got upon the flage, and in fight of the 
 
 battle of Pavia was reprefented, and feeing whole houfe, ran the ailor through the 
 
 a Spanifli adtor throw him down who per- body with his fword. Ainelot's notes on 
 
 formed the charai^er of Francis 1. fet his D'ÛlTat. 
 
 But
 
 ?8 M E M O I R S O F S U L L y. Book XVIL 
 
 1604. But neither Barrault nor they could penetrate any farther into the 
 
 affair, till Barrault was one day accofted by a Frenchman of Bourdeaux, 
 a refugee in Spain, whofe name was John de Leyré, but better known 
 by that of Rafis, which he had borne when he was in the fervice of 
 the league, having been one * of the moil aâive of the incendiaries, 
 and on that account not being able to- get himfelf comprehended in 
 the pardon, was obliged to fly into Spain, where his fervices, which 
 confifted in revealing fome advices he ft ill received from his affociates 
 in France, were rewarded by a good penfion that was allowed him by 
 that court, and which was continued to him, till the council of Spain 
 having procured by other means more certain intelligence than any 
 they could get from Rafis, he foon perceived, by the contempt he was 
 treated with at Madrid, and the difcontinuance of his penfion, that 
 his credit was funk all of a fudden; and changing his battery that in- 
 ftant, he applied himfelf with the utmoft diligence to find out who was 
 the traitor in France that had enriched himfelf with his fpoils, not 
 doubting but that if he fliould fucceed, this dilcovery would purchafe 
 his recal to his own country, which he had always in his view, and 
 probably procure him greater advantages than thofe he loft in Spain. 
 
 Men educated in the arts of facftion, and the myftery of intrigue, 
 have talents for thefe fort of difcoveries peculiar to themfelves. Rafis 
 got acquainted with another Frenchman, named John Bias, who had 
 fettled in Spain, and it was from him that he learned in what manner 
 L'Hote had abufed the confidence of his firft mafter. Rafis, ftruck 
 with this hint, fixed, as by inftinft, on this man j and having procured 
 from other perfons information that he was adually one of Villeroi's 
 fecretaries, at that diftance his fagacity alone difcovered to him what 
 fo many others upon the very fpot were ignorant of. 
 
 His fufpicions being changed into a certainty, he went to Barrault, 
 and offered to point out the traitor of whom he complained, but that 
 care muft be taken to prevent his having any fufpicion that he was dif- 
 covered, on condition, that if his informations were found to be true, 
 the king would give him a free pardon in form, and a decent penfion. 
 Barrault thought the affair of fuch importance, that he made no fcruple 
 to promife both. Rafis likewife exadted a promife from Barrault, and 
 this with a view to his own fafety, that he (hould proceed flowly and 
 
 * L'Etoile fays, he had been one of the fixteen. 
 
 cautioufly
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 cautioufly in the affair ; and that when he wrote to France upon the 
 propofals that had -been made to him, he fhould addrefs himlelf to 
 none but the king. But Barrault underftood this laft requeft as an 
 excefs of unneceffary caution, which did not exclude him from ac- 
 quainting his majefty's chief minifters with the affair: and it was 
 Villeroi himfelf that he informed of Rafis's offer and propofals. Ville- 
 roi, who did not imagine that the traitor was in his own office, fent 
 the difpatches immediately to the king : but L'Hote being with his 
 mafter when this packet from Barrault was opened, drove diredtly at 
 his purpofe ; and reflefting upon the importance of the advice, adled 
 in the very manner that Rafis had with fo much reafon been appre- 
 henfive he would do ; for he wrote inftantly to his correfpondents in 
 Spain, defiring them to take all the neceffary meafures, and that 
 without delav, to prevent Rafis from difcovering more. This was 
 the bell: riictnod he could think of to fecure himfelf, and to prevent 
 any bad confequences ; and it would probably have fucceeded, had 
 the perfon concerned been any other than Rafis. 
 
 This man, when he received his pardon, which his majeffy fènt 
 him, together with his anfwer to his propofals, obferved that it was not 
 fîgned by Lomenie, to whom the king would naturally have referred 
 it, if it had not been off^ered him by another train of conveyance ; and 
 concluding from thence that it had pafled Villeroi's office, he went 
 directly to the ambaflador, and complained that he had deceived him ; 
 and now thinking it no longer neceffary to conceal any thing, he told 
 him his reafons for preinng him to write only to the king, and to Vil- 
 leroi lefs than any other perfon : he gave him, in a few words, all the 
 informations he had promifed him concerning L'Hote's intrigues j that 
 done, he told Barrault, that to avoid, if it was ffill pofllble, the danger 
 •with which he was threatened at Madrid, he had nothing left for it 
 but to endeavour to gain the French territories with the utmoft: expe- 
 dition. And accordingly he mounted his horfe that moment; and it 
 was happy for him that he did fo, for the next morning his houfe was 
 ihvefted by archers, who were fent after him with orders to make all 
 pofllble hafte, that they might come up with him before he reached 
 the frontie- : but Rafis, by good fortune, or rather by his own extreme 
 diligence, efcaped with Defcartes, Barrault's fecretary, whom this am- 
 baffador permitted to accompany him, to prefent him in France, They 
 never refted till they found themfelves atBayonne, from whence con- 
 tinuing their route without delay, they came to Paris, and hearing the 
 king was at Fontainebleau, fet out diredly for that place. 
 
 Vol. il P p Ox
 
 SCO MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIL 
 
 1604. On the road they met Villeroi, who was going from Fontainebleau 
 
 to his houfe at Juvify ; and believing they ought not to conceal any 
 thing from him, intreated him to have his clerk arrefted by way of 
 fecurityj and that they might have the fole honour of the affair, of- 
 fered to return themfelves to Paris to arreft him. Villeroi neither ap- 
 proved of their propofal, nor the offer they made him of their perfons ; 
 which, it muft be confeffed, was an inÛance of great imprudence i 
 but he, doubtlefs, imagined, that it was not poffible for L'Hote to 
 efcape. He told the two couriers, that his clerk was to come to 
 him the next day, and that it would be then time enough for theai 
 to fscure him ; it being likewife his opinion, that his majefty ought 
 firft to be fpoke to about it ; and that they rifked nothing by this de- 
 lay, provided they kept a profound filence. Surprifed and dilTatisfied. 
 as they were at this proceeding, it was their bufinefs to obey -, and 
 they delivered the packets they were charged with, to him, to be. 
 given to his majefty, which he did the next day. 
 
 The king had not yet received thefe packets on Eafter-day when I 
 came to Fontainebleau, nor by confequence knew of the two couriers' 
 arrival, or the name of him that betrayed him; the only certain in- 
 telligence he had was, the warning that had been given him to hold, 
 all the clerks of Villeroi fufpefted. As I did not reach Fontainebleau 
 till it was very late, and was greatly fatigued with my journey, I did 
 not wait on his majefty till the next morning. I found him up and 
 dreffed, though it was fcarcely fun-rife. Barrault's informations hai 
 given him great uneafinefs. This prince took my hand, and leading 
 me into the gallery that joined to his apartment, conferred with me 
 there a long time upon the news he had juft received from his ambaf- 
 fador. The difpatches from London that had been loft coming into 
 his mind, and all that I had faid when I imputed this misfortune to 
 Villeroi's people, which at that time he took for an effed; of jealoufy 
 and hatred, now appeared to him fo well founded, that he acknow- 
 ledged to me he began to give credit to it, and to conceive very unfa- 
 vourable thoughts of Villeroi. Ashe did not expeél that Defcartes, 
 and Rafis would arrive fo foon, he ordered me to fift this matter to the. 
 bottom, and ufe my utmoft endeavours to find out the truth. 
 
 His majefty and I had been three days employed in endeavouring, 
 to make difcoveries, when Villeroi arrived with the packets before- 
 mentioned. I was walking with the king in the long gallery of the 
 
 garden
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 garden of Pines, and preparing to take leave oHiim for my return to 
 Paris, at the very moment that Villeroi came up to us. His counte- 
 nance exprelTed all that grief the confcioufnefs of having fuch news The '^allcrv 
 to inform his majefty of muft neceflarily infpire; and I may venture of Ulyfi'ci.' 
 to fay, that for a man who had fome caufe to with to humble a rival, 
 or at lead to rejoice in his humiliation, I fympathifed truly with him 
 in his afflidion. While he read the papers, his majefty often looked 
 at me, and prefTed my hand feveral times. He did not give him time 
 to read them out, but interrupting him at the name of L'Hctc, 
 " And where is this L'Hote, your clerk ?" faid his majefty, with fome 
 emotion, " have you not cauled him to be feized ?" " I believe, fire," 
 replied Villeroi, in great confternation, " that he is at my houfe, but 
 ** he is not yet arrefted." " How !" returned Henry in a rage, " you 
 " believe he is in your houfe, and yet you have not ordered him to be 
 " feized ! Pardieu ! this is great negligence indeed ; how could you 
 " trifle thus when you knew his treachery ? this bufinefs muft be at- 
 " tended to immediately : go back with all poflible hafte, and feize 
 " him yourfelf." 
 
 Villeroi departed in the utmoft grief and confufion ; and I did 
 not delay a moment my return to Paris ; when the next day I receiv- 
 ed a letter from his majefty, who charged Defcartes to tell me irom 
 him all that had paffed. Since I find myi'clf engaged to relate this af- 
 fair, that I may avoid the reproach of having fupported fuch accounts 
 of it as have been given by the enemies of Villeroi, in what remains 
 to be faid I Ihall follow the detail he himfelf gives of it, in the apo- 
 logy for his condudl, which he thought it neceflary to * make pub- 
 lic. After having recounted, in a manner advantageous for himfelf, 
 all that had parted from the moment wherein he fpoke to the two 
 couriers, to the time that he went to the king at Fontainebleau, he 
 proceeds in the following manner. 
 
 That at his return to his houfe, he found the biftiop of Chartres 
 and fome other perfons of diftindion, who waited for him, and de- 
 tained him a long time in his clofet, the fubje6l of their conference 
 being the fettling fome points relating to the approaching ceremony of 
 
 * See the original of this apology in minifter, it being ftriiSlly conformable to 
 
 Villeroi's Memoirs of ftate, pag. 522, it the accounts given of it by M. De Thoir, 
 
 beats date the 3d of May. There can be the Ciirono). Septen. Matthieu, and all 
 
 no doubt of its containing a faithful rela- other hiftorians of credit of tliat time. 
 
 tion of the fcntiments and adions of this 
 
 the
 
 2^2 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XVIL 
 
 1604. the order of the Garter. When Defcartes came to his apartmertt, ta 
 acquaint him that L'Hote, with Defnots, were juft arrived from Paris, 
 his refpedl for his cornpany hindered him from interrupting them. 
 L'Hote, on his firfl: entering the houle, was faluted with the news of 
 the arrival of the two couriers from Spain, yet preferved prefence of 
 mind enough to appear but httlé concerned at it ; and pretending that 
 he was hungry, and would go and eat a morfel in the kitchen, only 
 pafled through it, telling the maitre d'hotel that he would go to a pub- 
 lic houfe and refrelh himfelf, and get his boots taken off, that he 
 might be in a condition to appear before his mafter. Villeroi, after 
 his company went away, afked where L'Hote was ; and being inform- 
 ed that he was in the offices, as every body believed he was, he 
 thought he could not do better than fend a fervant to tell the maitre 
 d'hotel, that he fhould amufe L'Hote with fome difcourfe, and not 
 lofe fight of him ; he himfelf, in the mean time, went to Lomenie, to 
 defire that he would lend him Du-Broc, lieutenant du prévôt, who he 
 intended fhould arreft him. He brought back Lomenie with him, 
 and they placed themfelves at a window that looked into the court- 
 where the whole tranfadiion was to pafs. But thefe precautions were 
 too late, L'Hote had already efcaped. 
 
 Those who judge favourably enough of Villeroi to take the whole 
 recital upon his word, will at leaft probably exclaim here againft the. 
 dilatory manner in which this fecretary of ftate executed thofe orders; 
 he had juft received from the king's own mouth, and in a tone as ab- 
 folute as it was preffing : he would be ftill more culpable, if a thou- 
 fand circumftances of L'Hote's efcape, made public by Defcartes and 
 Rafis, which were not mentioned in his apology, were true : however, 
 it would be certainly great injuftice to believe every thing that on this 
 occafion was faid againft Villeroi * ; his enemies had too good an op- 
 portunity afforded them to rail, not to take advantage of it; the prote- 
 flants, eiJDecially, painted him in the blackeft colours, not able to deny 
 themfelves the pleafure of being revenged on him, who had contributed 
 more than any other to the king's change of religion. But, on the 
 other fide, it is not fit to hold him clear of any blame, as thofe that 
 are devoted to him do, who infift, that his whole condudl in this affair 
 
 * De Thou remarks, that M. de Ville- his misfortune, book cxxxii. P. Matthieu 
 roi did not abfolutely efcape fufpicion ; but likevvife afferts, that Henry IV. was too 
 at the fame time he fays, that Henry IV. well acquainted with the fidelity of this mi- 
 far from fufiering iiimfelf to be influenced iiifter to conceive the leaft fufpicion againft 
 by it, endeavoured to comfort him imde.'- him, vol. II. b. iii. p. 637. 
 
 was
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 wns juftifiable. All my friends did not fcruple to fay publicly, that, if 
 fuch an accident had happened in my family, I fhould have been much 
 more feverely reilefted upon. The foreign ambafladors refiding in 
 France, and even the Pope's nuncio, came to my houfe at Paris, and 
 declared to me, that if, after fuch a difcovery, their difpatches mud; ftill 
 pafs through Villeroi's hands, their mafters would not venture to men- 
 tion any thing of confequence in them. 
 
 As to the traitor, all that could he done was to fend fome archers 
 after him, who purfued him fo clofely, that when he came to the fide 
 of the river Marne, with a Spaniard who accompanied him, and at a 
 fmall diftance from a ferry-boat, he could not hope to reach it before 
 they came up with him, and favv no other way to avoid their purfuit, 
 than to throw himfelf into the river, thinking to fwim over it ; but he 
 was drowned in the attempt. The Spaniard chofe rather to be taken ; 
 and he was brought back to Paris, with the body of L'Hote, which 
 was drawn out ot the water. Villeroi feemed truly afflidled that they 
 had not been able to feize his clerk alive : indeed he had reafon to re- 
 gret it ; it was the only means he had left to flop the mouth of (lander. 
 He was the firil: to propofe to me, in a letter he wrote to me about this 
 affair, to have the carcafe * treated with the utmoft ignominy, and to 
 punifh the Spaniard in an exemplary manner. 
 
 All this could not appeafe the king. He knew not, for a long 
 time after this adventure, in what light to behold Villeroi; and was 
 three days in doubt whether it was not fit to banifli him from his pre- 
 fence. But Villeroi threw himfelf at his majefty's feet, with fo many 
 marks of a profound forrow, flied tears in fuch abundance, and made 
 
 * The furgcons who examined his corps, yet could not avoid acknowledging, that 
 
 were unanimoully of opinion, if we may Henry IV. did not treat M. de Villeroi 
 
 give credit to L'Etoile, that he had not with the more coldnefs on this account? 
 
 been drowned ; and, as there was no more " taking the trouble, fays he, of going 
 
 appearance of his having been ftabbed or " even to his houfe, to comfort him in his 
 
 ftrangled, they concluded he had been " forrow, not difcovering the leafi: figns of 
 
 fmothercd, and afterwards thrown into the " diffidence of him by reafon of what had 
 
 river. The Septennaire takes no notice of " part, bat feeming rather to put more 
 
 this examination by the furgeons, but gives " trull: in him than before. It was thcrc- 
 
 an ample detail of the particulars of L'Hote's " fore faid at court, that it was happy for 
 
 flight, and the manner i'l which he was " him he had fo good a mafler, fincc, in 
 
 found, which totally deftroys tiie validity " affairs of ftate of fo much confequence, 
 
 of the account given by L'Etoile, who " kings and princes ufualiy cxpeft maflers 
 
 upon other occafions, has given fufficient " fhould be anfwerable for the acls of their 
 
 proofs of his diflike to M. de Villeroi, and " ferrants." Anno 1604, p- 24.
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVII 
 
 • 
 
 lach deep proteftatlons of his innocence, that Henry could not help 
 believing him (though the world would never be periuaded, but that 
 he 0!)ly feigned to believe him) and with that goodnefs, fo natural to 
 him, granted the pardon he fo vehemently implored. 
 
 Matters were in this flate, when I returned to Fontainebleau, to 
 inform his majefty what I was indifpenfably obliged to do, of the re- 
 prefentations made me by the foreign ambafiadors. It was refolved, 
 that the cypher made ufe of by our ambsffadors fhould be changed ; 
 and the king now thought only of taking advantage of this incident, 
 to make Villeroi more exaél (I repeat the king's own words) more 
 cautious in the choice of his clerks, and lefs haughty than he had 
 formerly been. His majefty concerted with me in a letter, which he 
 thought likely to produce this efFeél, becaufe I was to make it public : 
 this letter was brought to me at Paris by Perroton from the king, as 
 if to acquaint me with the indulgences he had thought fit to fliew Vil- 
 leroi. The contents were, that his majefty could not refufe a pardon 
 to the tears and entreaties of this fecretary ; that I ought no longer to 
 diftruft him, fince he did not; and that, in his prefent condition, cha- 
 rity required, that I flaould write to him a letter to give him comfort, 
 and an aflurance of my friendfliip; and this he entreated me to do. 
 
 1 SECONDED tlie good intentions of his majefty without any reluc- 
 tance, and, I may even fay, with more fincerity than he required of 
 me, except that I could not prevail upon myfelf to write to Villeroi, 
 that I held him entirely difculpated. This I thought would appear a 
 ridiculous piece of flattery : I faid enough to afford him the means of 
 perfuading the public, by my letter, that I was convinced he was in- 
 nocent of the capital crime of which he was accufed. I gave him the 
 hint of the declaration he publifhed fome days afterwards, and repre- 
 fented to him, that he ought to endeavour to fliut the mouths of the 
 proteftants, to whofe cenfure he had laid himfelf open ; and that the 
 only method he could ufe for that purpofe, was to relax a little of 
 that violence he had (hewn againft them, by fceking to infpire the ca- 
 tholics with more benevolent fentiments of them; and laftly, to appear 
 publicly the promoter of that regulation I had fo often propofed to 
 him to ertablifh a perfedl concord between thefe two bodies. If in this 
 letter I added, that his abfolute juftification in the king's opinion de- 
 pended upon his future behaviour, and if as to what had paffed I pro- 
 duced the example of maréchal Biron, it was only in obedience to the 
 king's commands, who was willing to appear indulgent, but not weak. 
 
 Villi Roi,
 
 BooicXVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 295 
 
 ViLLEROi, in his anfwer to my letter, thanked me for the advice 1604. 
 I had given him, which he allured me he would exaftly follow, and 
 for my good offices, which he protefted he would never forget. He 
 confefTed, that he ought not to have fo blindly confided in a youn^ 
 man like L'Hote, and was candid enough to acknowledge, that al- 
 though his confcience did not reproach him with the guilt of any 
 crime againfl: the king, yet the error he had fallen into was fufficient to 
 cafl: a ftain upon his reputation, which all the faithful fervices he was 
 refolved to continue to render his majefty, during the remainder of his 
 life, would never wipe off. In his defence he only laid, that the great 
 obligations L'Hote had received from him were what made it fo diffi- 
 cult for him to believe he could fail in his duty. Villeroi feldom wrote 
 to me without renewing the mention of his fault, his misfortune, and 
 his innocence, and almoll: always the obligations he thought he owed 
 to me on this occafion. 
 
 It appeared, that Barrault did not give credit to the injurious re- 
 ports that were fpread of Villeroi by his enemies, fmce he wrote to 
 him,, a (hort time afterwards, and gave him an account of a converfa- 
 tion between himfelf and Prada, of which L'Hote was the fubjedt. 
 Rafis had reafon to be fatisfied with the recompence that was made. 
 himi befides the fum of fifteen hundred and fixty livres, which he re- 
 ceived from Barrault when he left Spain, a gratuity of a thoufand 
 crowns was bellowed on him, and all the conditions agreed to by the 
 amballador were fulfilled. This did not hurt Barrault himfelf, being 
 paid in the laft quarter of his penfion. Defcartes reprefented to the 
 king, that a, man could not live in Spain but at great expence ; and 
 that, notwithllanding all my letters, his mailer had not been able to^ 
 get any thing from that quarter. 
 
 The paper upon religion, that has been mentioned before, confiHed 
 of fome articles, which, if received by the catholics and protellants,. 
 appeared to me capable of uniting the two religions, by deftroying that 
 deteftable prejudice which makes them load each other with the harHi 
 accufations of herefy and treafon, impiety and idolatry. This paper 
 I had drawn up with the confent and approbation of his mnjelly; and. 
 I Ihewed it to him feveral times, in the prefence of the bifliop of Ev- 
 reux, Bellievrc, Villeroi, Sillery, and father Cotton. 
 
 If
 
 296 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIL 
 
 1 604. If the proteflants do not believe all the catholics profefs, it cannot at 
 ■ leaft be denied, that we believe nothing which they do not likewife j 
 and that what we believe contains all that is effential to the chriftian re- 
 ligion, the Ten Commandments, the Apoftles Creed, and the Lord's 
 Prayer, being the great and general foundation * of our common faith. 
 Here then let us ftop, and conhder the reft as fo many dubious points, 
 about which men may be left at full liberty to have different opi- 
 nions. We are perfuaded, that it is not only ufelefs, but criminal, to 
 fearch into the fecrets of the Almighty ; but, we not only fearch into 
 his fecrets, but fet up ourfelves as judges of them, when we charge 
 one another as criminal for having different opinions, and different de- 
 grees of knowledge, with relation to fpeculative truth, though know- 
 ledge, in all its different degrees, is received from God. Let us leave 
 to him alone the knowledge of his fecrets, as well as the difpenfations 
 of his providence : let us allow to the fovereign magiftrate, what the 
 public good requires, the power of puni(hing thole who violate the 
 laws of charitv in any fociety ; for it belongs not to any human judi- 
 cature to punifh errors only cognizable by God. Let us confider this 
 in another view ; if our unhappinefs be fuch, that the error is on our 
 lide, can the catholics imagine that they (hall bring us into their noti- 
 ons by abufe and perfecution ? Compaffion and tendernefs are the only 
 means that do any fervice to religion, and the only means that religion 
 didlates : the zeal which is fo much boafted, is only rage or obftinacy, 
 difguifed under a reputable appellation. This was the ground-work 
 of my paper : nothing can be more plain or more true-, but the power 
 which men allow truth to have over them is very fmall ; and what is 
 generally called reafon in religion, if examined well, is, in moft men, 
 nothing more than their own paffion. 
 
 If to reconcile the two religions is morally impoffible, it may, with 
 equal certainty, be faid to be politically impoffible, fince it cannot be 
 done without the concurrence of the Pope, which cannot be expected, 
 fince it was not obtained in the pontificate of Clement VIII. who, of 
 all the Popes that have for a long time fat in the fee of Rome, was moft 
 free from party prejudices, aud had more of that gentlenefs and com- 
 paffion which the gcfpel prefcribes to all its followers. 
 
 * I do not think it neceflary, to lofe any c ian, we may, without injuftice, deny his 
 time in giving a ferious anfwer to thefe ar- qualifications as a profound divine. What 
 guments of our author. After having al- he fays here may be called treating religion 
 lowed him the charader of an able politi- politically. 
 
 The
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 297 
 
 The holy father was at this time fo old and infirm, that his death 1604. 
 was hourly expecfled. The king thought it neceflary to fend the car- 
 dinals de Joyeufe, and de Sourdis to Rome, to manage the interefls of 
 the nation in the approaching conclave. His majefty, hy the advice of 
 cardinal Joyeufe, gave de Sourdis nine tlioufand livres for his equipage, 
 and the expence of his journey, with a penfion of two thoufand four 
 hundred crowns a year, during the time that he ftaid at Rome upon 
 his affairs. 
 
 One of the laft adions of Clement the eighth was the promotion of 
 eighteen cardinals at one time, which made it generally believed that 
 this Pope, finding himfelf near his end, was defirous of giving his 
 nephew cardinal Aldobrandin a laft proof of his affedlion, that, ac- 
 cording to all appearances, would place him upon the pontifical throne, 
 by the great number of dependants on his family which were introduced 
 into the conclave, or, at leaft, that the papal dignity fhould be con- 
 ferred on one under whom this cardinal might expecfl to govern. Two 
 of thefe hats were to be given to France : and the choice of the two 
 men whom the king was to name to his holinefs for this dignity, 
 was the occafion of a ftrong intrigue at court, between the bifliop of 
 Evreux and Séraphin Olivary * on one fide, and meflîeurs de Villars, 
 archbifliop of Vienne, and de Marquemont on the other. The two 
 laft were fupported by the intereft of Bellievre, Villeroi, Sillery, and all 
 their friends; and I thought myfelf obliged to range myfelf on the fide 
 of Du-Perron, and Olivary, the one being my biftiop and particular 
 friend, and the other remarkably diftinguiflaed for his eminent piety. 
 Notwithftanding all the intrigues of the oppofite party, Du-Perron and 
 Olivary were preferred; and the former, by my advice, wrote a letter 
 of thanks to Villeroi, as if he had really folicited his advancement : 
 fuch is the cuftom of courts. 
 
 The preffing affairs that had obliged his majefty to leave Chantilly, 
 and at the beginning of fpring, was the clearing and figning the com- 
 mon computations for the expence of his buildings, his hunting, his 
 privy purfe, as likewife of the fortifications, artillery, and roads. When 
 the day was fixed for the tranfaéling this bufinefs, his majefty, to fliun 
 that crowd of petitioners who waited only for an opportunity of feeing 
 «s together, fent the younger Lomenie to tell me that I need not come 
 
 * Séraphin Olivary Cazailla, an Italian .Marquemont, archbifhop of Lyons : he 
 by defcent, but born at Lyons, patriarch of afterwards was made a cardinal, and am- 
 Alexandria. Jerom de Villars. Denis de baflador from France to Rome. 
 
 Vol. II. Q^q to
 
 298 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XVIL 
 
 1 604. to the Louvre, becaufe he would be himfelf the next day at the arfenal i 
 and accordingly he came lb early in the morning, that many of the 
 officers, concerned in the affairs that were to be fettled, all of whom I 
 had fent for, were not yet come. The number of thefe was far from 
 being inconfiderable, governors of fortrefles, engineers, intendants, and 
 comptrollers of the buildings, the feveral perfons belonging to the 
 board of ordnance, overfeers of bridges and caufeys, and others. 
 
 Henry had fomething of confequence to impart to me ; I judged 
 fo by that deep melancholy which, notwithflanding his endeavours to 
 difguife, appeared in his countenance and language, and alfo becaufe 
 he led me into the great gallery of arms, the place where he gene- 
 rally communicated his fecrets to me : and here the reader may ex- 
 pedt to find one of thofe remarkable converfations that he has already 
 met with in thefe Memoirs. 
 
 Our difcourfe did not begin with the chief caufes of his uneafinefs : 
 the heart, involved in its own vexation, has need, in the firft inftant, 
 of the help of other objedls to be difentangled, efpecially if with this 
 vexation be mingled fomething of confufion. Therefore the dukes of 
 Bouillon and Tremouille, with the reil of that cabal, were the fubjedl 
 he firft led to ; thefe perfons having lately through malice united 
 themfelves with the prince of Condé, the marchionefs of Verneuil, 
 and the family of d'Entragues ; and thofe from whom his majefty had 
 received this information, offered to prove the truth of it by their 
 own letters, and other undeniable teflimonies. 
 
 Having defired this prince to allow me a whole day to confider 
 what advice it was moft proper to give him on occafion of this new in- 
 trigue, he changed the difcourfe to his excurfion to Chantilly, his 
 hunting; and afterwards he gave me an account of his loffes at play, 
 the money he laid out in prefents to his miftrefies, and other fuper- 
 fluous expences, which were to have their place in the expence of the 
 current year, as well as the money applied to the manufadlures and 
 other buildings, which altogether made up fo confiderable a fum, that 
 Henry, who fecretly reproached himfelf for thefe extravagancies, 
 could think of no better expedient to prevent the confufion he expedled 
 my remontrances would give him, than to add, before I had time 
 to reply, that I might alfo place there a gratuity of fix thoul^md 
 crowns, which he now granted me. This precaution could not hin- 
 der me ffom giving evident marks of my aftoniiliment and grief at the 
 
 increafe
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 increo.fe of fuch trifling expences, Ilenry again endeavoured to avoid 
 coming to any explanation with me, by faying, that, after fpending 
 fo great a part of his life in continual labours and fatigue, he had a riglit 
 -to allow himfelf now feme indulgence in his pleafures. I anfwered the 
 king with my accuftomed fincerity and firmnefs, that what he faid 
 was indeed very reafonable and juft, if, inftead of thofe great projedts 
 he had communicated to me, and which by his orders I had imparted 
 to the king of England, he had refolved to pafs the reft of his life in the 
 enervating pleafures of luxury ; but that if he ftill retained any thoughts 
 of purfuing his former fchemes, he would deceive himfelf greatly if he 
 fuppofed them compatible with fuch expenfive amufements, and there- 
 fore he muft determine his choice upon the one or the other. I flopped 
 at thefe Vv'ords J Henry having filently liftened to me while I was 
 fpeaking, like a man who was full of anxiety, and wholly abforbed in 
 thought. But the prefentdifpofition of the heart, whatever that may 
 be, always governs our firft emotions, and in him that moment pro- 
 duced nothing but vexation and rage : yet he contented himfelf with 
 telling me, that he perceived I had entertained very unfavourable 
 thoughts of him, and commanded me, without troubling him any 
 more, to carry the fums he had mentioned to account. 
 
 Still, however, I was not difcouraged. I knew the heart of this 
 prince as well as my own ; I had always found him fenfible to glory, 
 and open to conviélion, and I could not believe him changed in fo 
 fhort a time : inftead therefore of having recourfe to the ordinary pal- 
 liatives, after telling him, that I faw plainly the freedom I had for- 
 merly ufed in my reprefentations was now become difpleafing to him, 
 I again renewed the former fubjedt, and talked to him of the meafures 
 he had already taken in Germany and Italy, to prepare the way for 
 thofe glorious adlions he one day intended to perform, and the fucceis 
 the perfons he had employed there for that purpofe had already found. 
 I repeated, that it was ufelefs to take all this trouble, if the money 
 that fhould be deftined for thofe great enterprifes, was fquandered 
 away on unneceffary expences. I convinced him, by a very exad: 
 calculation, that he could not engage in the execution of thefe defigns, 
 without having before hand forty-five millions entire, that is, the re- 
 venue of two years, which it required the ftriâeft economy to keep to- 
 gether; and that Vvith this fum the war could not be fupported more 
 than three years, without anticipating the royal revenues, or burthen- 
 ing the people with extraordinary taxes. This the following calcula- 
 tion makes evident. 
 
 Q^q 2 The
 
 joo MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVH. 
 
 1604. The maintainance of aa army of fifty thoufand foot, which is the 
 
 leaft that could be employed on this occafion, will coft nine hundred 
 thoufand livres a month, and nine millions a year, allowing only ten 
 months to the year; fix thoufand horfe, which is the number anfwer- 
 able to fuch a body of infantry, will require three hundred and forty 
 thoufand livres a month, that is three millions four hundred thoufand 
 livres a year ; a train of artillery of forty pieces of cannon, cannot 
 well be fupplied at a lefs expence than a hundred and fifty thoufand 
 livres a month, and fifteen hundred thoufand a year. Thefe three ar- 
 ticles alone make up fourteen millions each year; and by confequence 
 near forty-two millions, will be required for the three years together, 
 on a fuppofition that the war will continue fo long. The expence of 
 making levies, of hiring carriages, of viâual, and other things abfo- 
 lutely neceflary at the beginning of the war, cannot be eftimated at lels 
 than a hundred and fifty thoufand livres ; the wafte of that victual,, 
 with other unforefeen expences in ammunition, muft amount likewife 
 to the fame fum. The remainder of the forty-five millions, it may ea-- 
 fily be imagined, will be confumed in extraordinary, expences, too te- 
 dious to infert here. 
 
 The king flill anfwered, that, before every thing could be in readi- - 
 nefs for the execution of thefe fchemes, fo many obftacles would arife 
 as to render all his endeavours ufelefs : but while he fpoke in this 
 manner, I perceived that his anger was already wholly extinguifhed, 
 and that he approved of all I had faid to him. This he immediately 
 after confefiTed, and, at the fame time, declared, with a fincerity truly 
 commendable in an abfolute prince, that the obilacles he had raifed, 
 and the fevere things he had faid to me, proceeded only from the 
 anxiety of a heart oppreflTed with a more cruel afflidlion than that he 
 had at firft complained of when he mentioned the traitorous cabal, 
 and that his peace was wholly ruined by the behaviour of the queen, 
 and the marchionefs of Verneuil. Thefe words, unhappily but too 
 finccre, changed the fubjedt of our converfation. 
 
 Henry's pafiion for mademoifelle d'Entragues was one of thofe 
 unhappy difeafes of the mind, that, like a flow poifon, preyed upon 
 the principles of life; for the heart, attacked in its moft fenfible part, 
 feels, indeed, the whole force of its misfortune, but, by a cruel fata- 
 lity, has neither the power, nor the inclination to be freed from 
 it. This prince fuffered all the infolence, the caprices, and ine- 
 qualities
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 qualities * of temper, that a proud and ambitious woman is capable 
 of (hewing. The marchionefs of Verneuil had wit enough to dif- 
 cover the power flie had over the king; and this power (lie never 
 exerted but to torment him. She talked to him continually of her fcru- 
 ples,and regretted the facility with which (he had yielded to his defires; 
 icruples which he refented with fo much the more reafon, as he was 
 not ignorant that fhe forgot them entirely with perfons of inferior 
 rank. They now feldom met but to quarrel : Henry paid a high 
 price for favours which were not endeared by that tender fympathy 
 which forms the happinefs of lovers, and which, to complete his 
 misfortune, occafioned almoft continual uneafinefs between him and 
 the queen his wife. 
 
 This princefs, on her fide, who had from nature a temper too ur?- 
 complying, and from her country a ftrong propenfity to jealoufy, not 
 being able to make her rival feel all the effecfts of her hatred, revenged 
 herfelf upon her hufband : and thus was this unhappy prince expofed 
 to the fury of two women, who agreed in nothing but in feparately con- 
 fpiring to deltroy his quiet. Whatever endeavours were ufed to pro- 
 duce a reconciliation between the king and his wife, were rendered 
 ineffe(ftual almolT: at the fame moment : the queen began immediately 
 to require a facrifice that Henry could not make her; and his refufal, . 
 though foftened with the grant of every other wifli, affedted her fo 
 fenfibly, that (he forgot all his compliances, and laboured herfelf to 
 continue the caufe of her own unealinefs, by depriving him, together 
 with the privileges of a hufband of all that tendernefs and regard that 
 conciliates affedion and fixes inclination. 
 
 She was foon informed, that the king had given madenioifellc 
 d'Entragues a promife of marriage, the original of which, as I have 
 
 * He reproaches her on this account, in " coon, can I fubmit to them : befides, . 
 
 fome of his letters, which have been pre- " thofe who love fincerely as I do,, expect 
 
 ferved amongft the manufcripts in the king's " to be flattered, not fcolded, Sec. " You 
 
 library, and are of his own hand-writing. " have promifed me," fays he in another 
 
 He writes to his lady in thefe terms : " I letter, " to behave with more prudence, 
 
 " perceive from your letter, that neither " but you muft be fenfible, the flyle of 
 
 " your eyes, nor your underftanding are " your other letter could not but give me 
 
 *' extremely clear, fmce you have taken " offence," &c. Amongft other original 
 
 " what I wrote to you in a quite differ- letters of Henry the Great, in poire/fion of 
 
 " ent fenfe from what I intended. An end the prefent duke of Sully, there is one from 
 
 " mufl be put to thefe pcrtneffes, if you this prince to his miftrcf?. See thecolicc- 
 
 " propofe to keep the entire poffefTion of tion of the letters of Henry the Great, 
 
 "my love J for neither as a king or a Gaf- lately publifhcd. 
 
 formerly
 
 S02 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Eook XVn. 
 
 1 604, formerly mentioned, had been torn by me, but another had been drawn 
 up by the king ; and llie never ceafed tormenting him till he had pro- 
 mifed to get from his miftrefs this paper, which all the ecclefiaftics 
 whom fhe confulted aflured her was of no force. Henry, merely to 
 oblige her, at length refolved to defire the marchionefs to reftore it j 
 and he demanded it of her in a manner that fliewed he would not be 
 refufed. He had juft left her when he came to the arfenal : the ef- 
 fort he had made upon himfelf to take this dtp, the little advantage 
 he had drawn from it, and the oftenfive language with which his mif- 
 treft> had accompanied her refufal, had all together produced that 
 deep affliction in which I faw him. 
 
 The marchionefs of Verneuil, upon the firfi: intimation that it was 
 expedled fhe lliould refign the promife of marriage, threw herfelf in- 
 to the moft violent tranfport of rage imaginable, and told the king, 
 infolently, that he might feek it elfewhere. Henry, that he might 
 finifh at once all the harfli things he had to fay to her, began to re- 
 proach her with her connedtions with the count d'Auvergne her bro- 
 ther, and with the malcontents of the kingdom. She would not con- 
 -defcend to clear herfelf of this imputed crime, but affuming in her 
 turn the language of reproach, {lie told him, that it was not pofTible 
 to live any longer with him ; that as he grew old he grew jealous and 
 fufpicious, and that (he would with joy break off a correfpondence for 
 which fhe had been too ill rewarded to find any thing agreeable in it, 
 and which rendered her, flie faid, the objedl of the public hatred. She 
 carried her infolence fo far, as to fpeakof the queen in terms fo contemp- 
 tuous, that if we may believe Henry, he was upon the point of ftriking 
 her J and that he might not be forced to commit fuch an outrage to de- 
 cency, he was obliged to quit her abruptly, but full of rage and vexa- 
 tion, which he v\'as at no pains to conceal, fwearing that he would 
 make her reflore the promife that had raifed this ftorm. 
 
 After giving me this account of the behaviour of his miflrefs, the 
 remembrance of which renewed all his rage, he was forced to grant 
 (and without his confefîîon I fliould have much fufpedled it) that he 
 fliould with difficulty bring himfelf to a refolution of keeping the oath 
 he had made in the firfl fallies of his fury : and as it is ufual with lovers, 
 who never have fo ftrong an inclination to praife the objefl of their 
 paffion, as after they have faid all the injurious things pofîîble of 
 them, Henry fell again upon the good qualities of his miftrefs, when 
 out of thofe capricious humours, and when thofe fudden gufts of paf- 
 fion
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 fion had fubfided. He praifed, with a tranlport of deHght, the charms 
 of her converfation, her fprightly wit, her repartees lb poignant, yt^î 
 i'o full of delicacy and fpirit ; and here indeed he had ibme foundation 
 for his praifes. The queen's temper and manners were fo different, 
 that the contraft made him ftill more fenfible of thofe charms in his 
 miftrefs. "I find nothing of all this at home, faid he tome. I receive 
 " neither fociety, amufement, nor content from my wife ; her conver- 
 " fation is unpleafing, her temper harOi, (he never accommodates her- 
 " felf to my humour, nor fliares in any of my cares ; when I enter 
 " her apartment, and offer to approach her with tendernefs, or begin 
 •* to talk familiarly with her, fhe receives me with fo cold and forbid- 
 " ding an air, that I quit her in difguft, and am obliged to feek con- 
 " folation elfewhere. When mycoulin Guife is at the Louvre, I have 
 " recourfe to her converfation to banifli my uneafinefs ; yet (he often 
 " tells me plain truths, but it is with fo good a grace that I cannot be 
 ♦' offended, and am forced to laugh with her." Such was the difpo- 
 fition of this prince ; and probably the queen had only herfelf to blame, 
 that flie had not been able to draw him out of the fnares of her rival, 
 or to difengage him from every other intrigue of gallantry : at leafl:, 
 he appeared to me to be abfolutely fincere, and to have the beft in- 
 tentions imaginable, when he prelied me, at the conclufion of this dif- 
 courfe, to ufe my utmoft endeavours to prevail upon the queen his wife, 
 to alter her behaviour, and accommodate herfelf more to his humour. 
 
 I WAS about to anfvver, for this fubjeâ: feemed not yet half dif- 
 cuffed, when we were interrupted by meffieurs De-Vic, de Trigny, 
 de Pilles, de Fortria, and others, who entered that moment, and told 
 his majeffy, that the perfons whom he had ordered to attend him had 
 waited more than an hour, and that it was fo late it would be impof- 
 fible to do all the bufinefs that morning. The king, after recommend- 
 ing fecrecy to me, followed them into the hall, and gave the rell of 
 that day, and the two following, wholly to the affairs that had brought 
 him to the arfenal. The office of furveyor of the highways In Guienne 
 was given, at my folicitation to Biçofe, who was then in his fervice. A N. deBicofe 
 commiffioner was named to go and pull down the fort of Craon. Many o"" Vifioufe : 
 other new difpofftions were made, which I fliall not mention here, tiurof the^" 
 
 finances. 
 
 The king did not fail to take the firff opportunity to renew the 
 converfation that had been fo unfeafonably interrupted : he had a re- 
 conciliation with the queen fo much at heart, that he wrote me billet 
 after billet, enjoining me to undertake the talk he had propofed to me. 
 
 I was
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVU. 
 
 I was fenfible I ran great hazards'by obeying him : a too free and too 
 ardent zeal on thefe occafions with perfons of this rank often expofes 
 the mediator to the refentment of one of the parties, and fometimes 
 to that of both; befides, to fpeak candidly, this employment was lefs 
 fuitable to me than to any other perfon, thefe little broils being ex- 
 tremely difagreeable to my temper. 
 
 I THEREFORE rcfolved to omit no perfuafions which I thought ca- 
 -pable to make Henry himfelf take the only reafonable meafures that 
 'Were left him. I brought arguments, exhortations, examples, to 
 ■prove that it depended upon himfelf to regain his quiet, and fix it up- 
 -on folid foundations; and all that was neceflary for this purpofe, was 
 to exert the mafter and the king, oblige the queen to keep her ill hu- 
 mours toherfelf and forbear her reproaches, and, above all, her com- 
 plaints in public, which produced nothing but indecent reflections : 
 and as to thofe who by their malicious informations embittered the 
 mind of this princefs, to punifli them feverely for the flightefl: word 
 they dared to utter againfl him. I reprefented to this prince, that to 
 fecure his own peace and the happinefs of his life, required only that 
 he fliould exert a very fmall part of that courage and ftrength of mind 
 he had fliewn on occafions of a very different nature ; that his reputa- 
 tion fuffered from that tender fault in his conftitution, almoft incom- 
 prehenfible in fo great a prince. I told him, that a fovereign, with- 
 out incurring the imputation of tyranny, and by the fole privilege of 
 his high office, might exadl from his fubjeéls and family, as well for 
 his own perfon as his ftate, that obedience fo neceflary to preferve a 
 jufl: fubordination and fecure refpeél; and that it was abfolutely fit 
 and jull, that he fliould chaftife fuch perfons who made it their bufl- 
 nefs to defliroy his domeftic quiet. To thefe arguments I added the 
 ftrongefl; entreaties; I conjured Henry with lifted hands, and eyes 
 fwimming in tears, to employ his authority on this occafion : the 
 condition I faw him in filled me with the deepefl: concern. 
 
 It is certain that this prince had no other part left him to tafce ; 
 and I could never comprehend why he appeared fo flrongly averfe to 
 it. He remembered the advice I had given him at Blois, which being 
 fo different from that I prefled him now to follow, gave him a kind 
 of advantage over me : he feemed to be pleafed with having an op- 
 portunity to tell me, that I perhaps was the true caufe of all that had 
 fince happened. But there was nothing folid in this objedion, if well 
 examined ; and when I difluaded his majefty from having recourfe to 
 
 meafures
 
 Book XVII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 305 
 
 meafures which might have produced dangerous confequences (this I 1604. 
 cannot fpeak more clearly without betraying the fecret I then vowed 
 to keep) I had no intention to exclude him from taking fuch gentle 
 and eafy methods, as would be juflifiable in the father of a family to 
 fecure the tranquility of his houfe. And Henry was reduced to the 
 neceffity of owning, that if I were well acquainted with his difpoli- 
 tion, I would be convinced it was abfolutely out of his power to adl 
 with rigour towards perfons with whom he was accuflomed to live 
 in familiarity, and above all to his wife. 
 
 I H AD nothing left but to tell him, that then he muft banifh his 
 millrefs, and give his wife all the fatisfadlion {he could require. But 
 he prevented me, by faying, that he was ready, if it murt: be fo, to 
 remove all caufe of complaint from the queen, provided he could be 
 aflured, that after making her fo great a facrifice, he fhould find her 
 fuch as he wiihed : but that he forefaw he fhould be plagued all the 
 remainder of his life, becaufe this princefs was weak and obflinate 
 enough to believe, that by ading in the manner fhe did, flie fol- 
 lowed the didlates of reafon ; when, in effedl, flie was only governed 
 by her paffions. Henry, to convince me of the juftnefs of this fear, 
 entered into a long enumeration of the queen's faults, in which he 
 but repeated to me what he had faid before, upon the delight (he 
 took in contradifting and teazing him ; he only added, that (he had 
 difcovered the moft violent hatred to all his natural children, although 
 born before fhe came into France, which it was not probable flie 
 would ever remit; he dwelt upon the little fenfibility flie had fliewn 
 to his tendernefs and regard for her, or gratitude for the extreme at- 
 tention with which he prevented all the occafions flie might have for 
 money, although he was not ignorant that flie never received any 
 but to fquander upon Leonora and her husband, and fome others, 
 who were continually filling her ears with malicious flories, and giv- 
 ing her bad advice : he took me to witnefs, that never queen of 
 France had received fo many and fuch coniiderable grants ; and it is 
 certain, that I had been the firfl: to favour and folicit for them by my 
 wife, and this I did with a view to peace, which is often purchafed 
 by thefe means, and always by the king's orders. By the rage this 
 prince exprefTcd againfl: Conchini and his wife, whom heconfidered 
 as the creatures of Spain, and fpies of the duke of Florence, no one, 
 doubtlefs, would have chofen to be in the place of thefe two Italians ; 
 but this rage had no other confequences than making him condemn 
 
 Vol. II. R r himfelf
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIL 
 
 himfelf for not following the advice I was free enough to give him 
 when the queen came into France, which was, to forbid all her Ita- 
 lian attendants to pafs the Alps with her. 
 
 This long converfation concluded with the fame requeft as the pre- 
 cedin'j- one had done, that I fliould attempt, by the gentleft methods 
 I could think of, to perfuade the queen to more condefcenfion to her 
 hufband's will, without giving her caufe to fufpedt that I adled by his 
 orders. Henry ufed every argument which he thought likely to have 
 any force with me to engage me to undertake this tafk, telling me he 
 did not doubt my fuccefs, having, on an occafion fimilar to this, pre- 
 vailed upon the queen to write a letter to him, when no one elfe could.. 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK xvin. 
 
 AT the very time that the king gave me this commiflion to the 1604. 
 queen, chance offered me a very favourable opportunity to exe- 
 cute it. The mod common method of making grants to this 
 princefs, was either to create edidls in her favour, as thofe w^hich I have 
 l'uH: mentioned, or by granting to her the money paid upon contracts 
 and bargains which fucceeded through her intereft and protedion. 
 Thefe edidls and contrails always pafled through my hands before they 
 took effeâ: ; and it was my bufinefs to name, examine, and authorife 
 the perfons concerned. 
 
 The queen was offered four and twenty thoufand livres, to procure 
 the grant of an edi6l concerning the otiicers of the excife in Languedoc. 
 She fent d'Argouges * to fhew me the edift, and acquaint me with the 
 propofal. I told d'Argouges, that his majefly might indeed, without 
 doing the public any injuflice, grant the favour the queen required, but 
 that I did not think fhe took a good opportunity to obtain it ; the 
 
 * Florent d'Argouges, treafitrer of the the time of his death, a counfellor of ftate, 
 queen's houfhoid : his fon was firft prefi- and of the privy council, 
 dent of tJie parliament of Brittany, and at 
 
 R r 2 king
 
 3o5 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XVIIL 
 
 1604. king appearing to me fo difcontented with feme late proceedings of 
 ^ — „-. —/ this princefs, that I was afraid he would not have this complaifance 
 for her, unlefs fhe firft endeavoured to remove his difpleafure; and I 
 took the liberty to offer her my advice and fer vices on this occafion, if 
 ■flie thought I could be of any ufe to her. The queen, tempted by a 
 fum fo confiderable, accepted my offer, and promifcd every thing, 
 believing that, by writing a fubmifîîve letter to the king, as fhe had 
 done before, fhe fliould certainly fucceed : accordingly fhe wrote a 
 letter, and fent forme to fliew it me, appearing willing to alter what- 
 ever I judged improper in it. 
 
 Never had any flep (he had taken cofl her fo much. She had fo 
 great an averfion for the marchionefs of Verneuil, that flie would 
 hardly deign to pronounce her name: but if any circumflance occurred 
 to introduce the mention of her, her geftures, her emotions, her very 
 filence itfelf, expreffed, in the moft lively manner, what fhe would 
 not fay. As it was abfolutely neceffary to accuftom her to hear her ri- 
 val fpoken of, I put her upon this fubjecft without referve ; and then flie 
 confoled herfelf with giving the marchionefs the moft fevere epithets 
 her imagination could furnifli her with ; (lie faid fhe never could re- 
 folve to look favourably upon a woman who had dared to bring her- 
 felf in comparifon with her, and inculcated the fame infolence and 
 want of refpedl for her in her children, who embroiled the flate by 
 countenancing the malecontents, while the king, blinded by hispaffion, 
 took no care to reftrain her. 
 
 I BEGAN by fympathifing with her in her griefs -, but fhewing her 
 how much the caufe of them was increafed by her behaviour to the 
 king, I made her fo fully fenfible of her fault, that flie wrote another 
 letter in the terms I didlated to her, and fent it to the king, who had 
 left her at Fontainebleau, and was then at Paris. While he was under 
 the imprefîion of the joy this letter gave him, he returned her an an- 
 fwer fo tender and polite, as it might naturally be expelled would pro- 
 duce one from the queen in the fame ftrain : but unfortunately, jufl 
 before this letter was delivered to her, her emiiTaries had informed her, 
 that the king was gone as ufual to the marchionefs de Verneuil, and 
 infinuated that he was diverting himfelf with his miftrefs at her credu- 
 lity. She now forgot all that fhe had promifed, faid the king had de- 
 ceived her J and, inflead of writing, told the meffenger who brought 
 her his majefly's letter, with a cold and contemptuous air, that fhe need 
 not write, fince fhe expected to fee the king the next day, as he had pro- 
 mifed
 
 Book XVIH. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 mifed her. The king was piqued, as it was natural he fliould be, at 
 this behaviour, and could not be filent : thofe that heard what he 
 faid in the firft emotions of his anger, were not perfons who he could 
 expedl would be fecret as I was, to whom he wrote diredlly. All that 
 was faid on both fides was reported to each of them, and matters 
 were now in a worfe flate than before. 
 
 I WAS now engaged in a new affair, that of fettling the debate ; but 
 at mofllcould expedl only an interval of peace, which would continue 
 no longer than others had done, while his majefty could not prevail 
 upon himfelf to take the only effedual methods that remained^ Thefe 
 propofals I again made him, when he fent La-Varenne for me one 
 day, to find, if poffible, fome remedy for his continual difquiets, which 
 became every day more infupportable. I found him in the Orangerie 
 of theTuilleries, which afhower of rain had obliged him to enter; and 
 as he was repeatedly preffing me to tell him what he fhould do, and, 
 upon my refufal, abfolutely commanded me to give him my advice, 
 *' Then oblige four or five perfons, faid I to him, to pafs the fea, and 
 " as many others the Alps." The king anfwered, that half of my 
 counfel he could follow without any difficulty, fince nothing hindered 
 him from exercifing fome feverity upon thofe feditious perfons who 
 were confpiring againft him in his court, but that it was not the fame 
 with the Italians; becaufe that he not only had every thing to appre- 
 hend from that vindicative people, but likewife by removing her favou- 
 rites, he fliould give fuch offence to the queen, as would render her for 
 ever implacable. The king, after refledling a little upon the propofal 
 I had mads him, fell upon a very fingular expedient, which was, to 
 get this princefs herfelf to confent to what I had advifed. He flopped 
 there, as if the thing had really been poflible, and infiffed upon my 
 ufing all my endeavours to work this miracle, promifing me, that if 
 I fucceeded, he would, from that momçnt, renounce all his gallan- 
 tries. After the king had given me this new commiffion, he left me, 
 as he faid, to meditate upon it, and continued his walk alone in the 
 garden, the rain having ceafed during our converfation. 
 
 I DID not begin with the queen, by afking immediately a facrifice 
 which I faw fhe was not difpofed to make; I believed, that if ever a 
 favourable opportunity offered to prevail upon her, it would be when 
 there was a perfedl agreement between their majeflies ; and this I la- 
 boured with fo much affiduity to produce, that at length I reconciled 
 them more thoroughly than they had ever been before; they agreed 
 
 to
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIIL 
 
 to forget all the part, and for the future to be deaf to all malicious 
 informers. This calm lafted three weeks, and during that time the 
 court was full of joy, and different amufemcnts were thought of every 
 day: but fome new ftratagems of the marchionefs de Verneuil's hav- 
 ing produced their ordinary effedl, thefe good refolutions vaniflied 
 ao-ain, and it became neceflary, as a laft refource, to attempt the ex- 
 pedient propofed by the king. 
 
 It may eafily be imagined, in what manner the queen received a 
 propofal to fend away, in fome fort difgracefuUy, thofe perfons of her 
 houfliold whom (he loved the moft. I expeéted fhe would refufe me, 
 and I had no hopes but from my obftinacy in returning often to the 
 charge : but this princefs continued inflexible ; and, to fay the truth, 
 Henry, on his fide, fo ill performed the promife he had given me, to 
 reward this facrifice by that of renouncing all other attachments but 
 to his wife, that flie drew from thence her beft arguments for not 
 yielding to mine. 
 
 What I had forefeen, really happened ; the queen, inftigated by 
 thofe whom I diredtly attacked, began to feek a quarrel even with 
 me, and complained that I had not kept my word with her, as if it 
 had been in my power to feparate Henry from his miflrefs. But I 
 did not fail to obferve to her, that fhe performed her promife no bet- 
 ter; and by that appearance of coldnefs and diflike, which, after fo 
 many relapfes, the king looked upon as infurmountable, (he was her- 
 felf the caufe of that evil (he imputed to me. I propofed Madam de 
 Guife to her as an example fhe (hould follow, if (he ever hoped to fix 
 the king's affedion folely upon herfelf. She afterwards complained 
 publicly, that I did not pay all the refpeâ I ought to have done to 
 her letters : this I was acquainted with by the wife of Conchini, who 
 was lefs unreafonable and imprudent, than any other of her favou- 
 rites, by whom flie was abfolutely governed. To this complaint I 
 anfwered, that it was indeed true I did not always pay regard to let- 
 ters which I faw written by the hand of any of her fecretaries, be- 
 caufe they were either diftated without her knowledge, by unjuft fo- 
 licitors uho abufed her name, or written with a view to draw her re- 
 fentment upon me if I refufed to comply with them; but as for thofe 
 written with her own hand, I defied any one to accufe me with hav- 
 ing negleéled toanfwer them with the utmofl: deference and refped. 
 
 To fay the truth, it was abfolutely necefiary that I iliould continually 
 call to remembrance, as I did, the duty I owed to the wife of my king, 
 
 that
 
 Book XVIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 that I might not be carried by her unreafonable importunties to any 
 failure of refpedl or obedience ; for indeed there was no end of her de- 
 mands : the expences of her houfliold alone coft the king every year three 
 hundred and forty-five thoufand livres ; all the gratuities, contracts, 
 and edidls^ that were made in her favour were not fufficient to fupply 
 her other expences; (lie one day, in a fit of ill humour, pawned her 
 rings and jewels, or rather thofe that belonged to the queens of France, 
 and there was a neceflity for drawing money from the exchequer to 
 redeem them ; the ediél of exempts was pafTed in every parifli for 
 her advantage ; fome receivers of Rouerque and Quercy being be- 
 hind-hand in their payments, the money was applied to her ufes; fhe 
 took upon herfelf to pay the nuptial expences of Santi, her Italian 
 gardener, and afked me for fix hundred livres for that purpofe : this 
 was indeed but a trifiing fum, but by fuch trifles as thefe one may 
 judge of this princefs's difpofition with regard to œconomy. What 
 could I do in this perplexing fituation, fince the inconvenience was 
 equal, whether I granted all, or refufed all, but to refufe whatever 
 was really an encroachment upon juftice, and a detriment to the public 
 good, and in fuch demands as mull: indifpenfably be granted, and efpe- 
 cially edi(5ls, to prevent any opprefllon in levying the money ? As to 
 their majefties perfonal quarrels, it muft be confeffed, that in the king's 
 condu6t there were unaccountable weaknefTes, and in the queen's in- 
 excufable irregularities. 
 
 From the little fuccefs I had met with ever fince I had firll inter- 
 pofed in thefe domeflic debates, I at length was fully convinced, that 
 in thefe affairs fuch only as were intereited fliould undertake to me- 
 diate between the parties , I therefore quietly flipped my neck out of 
 the collar, and willingly left the field open to Sillery, whom the king 
 likewife made ufe of on this occafion. He fometimes found that Sil- 
 lery managed the two ladies better than I, which I had no difficulty 
 to believe: this employment required complaifance and dilhnuilation ; 
 I could neither flatter the fentiments of others nor dilguife my own ; 
 and without this there was nothing to hope for, and every thing to 
 fear : and there the refentment of a wife and a miftrefs both was to 
 be dreaded, which made the danger fo much the greater. By ^shat 
 has been related, my firfi: obfervation has been fully made out; and the 
 fécond, I may fay, was no lefs verified by the event, fince, if I had 
 not been extremely cautious, I fliould have certainly been the victim of ■ 
 the lover and the miftrefs, and upon the following occafion.
 
 312 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XVJll. 
 
 1604.. ■^^ ^^^ ^'''^^ when the mifunderftanding between Henry and the 
 
 marchionefs of Verneuil increafed every day, I was defired by the king 
 to make her very fevere reproaches in his name. Inftead of relenting, 
 or confefling her fault, fhe affiimed fo haughty an air, and anfwered 
 with fo little refpedl, that this once I began to hope the affair would not 
 end but in an open rupture, which was what I moft ardently v/ifhed for : 
 flie not only refufed to give his majefty the fatisfaftion he demanded 
 of her, but appeared fo fully determined to break off all commerce 
 with the king, that (he even went fo far, as to folicit me in the mod 
 earneft manner imaginable, to prevail upon the king to confent to this 
 refolution, as being equally neceffary to the future happinefs of them 
 both ; and defired, that as foon as I went home I would write a letter 
 to the king, which had been concerted between us, in which fhe ex- 
 preffed herfclf in terms ftrong enough to make me conclude fhe adled 
 fmcerely. However, the knowledge I had of this woman's charadter 
 was fufficient to give me apprehenfions that flie would difavow all that 
 I fhould write to the king, and pretend that I had endeavoured, by 
 underhand practices, to widen the breach between her and this prince ; 
 a condudl which, indulgent as he was, he would have never been able 
 to pardon j for in affairs of love he carried his fenfibility and delicacy 
 very far. I therefore took the precaution to fend this letter to the 
 marchionefs before it was given to the king, and at the fame time de- 
 fired Ihe would read and examine it with attention, that fhe might be 
 convinced I had faid nothing more in this letter (which was very long) 
 than fhe had di6lated to me; and entreated her to let me know, whe- 
 ther I had not fcrupuloufly obferved the purport of her words. I re- 
 commended it in a particular manner to the bearer, to bring me back 
 no verbal meffage, but to oblige this lady to write what Ihe thought 
 neceffary to be altered in the letter, and all that fhe would have me 
 add to it. 
 
 She had already relaxed much from the feverity of her firfl refolu- 
 tion ; my meffenger perceived it, by her cavilling at the terms, and 
 appearing diffatisfied, though {lie did not give the leaft hint that the 
 letter (hould be fuppreffed. My fervant finding that flie returned the 
 "letter, after all this vague declamation, without any pofitive anfwer, 
 remembered the orders I had given him, and told her, that having a 
 very indifferent memory, he entreated that fhe would write down what 
 fhe had juft faid to him, that he might not incur any blame from his 
 mafter for his having forgot, or imperfedly reported, any of her words. 
 
 She
 
 Book XVIII. IVI E M O I R S OF SULLY. 
 
 She underftood his meaning, but had gone too far to recede ; flie 
 therefore took the pen, and wrote to me, that (he approved of the 
 whole letter, except one expreflion, which was fufficient, {he faid, to 
 put the king into a violent palfion. I had told the king in this letter, 
 that the marchionefs entreated him flill to allow her the honour of 
 feeing him fometimes, but to have no private correfpondence with 
 ;her : the laft words flie foftened by adding, " that might be preju" 
 '*' dicial to him," v/hich made no great difference. 
 
 1 CAREFULLY dcpofited the marchionefs's letter, and fent mine to 
 the king, not without having fome hopes, that pride and affronted 
 love, if not reafon, would prevail upon him to concur in the refolutioa 
 Jiis miftrefs had taken, and that he would at length ceafe to be the flave 
 of a woman. In effect, he read my letter twice over with all the in- 
 dignation and rage which might naturally be expected. "How! faid 
 " he, does flie defire our correfpondence may be broke off? I defire it 
 " more ardently than flie does ; flie firall be taken in her own fnares." 
 The king uttered tliefe words in a low voice, but my meffenger heard 
 them. He afked for paper and pens, and wrote a billet to me that in- 
 ilant, in which he promifed, that on the Monday following the mar- 
 chionefs of Verneuil fliould receive a letter from his hand, which 
 fliould prove that he ftill knew how to command his paffions. 
 
 This billet of theking's was dated the i6th of April, but that of 
 Monday never came ; but on his arrival at Paris, he f.ew immedia- 
 tely to his miflrefs's houfe, flattering himfelf that he fliould at leafb 
 overwhelm her with confufion, and force from hqr a thoufand pain- 
 ful regrets. Far from it, it was himfelf that played this part ; he dif- 
 avowed all that his agents had done, he condemned himfelf; in a word, 
 he threw himfelf upon the mercy of her who had jufl treated him 
 with the utmofl contempt. Then it was that I thought myfelf happy 
 to be poffefled of a letter from the marchioneis that could reftrain his 
 refentment ao:ainfl me. She however imagined, that this letter could 
 not hinder me from appearing, through her reprefentations, as an in- 
 cendiary and flanderer. I would not take upon me to anfwer for 
 Henry's good opinion of me that moment; the letter I fliewcd him 
 when he came to the arfenal undeceived him, but it could not open 
 his eyes upon the arts of his unworthy miftrefs ; he told me at part- 
 ing, that he would chide her feverely. I did not believe him ; and 
 indeed how could I after what had jufl happened ? 
 
 Vol. n. S s After
 
 314 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XVIII: 
 
 1604. After the reconciliation between the king and the queen, which 
 was made, as has been feen, at the expence of the marchionefs of 
 Verneuil ; this woman, who for the firll: time thought herfelf really- 
 abandoned, undertook to ruin this peace, and unhappily but too well 
 accomplifhed herpurpofe. It is wonderful to think how many fprings 
 file put in motion to awaken the king's love for her, and excite his 
 jealoufy ; even religion was profaned to ferve her purpofe ; fhe would 
 be a nun, and devote herfelf to perpetual confinement ; flie openly 
 joined the party of the malecontents, ihe fought out all the young 
 women to whom Henry had difcovered any attachment, and prevailed 
 upon them to forge fuch promifes of marriage as that he had given to 
 her ; fhe made fo infolent an ufe of that, as to pretend to derive from 
 it a chimerical right to get the queen's marriage annulled ; and, what , 
 is hardly to be credited, found ecclefiaftics who countenanced her in 
 thefe extravagancies, and who were hardy enough topublifb the banns 
 of marriage, which fhe boafted flie would oblige the king to contrad: 
 with her. At the fame time a great number of letters and memoirs 
 were diftributed among the public, in which the ridiculous pretenfions 
 of this woman were fupported *, Henry would have given any reward 
 for a difcovery of the authors of thefe writings, his whole court were 
 employed to find them out, and myfelf among the refl=. 
 
 I SHOULD never come to an end if I undertook to relate all the 
 circumflances of this affair, which, trifling as the greater part of them 
 are, brought a good deal of trouble upon fome that had a fhare in it : 
 but I am weary of difplaying thofe little weakneffes in a prince, who, 
 on other occafions, has afforded me fo many opportunities of admiring 
 the heroic firmnefs of his mind. This ftorm, which was occafioned 
 by a mere love-quarrel, ended, as ufual with Henry, in an increafe of 
 tendernefs for his unworthy miflrefs, which carried the mifunder- 
 ftanding between him and the queen to greater heights than ever -j-. 
 
 * See the cardinal D'Oflat's complaints never fo great as at that time. 
 on this occafion againft the courts of Spain f " The duke of Sully has often told 
 
 and Savoy, ^nd in particular againft a ca- " me (fays the author of L'Hiftoire de la 
 
 puchin, called father Hillary, of Grenoble, " Mere et du Fils) that he never knevir 
 
 who carried on a cabal at Rome in favour " them a week together without quar- 
 
 of the marchionefs de Verneuil's party. " relling. He alfo told me, that once the 
 
 Letters of the 22d February, and 15th Oc- " queen was fo far tranfported with paillon, 
 
 tober, 1601, and of the ift of April 1602. " that being near the king, and haftily lift- 
 
 The liberty of publifhing fatirical libels was " ing up her arm, he was fo apprehenfive 
 
 It
 
 :Book XVIir. M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. 315 
 
 It was fixed, that by a moft unaccountable contradidion in the nature 1604. 
 of things, this prince fhould, throughout his whole Hfe, feek his plea- 
 sures and gratifications at the expence of his quiet and his health. 
 Thefe two motives made me ftill interefl: myfelf in thefe unpleafing 
 affairs; for I could not, without the moil: fenfible affliftion, fee the 
 health of a prince fo dear to me declining every day. He had not in- 
 deed any illnefs this year that immediately threatened his life, but he 
 never gave fo much employment to the phyficians. La Riviere and 
 Du-Laurens ; he was obliged to ufe bleeding often, and obferved a ftridt 
 regimen, to prevent the bad effeds of a blood heavy and inflamed, 
 which brought frequent indifpofitions upon him : rage, grief, and im- 
 patience, threw him into fuch an agitation, that one day, being vio- 
 lently offended at fome late proceeding of the marchioneis de Verneuil, 
 ■the arm in which he had been bled the evening before, opened again, 
 as he was fitting down to dinner. The queen accompanied him this 
 year in his journey to Monceaux, whither he went to drink the waters 
 ■of Pougues and Spa *, with the greater conveniency. 
 
 Nothing would have been wanting to complete the unhappinefsof 
 thefe dortieftic quarrels, if queen Margaret had borne a part in them : 
 this was the only misfortune that Henry efcaped ; and certainly this 
 princefs merited the higheft encomiums for the fweetnefs of her tem- 
 per, her refignation, and, above all, for her difintereflednefs, in a fitua- 
 tion that afforded her many arguments to urge a compliance with all 
 fhe could defire; her demands were few, and for things not only ne- 
 ceffary in themfelves, but fuch as flie had an inconteftable right to, the 
 fulfilling fuch engagements as had been made with her, and fome ex- 
 emptions for her borough of UlTon ; her chief folicitation was on account 
 of fucceeding to the poffeflions of her mother queen Catherine : that 
 princefs, by her contraft of marriage with Henry II. was entitled to 
 leave her effedls, after the death of her fons, to her daughters, prefer- 
 able to the natural children of her hulband. Although this difpofition 
 was abfolutely equitable, yet Charles of Valois, count of Auvergne -f-, 
 
 " flie was going to do fomething further, + By virtue of a deed of gift, which 
 
 " that he caught hold of her with lefs re- Henry III. had made to him of thefe eftates. 
 
 " fpe£t than he wifhcJ to have done, and In 1606 the pariiament confirmed the will 
 
 " fo roughlv, that (he afterwards com- of Catherine of Medicis, and adjudged theic 
 
 " plained^he had flruck her, &c." Vol. I. eftates to Margaret of Valois. Brantôme, 
 
 p. 8. in vol. VII. of his Memoirs, p. 38, gives 
 
 * The Spa-waters are in the bifhopric an enumeration of thefe eftates, conliitin j 
 
 «f Liege. of the earldoms of Auvergne, Lauragais, 
 
 S s 2 pre-
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIÎL 
 
 pretended a claim, to the prejudice of Margaret. She had not the prin- 
 cipal writings that proved the legality of hers : but the king interp. fed 
 his authority to make it be given her, and that .(he (hould obtain the 
 juftice that was due to her. Margaret, during her whole life, main- 
 tained the fime reftitude of condud: ; and from her behaviour it could 
 never be difcovered that fhe had once been the wife of the king. I 
 ftiould not confine my praifes to what I have already faid of her, were- 
 I not apprehenfive of being accufed of partiality ; fince the interefl: 
 which this princefs had always the goodnefs to take in my fortune is 
 well known ; her letters to me were fuch as one would write to a fin- 
 cere and unalterable friend, " You are always (thus fhe exprelfes herfelf 
 ** in one of them) my refource, and, after God, myfurell reliance." 
 
 But let us now pafs to other cares and uneafineffes that the king- 
 fufFered this year from a traitorous cabal, in which the marchionefs de 
 Verneuil will again have a place. Without repeating inceflantly the 
 names of the dukes of Bouillon, La-Tremouille, and de Rohan, the 
 count d'Auvergne, d'Entragues, his wife, Du-Pleflis, and the reft, it 
 maybe eafily imagined that thefe are the perfons I mean. The fame 
 fpirit of fedition, by which they had adled in the intrigues they had 
 fet on foot with theproteftant party in the fynod of Gap, flill direâied 
 their enterprifes, and fuggefled to them innumerable ftratagems, 
 either to raife an infurreétion among the king's fubjedls, or make him 
 new enemies abroad. It is fcarce credible how many fianderous lies 
 were propagated of his majefty, how far they extended their influence, 
 and how many plots were formed againft the government by the au- 
 thority of thefe leaders. 
 
 The king, when he fent me to Paris, by d'Efcures, fome advices he 
 had juft received at Saint-Germain-en-laye, began in this manner: 
 That although I had not already too favourable an opinion of this 
 whole body, yet I lliould with difficulty believe what he had to write 
 to me concerning it. Indeed I am obliged to confefs, that the pro- 
 ceedings of the French proteftants were fuch, as left them no reafon to 
 complain of any but themfelves, if they one day met with a fevere 
 punilhment for them. They boafted almofl: openly, that they would 
 
 Leverous, Douzenac, Choufiac, Gorregcs, more than two hundred thoufand crowns, . 
 Hondocourt, ^'c. the yearly revenue of or ducats, " which, fays he, would be worth 
 which, according to his account, amount- " now more than four hundred thoufand ;"" 
 ed to an hundred and twenty thoufand together with a great quantity of furniture, 
 livres ; befides that princefs's portion of plate, precious Itones, jewels, &c. 
 
 oblige
 
 Book XVIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ©blige his majefty, not only to receive the duke of Bouillon in his king- 
 dom, but alfo to invert: him with honours and offices worthy of a chief 
 of the religion. Da-P!ellis, ti e foul that animated this body, fuggefted 
 only fuch thoughts j La TremouilJe had prepared his creatures lor un- 
 dertaking all things, by perfuading them, that they would very fliortly 
 behold a furprifing revolution in France; the duke of Rohan, in the 
 mean time, took upon himfelf to fpread this report in foreign countries, 
 and in England efpecially, by a trufty emiffary named Durand, who 
 ufed his utmofl: endeavours to draw off his Britannic majefty from 
 Henry's party. This man, who at London afTumed the title of M. 
 de Haute-Fontaine, fiievved himfelf fo faithful and officious a fcrvant, 
 that the king, as well as every one elfe, was perfuaded that he had ex- 
 ceeded his commiffion ; for it was affirmed, that he had treated on 
 conditions for the eftabli(hment of his mailer in England, where he 
 wantea to get him naturalized : if this delign was not Durand's alone, 
 it could only be fuggeded by the duchefs dowager of Rohan. It is allb 
 certain, that the duke of Rohan ordered Durand to prefent the king 
 of England, in his name, with a horfe of great price, which, in the 
 prefent conjunfture, it was not juftifiable for him to do, without Hen- 
 ry's conlent. 
 
 But it v/as more neceffiiry to enter into a flrlft examination of the 
 count of Auvergne's conduit, than any of the others; few perfons 
 were ignorant of his connexion with Spain. He was then in Auvergne, 
 where he was not idle, either with relpect to the common caufe, or 
 his own particular one; he had made ulb of the promife of marriage, 
 given by Henry to * the marchionefs de Verneuil his filler, to lerve 
 
 * The hiftorians give no clear account doublet, that no one difcovered it ; and, 
 of the purport of tl;e treaty entered into by finding himfelf treated as a ftate criminal, 
 the count of Auvergne with the Spanifh he, by degrees, eat both the treaty, and 
 council ; but Amtlot de La HouiTaye will the ratification of it by the court of Spain 
 help us out on this occafion ; and he is the annexed to it, up in the foups and other 
 more vvorthy of credit, a's he alTures us, vicluaLs, which were brought to his table. 
 that the count of Auvergne, and the mar- The king of Spain thereby promifed to affifl 
 chionefs of Verntuil, vntrufted the origi- the count of Auvergne with troops and 
 nal of this treaty to his grandfather on the money, to place his nephew Henry of 
 mother's fide, their near rtlaiion and inii- Boutbon on the throne, who was the fon 
 mate fiicnd, called Antony-Eugene Che- c.f Kenry IV. by the marchionefs of Ver- 
 villard, paymafter-general of the gendar- neuil, and who, in that writing, is flyled 
 mcry of France. He further informs us, dauphin of France, aud lawful heir to the 
 that Chevillard, being involved in the dif- crown. Art. Entragues-Balfac, Toucher, 
 grace of the count of Auvergne, and fcnt Amelot de la Houlikye further afUires us, 
 to the Bailile, he kept the original of the in the note on the cardinal D'OlTat's let- 
 treaty io well concealed in the fldrt of his ters above mentioned, that two capuchins.
 
 J 
 
 18 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XVIM. 
 
 1604. his defigns, and joined to it, a claim of his own yet more ridiculous 
 than this writing : but in Spain he found perfons credulous enough to 
 confider them both in a ferious light: it is certain, that he had ac- 
 quired great credit and ftrong influence there i we fliall foon fee to 
 what it conduced him. 
 
 The methods his majefly made ufe of to render- all thefe intrigues 
 ineffecîlual, were to apply himfelf with his accuftomed attention and 
 affiduity to the affairs both within and without his kingdom, and to 
 fill the intendances and other public offices with fuch men only as were 
 diflinguiflied for their merit, their probity, and zeal for his fervice. Bou- 
 cault was an example of this, who, from an advocate only, was made pre- 
 fident of the court of aids in Montpelier, in reward for having ufefully 
 ferved his majefty in Languedoc. Henry likewife commanded me to 
 affemble the chancellor, Villeroi, and Sillery, who with me compofed 
 a kind of council, to confider of this matter. By his orders, I ftill 
 kept up a correfpondence by letters with the principal proteftants, 
 which I own was of little fervice to his majefty : his chief dépendance, 
 and with reafon, was upon the journey he propofed to make this year 
 to Provence and Languedoc, while I on my fide was to vifit Poitou, 
 and the weftern part of France. 
 
 'I GREATLY approved of this defign when Henry communicated 
 it to me; and we employed ourfelves together a long time in making 
 preparations for thefe two journeys ; the neceffity for going to take 
 poffeflion of my government ferved me for a pretence for mine; the 
 king wanted no excufe for his : on the contrary, it was fit he fhould 
 not appear ignorant oi' the occafion that made his prefence neceffary in 
 the fouthern provinces of his kingdom, and openly avow' his ex- 
 pectations of the good effedts it would produce. On fome pretence or 
 other, I was to vifit, either in my route, or by going a little about, Or- 
 leans, Touraine, Anjou, Poitou, Saintonge, Angoumois, andGuienne; 
 and his majefty was likewife to take Berry, Bourbonnois, Lyonnois, 
 
 called father Hillary of Grenoble, and fa- fome writing or difpofition of his father 
 
 ther Arcliangelo, the one at Paris, and the Charles IX. by virtue whereof he rnight 
 
 other at Rome, had the guidance of this pretend to claim the crown in his own 
 
 confpiracy. right. See alfo, on this fubjeét, the Me- 
 
 M. de Sully feems to infmuate, as if moirs of the life of the preildent De Ttiou, 
 
 fomething further had been intended in fa- and in particular his Hiftory, anno 1605. 
 
 vour of the count of Auvergne himfelf: Vitt. Siri's Mem. recond. vol. 1. p. 297. 
 perhaps he had fome defign of fetting up 
 
 and
 
 Book XVIîI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 and Dauphiné, in his way *, fo that between us we were to go through 
 almoft all France. We fettled the time of our departure, our flay, and 
 even the place of our meeting, which was to be at Touloufe ; and I 
 looked upon his majefty's jonrney to be fo certain, that I thought of 
 nothing but of coming immediately to Paris (for all this was refolved 
 on at Fontainebleau) to fettle the affairs of the government, that our 
 journey might not fuffer any delay, it being refolved that we fliould fet 
 out fome time in the prefent month of June at farthefl. Such perfons as 
 had bufinefs depending in the king's council, prefTed the conclufion of 
 it with the utmoft afliduity, as foon as the king's intention was made 
 public : and the counfellors rejoiced at this eagernefs, bccaufe, that 
 great part of them being to attend the king in his journey, they did 
 not chufe to leave the bufinefs they had begun, to be finiihed by the 
 new council appointed by his majefly duringhis abfence. 
 
 This fcheme, fo well concerted, was never carried into execution, - 
 with refpeâ: to the king's part in it. As foon as his majefty's intended 
 journey was declared to the courtiers, all was prefently in an uproar; 
 and it caufed, as ufual, much commotion at court. There was not one 
 to whom this defign did not give great uneafinefs, and who did not ufe 
 his utmoft endeavours to diiTuade him from it ; fome, fuch as the 
 miniflers and great officers that were about his perfon, to fpare the ex- 
 pences of fo tedious a journey, and the gay delicate youth of the court 
 to avoid the fatigue and other inconveniencies ufual in fuch expedi- 
 tions ; fo that, when his majefty propofed the affair in form to his 
 counfellors of ftate, whom he fent for exprefsly to Fontainebleau, and 
 the principal lords of his cnurt, affembled for that purpofe, they op- 
 pofed it with innumerable obflacles, without ever reaching the true 
 one. 
 
 They alledged the uncertainty of the fieges of Oflend and Sluys j 
 the fear of a league between England and Spain ; the treaty of com- 
 merce depending between France and that crown; the affair of the 
 count d'Auvergne and the marchionefs de Verneuilj the mifunderfland- 
 ing that had rifen lately between the republic of Grifons, and the count 
 de Fuentes, concerning the Valtoline, in which France was indiipenfa- 
 bly obliged to intereft herlelf, on account of the Venetians and the 
 Swifs. All thofc affairs I have already mentioned, or fliall do imme- 
 
 * See the original of a letter written by of July 1604, with an iiKlorfemcnt thereon, 
 Henry IV. to M. dc Rofny, on the fubjed as moit of his letters have, in the hand-writ- 
 of this journey to Poitou, dated the 20th ing of this minifter. Henry IVth's letters, 
 
 diatelv i
 
 320 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. EookXVIIL 
 
 1 604. diately : in a word, they found fo many inconveniencies likely to accrue 
 from this journey, and knew fo well how to aggravate them, that the 
 king was prevailed upon to alter his refolution. 
 
 They even fuggefted reafons to his majefty, to make him change 
 his opinion as to the necellity of mine. The affairs that then lay be- 
 fore the council began to appear to him of fuch importance, that, to 
 prevent lofing fight of them for fo long a time, he, for this once, de- 
 fired me to confine my endeavours to what I could do, without going 
 farther than Poitou, and remit, to another opportunity my defign of 
 vifitlng the maritime coafts. I do not pretend to deny, that part of the 
 arguments they made ufe of, to difTuade the king from his journey, had 
 fome weight : however, I believe I have mentioned the moft impor- 
 tant of them ; and I ftill perfifi:sd in my firft opinion, of the great ad- 
 vantage it would be to the flate. 
 
 One man, whom the news of his majefly's intended journey did 
 not a little perplex, and whofe name probably the reader will not ex- 
 pedl to find here, was Lefdiguieres i and a report being then current, 
 that the count of Soiffons was fhortly to be put in pofleflion of thofe 
 cautionary pkces given toLefdiguieres, it was natural for him to believe 
 that he was perionally concerned in the refolution his majefly had 
 taken. His correfpondence with the duke of Bouillon was juftcome 
 to light J Morges, who had given fecret advice of it from Dauphiné, 
 brought proofs of it when he came to Paris, which were confirmed 
 by Du-Bourg. 
 
 I SET out from Paris in the month of June, and took the {liortefl: 
 road to Poitou, accompanied by lèverai perfons of quality of that pro- 
 vince, who, upon the report of my journey, ranged themfelves about 
 me, fome of them v/ith no other intention, but to pay me thofe ho- 
 nours which they thought due to their governor : but others, among 
 whom, I may, without fcruple, put * Richelieu and Pont-courlai, at- 
 tended me in my expedition with no other view, but to get more cer- 
 tain intelligence of my defigns, either from my own mouth, or by 
 tampering with my people, to learn all that (hould be done or faid in my 
 family, that they might afterwards give the chiefs of the proteftant 
 party notice of all, and prepare them to oppofe fuch meafures, as they 
 imagined I might be ordered to take againll thim in favour of the ca- 
 
 * Francis du Pleffis de Richelieu, father of cardinal de Richelieu, and Francis de 
 VigneroJ de Pont-courlai. 
 
 tholics i
 
 Book XVIIÎ. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 321 
 
 tholics ; in a word, to take advantage of every little inadvertence, if it 1604. 
 fhould happen that any did efcape me, to render me criminal, or raif'e 
 fufpicions in the king's mind to my prejudice. But in this, my enemies 
 did not fucceed, however they might in fome other of their defigns ; 
 the correfpondence his majefty did me the honour to keep regularly 
 with me, when I was at any diftance from him, flill continued as ufual; 
 and I had even more frequent opportunities of entering into his confi- 
 dence, and knowing to what degree he interefted himfelf in the fafety 
 of my perfon. He often, with great goodnefs, bid me remember, that 
 I was in a country where, whatever appearance the inhabitants might 
 affume, it was certain they wifhed me no good, and that I ought to be 
 continually on niy guard againft them. 
 
 It was but too true, that the king's enemies and mine, had taken 
 meafures before hand to render all my endeavours fruitlefs, and to ani- 
 mate the populace againil me : that which appeared moft likely to pro- 
 duce this effeil, was to fpread a report, that the defign which brought 
 me to Poitou, was to force the proprietors * of the falt-pits to yield up 
 their property, and to purchafe them for the king. Thofe in whom 
 I difcovered the greateft malevolence towards me, were fuch from 
 whom it was leail to be expeâed, my brethren the proteflants : but I 
 mean the principal ones only ; yet thefe affected to pay me outwardly 
 all imaginable honours; and, although they refufed to let me into the 
 fecret of their debates, yet it was always upon fuch plaufible pretences, 
 that I had room to feign myfelf entirely Satisfied. They were appre- 
 henfive of Parabere, who was more particularly attached to me than 
 any of the others, though they well knew his ardent zeal for his reli- 
 gion, becaufe he was naturally frank and open in his temper, and had 
 intentions far more equitable : they therefore commiffioned d'Aubigne 
 and Confcant to watch him narrowly, and never to quit him while he 
 continued about me. But this malignancy, with refped: to me, ex- 
 tended no farther than to a fmall number of perfons ; or if it did, they 
 concealed it with great care. I was received with the moft diftinguiih- 
 ing marks of refpeét in every place where I made any ftay ; and in 
 thofe that I only pafled through, they came to meet me, harrangued 
 me, and efcorted me with ceremony on my way. The ecclefiaftics 
 fecmed moft eager to lliew me refpedl ; and I never heard the leaft 
 
 * Perefixe makes no doubt, but Henry the gabelle or fait duty, which, he afferts, 
 
 IV. really had formed this defign, and this prince was fully determined to abolifti, 
 
 greatly commends him for it, as being the as well as the taille, p. 369. 
 only certain method to free his people from 
 
 Vol. II. T t exprefiîon
 
 J 
 
 ,2-2 M E M O r R S O F S U L L T. Book XVIII. 
 
 ■I 604- expreirion that fuggefted a doubt of my religion : the inhabitants of 
 Poitiers, who have the reputation of being naturally rude and un- 
 fociable, gave me, by their polite and refjpedful behaviour, a very 
 different notion of their charader. 
 
 I WAS ftill more furprifed at the conduft of the Rochellers : this 
 imperious city, that ufually makes it her boaft to have only the king 
 himfelf for governor, and under him that haughty and important 
 mayor, who is generally eleftcd out of three perfons propofed by them 
 to his majefty, might have laid great ftrefs upon thofe mighty preroga- 
 tives with fo much the more reafon, in refpedt to me, as their city was 
 not properly within thelimits of mygovernment; however,theygave me 
 as honourable a reception as they could have done toa governor chofen by 
 themfelves. I entered the city with a train of twelve hundred horfe: fuch 
 an efcort gave me thelefs room to be apprehenfive of thofe attempts his 
 majelfy warned me to be careful of; the Rochellers opened their gates- 
 to this train, without any diftinélion of perfons or religions ; they were 
 all lodged within the wails, and mod of them in the houfes of the citi- 
 zens. At a public dinner, which was given on my account, and to which 
 I was invited with great ceremony, they drank the king's health, and 
 faid, that, if his majefty had done them the honour to prefent him- 
 felf before their gates, though followed with thirty thoufand men, they 
 would have opened them to him; and that, if their gates were not Vv'ide 
 enough to admit them, they would have thrown down three hundred 
 feet of their walls. I faw nothing but refpedl and fubmiffion, and 
 heard nothing but praifes of this prince ; they likewife afiured me, 
 with the moft flattering eucomiums, that, if I had brought a train 
 much larger with me, they would have adted in the fame manner. 
 
 The dinner I have mentioned confifted of feventeen tables, the 
 îeafl of which had fixteen covers ; and the next day they gave me a 
 collation as magnificent as the dinner had been ; they added to it, the 
 reprefentation of a naval fight between Con-eilles, and Chef-de-Baye,. 
 in which twenty French velfels attacked a like number of Spanifli vef- 
 fels. The vanquiflied Spaniards were brought bound hand and foot, 
 before a pidiure of the king, expofed to public view ; and they were 
 prefented to me as to his lieutenant-general : nothing was wanting to 
 render this fliew complete ; dreffes, arms, pavilions, and efcutcheons, 
 all were chofen with the utmort propriety. I repaid this good recep- 
 tion, by granting the Rochellers, in the name of the king, whofe 
 elogium 1 pronounced publicly, the deliverance of their prifoners : 
 
 excepting
 
 EooK XVIII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 525 
 
 excepting thefe, and the fieur de Luffan, I puniflied feverely all that 1604. 
 
 had infringed the treaties of commerce. His majefty was fatisfied " v ' 
 
 with having obliged the city of Rochelle to ailc him for this favour, 
 which he well knew how to make them pay for. At Poitiers, I 
 learned fome circumflances v/hich perfuaded me, the count of Au- 
 vergne was much more culpable than I had hitherto believed. 
 
 The king had allov/ed me fo little time to regulate the affairs of 
 this province, that I was obliged to defer vifiting the Upper and 
 Lower Poitou till another opportunity. I could only obtain permif- 
 fion from his majefty to go to Saint-John d'Angely, and to Brougage, 
 by reprefenting to him the neceffity there was for undertaking this 
 journey to undeceive the people of that diftrid:, who fufpedted that 
 the king had an intention to deprive them of their falt-pits. I fet 
 out from Rochelle, to go to thefe two places, and was received by mef- 
 fieurs de Rohan and de Saint-Luc full better than I expeéled. I ufed 
 my utmoft endeavours to recal Rohan to his duty and allegiance ; I 
 mentioned his intrigues in England, and exhorted him to recal Du- 
 rand from thence : he appeared greatly aftoniilied at this difcourfe, 
 complained of the calumnies his enemies fpread abroad of him; dif- 
 avowed the agency of Durand; and, to convince me of his lincerity, 
 acknowledged circumftances unaiked, as the horfe prefented by him 
 to king James, but affured me, he had obtained his majefty 's permif- 
 fion for it, which he could eafily bring to his remembrance. 
 
 From Saint-Jean I refumed the road to Paris through Thouars, 
 where I was defirous of having a conference with the duke de La- 
 Tremouille, I did not expetfl fo polite a reception from him as I 
 really received, fenfible that he muft be greatly mortified to fee me 
 poffefs a government, and receive honours, to which he had afpired 
 with fuch extreme ardency, as to folicit them publicly. Our con- 
 verfation often turned on the many caufes of complaint the proteftant 
 party had given the king ; and even in the prefence of Parabere, Saint- 
 Germain-de-Clan, Beffes, La-Valliere, Conftant, d'Aubigné (thefe 
 were hardly ever abfent) Preaux La-Ferriere, and La-Sauftaye ; they all 
 exclaimed loudly upon the injuftice that had been done them by the 
 king, protefting their fidelity and attachment to his majefty ; and 
 the better to impofe upon me, accompanied their affurances with fo 
 much civility to myfelf, and fuch grofs fiatteries, that they fell into 
 the other extreme of a too glaring affedation. 
 
 T t 2 In
 
 J24 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XVîlî. 
 
 1604. '^^ ^^^ midll: of all this art and difguife, I did notceafe to penetrate- 
 t,_ - -i into their defigns, by turning the difcourfe, in their prefence, upon the 
 ftate of affairs in Spain and England. They betrayed themfelves then: 
 in fpite of their endeavours to the contrary; and it was no longer nof- 
 fible for me to doubt, that all this little court of people attached to 
 the dukes of Rohan and de La-Tremouii!e were, in reality, fuch as 
 they were reprefented to his majefty : but what I difcovered at the (^me 
 time, and the intelligence which the poft I poffeffed in that province,, 
 afforded me an opportunity of procuring, gave me, in the fequel, the 
 utmoft certainty that thefe gentlemen had no power with the reft of 
 the proteftant party ; they were no longer, as formerly, thofe abfolute 
 leaders that, with a fingle word, drew all their fuffrages ; but, on the. 
 contrary, they were fliunned as men -infeâed with the plague, when 
 they came to deliberate in the aflemblies. This they had brought 
 upon themfelves by their own imprudence, in putting the party upon- 
 fuch dangerous and ridiculous enterprifes, as had at length undeceiv- 
 ed the mofb credulous amongft them ; and the higheft idea that could' • 
 bemaow given of them was, that they formed a party in the niidft of 
 the party itfelf, and only fupported themfelves by a vain exertion of 
 authority, of which they but poflefled the fliadow. 
 
 I DID not negledl to make all the advantage I could of fucH favour- 
 able difpafitions, and entirely undeceived the people with regard to the 
 injurious reports that had been fpread among them concerning the falt- 
 pits, the excife, and other monopolies, which had been made ufe of 
 to excite them to fedition. They now began to have a more perfedt 
 knowledge of their king; their notions of his tyranny and their flavery 
 were wholly effaced. I made the proteftants comprehend how ground- 
 lefs their fufpicions were, that Henry had ever defigned to exclude 
 them from any of the offices and dignities in the flate, fince it had al- 
 ways been his chief maxim to keep the balance even between the two 
 religions ; I convinced them likewife, how much they had been 
 blinded by prejudice, with refpedt to Clement the eighth, who was fo 
 far from endeavouring to extirpate the proteftants, that he had, on all' 
 occafions, llrongly oppofed making war againft them. 
 
 My aftions completed the work thefe affiarances had begun ; I dif- 
 tributed penfions among thofe of the party who had advifed peace, and- 
 ferved the king faithfully ; and, to convince them abfolutely that they- 
 were not deceived, with regard to the equitable intentions of their fo- 
 
 vereign.
 
 EooK XVIir. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 vereign, I fliewed them the paper that contained all the reformations 
 he propofed to make in the fiate, the lame that I have formerly men- 
 tioned, with which they were fully fatisfied. By thefe means I Co 
 weakened the duke de La-Tremouille's party, that he could never 
 afterwards add to it fix perfons of any confequence. The duke 
 of Bouillon was fo greatly affeded with the knowledge that he had 
 lofl all the remaining intereft he had hitherto preferved in this diftricft 
 ef France, that he determined to pafs the reft of his days in that kind- 
 of exile which kept him quiet in the court of the eleélor Palatine in 
 fpite of himfelf. Saint-Germain, who was not unacquainted with zny 
 oi the duke's fecrets, wrote an account of this delign to La-Saufiaye, 
 of whom he thought himfelf abfolutely fecure ; but La-Sauffaye gave 
 me Saint-Germain's letter, which I fhewed to his majefty. 
 
 Having thus performed all that the prefent conjundture,' and th& 
 fliortnefs of the time permitted me, I obeyed the king's repeated com- 
 mands (which every one of his letters brought me) to return as foon 
 as poftîble, and followed in a few days my laft letter, which I wrote 
 to his majefty from Thouars on the i6th of July. Before I went 
 away I viiited the duke de La-Tremouille for the laft time ; he was 
 indifpofed when I came to Thouars, and I left him at the point of 
 d^ath when I fet out from thence ; he died * without being prevailed 
 upon to promife that he would come to court, and his death deprived 
 the malecontents of one leader^ 
 
 I ARRIVED at Paris on the 2 2d of July, where I found a billet from 
 his majefty, dated the i8th, in which he defired me to fend into every 
 part of Normandy, Britanny, and Poitou, whither I had a defign to 
 go myfelf, two perfons on whofe fidelity and underftanding I could re- 
 ly, and to come myfelf to him at Monceaux, where he waited for me, 
 having given over drinking the waters. I was fenfible, by the kind 
 and obliging reception this prince gave me, that I had been fortunate 
 enough to give him fatisfaâion -f as to the bufinel's that had occafioned 
 my journey j and I now related to him, during the courfe of three days, 
 all that I had omitted in my letters to him or to Villeroi. 
 
 * Claude dc La-Tremouille, duke of vol. II. b. iii. p. 663. 
 
 Thouars, died of the gout, being only f De Thou fays, this journey of M. de 
 
 thirty-four years of age. See his elogium Rofny freed Henry IV. from great difquiet» 
 
 in de Thou, book xxxi. and Matthieu, took xxxi. 
 
 ïtSi
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIII. 
 
 It has been reported, that the duke of Epernon behaved at that 
 time in fuch a manner in Guienne, as to give his majefty more caufe 
 than ever to fufped; him ; that I ahb diftrufted his fidelity, and on this 
 occafion did him all the bad offices that could proceed from a mortal 
 enemy. This report, with regard to myfelf, I here declare to be ab- 
 folutely falfe ; and I believe what was faid to the diladvantage of d'Eper- 
 non to be fo likevvife ; and that the unfavourable fentiments they at-» 
 tributed to his majefty of this duke, has no better foundation. One 
 would imagine, that the opinion Henry entertained of him was fuffi- 
 ciently clear, by the letter this prince wrote to the duke on the fubjedt 
 of the difpute between Du-Pleffis and the bifliop of Evreux, in which 
 he treated him as a friend, a title he never gave to thofe whom he did 
 not think worthy of it. And here I may add a circumftance of which 
 I am abfolutely certain, and fpeak from my own knowledge. 
 
 His majefty, after the time here meant, granted d'Epernon athoufand 
 things unafked, and often prelfed me to vifit him, and give him other 
 inftancesof kindnefs, even before I had received the fame compliment 
 from him. If Henry heard any thing to theduke'sdifadvantage during his 
 ftay in Guienne, it is what I am wholly ignorant of; this only I know, 
 that his majefty was eafily freed from any remains of fuipicion, after the 
 letters that d'Epernon fent to him and to me by Perronne, in which 
 there were fuch evident marks of fincerity and confcious innocence con- 
 firmed by the offer he made to attend his majefty upon the very firft 
 order he fhould receive, that he might put his perfon in his power, to 
 anfwer for the loyalty of his intentions, that there was nothing left 
 to reply. No one is ignorant of what paffed between the king and the 
 duke of Epernon during the life, and even after the death of Henry III. 
 and that this prince had difcovered fome refentment towards him j but 
 this was at an end ; forgetfulnefs of injuries is a virtue very rare among 
 princes, ad is thought yet rarer than it is. Sufficient regard has not 
 been ftiewn to the proofs which Henry has given more than once of 
 that true greatnefs of mind which is capable of pardoning ; and all that 
 he did for the duke of Epernon may be confidered as an inftance of 
 his clemency. 
 
 For myfelf, I was fo far from being an enemy to d'Epernon, at the 
 time I have been fpeaking of, that I can bring a thoufand inftances to 
 prove we had been in a perfedl good intelligence with each other : but 
 
 it
 
 Book XVIIT. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 327 
 
 it is fit I fliOLild be believed upon my bare word, as I have hitherto 1604. 
 fhewn mylelf equally incapable of difguifing my fenliiiients, whether u ^- v — — ^ 
 of friendlliip, or hatred, or accufing the innocent, or jurtifying a trai- 
 tor. D'Epernon had the misfortune to fall off" his horfe in Guienne, 
 by which he broke his thigh and his thumb, and bruifed himfelf like- 
 wife in the flioulder and elbow; which obliged him to keep his bed 
 forty days, and lie during all that time upon his back. I wrote to him 
 a letter of condolance upon this accident; and he thanked me with 
 the fame afFedion which he ufually exprefled in all his letters, for he 
 then treated me rs a friend; and I was likewife his confidant in all 
 that regarded the king*. Another of my friends, but one who had 
 never been otherwife, from whom I this year received letters equally 
 polite, friendly, and unreferved, was Bellegarde; they are dated from 
 Dijon ; he was then in his government of Burgundy. But it is time 
 to return to the count of Auvergne. 
 
 It now depended wholly upon the king to deprive this rebellious 
 fubjed: of all means of confpiring againft the ftate : the unfeafonable 
 clemency with which he had been treated by his majefty at the time 
 that maréchal Biron fuffered a juft fentence, was the caufe of his re- 
 lapfe; as the tendernefs his majefty had fhewn for this whole family, 
 on account of the marchionefs de Verneuil, had firft encouraged him 
 in his revolt. It would not probably have been difficult to find fuch 
 another opportunity as his majefty had fuffered to efcape him, when 
 he received notice of the new intrigues which the count was carrying 
 on in Spain, and that fuller difcoveries concerning thofe intrigues might 
 be expedled from the fcizure of Morgan *, his chief agent, who was 
 juft then arrefted ; but the king was contented with fuffering D'Efcures 
 to go, by my orders, to Auvergne, where the count then was, to dif- 
 eover the plot, and by gentle methods perfuade him to come and 
 throw himfelf at his majefty's feet. 
 
 In effect, d'Auvergne was convinced that this was the wifcft and 
 the only part he had to take ; the feizing of Morgan had wholly dif- 
 eoncerted him, and the meafures he had taken had been too imprudent 
 to leave him a hope that his defigns could be concealed, or that they 
 were in fuffic-ient forwardnefs to enable him to throw off the mafl<. 3 
 he feared that by flying hefhould expofe the count and countefs d'En- 
 
 * See the originals of thefc letters in the of Epernon. 
 old Memoirs ; they feem a little to contra- f Thomas Morgan, an Englifliman. See 
 àm one another in what relates to the duke De Thou, ibid. 
 
 tragues-
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XVIIL 
 
 tragues and his whole family» to a fliameful treatment ; he therefore 
 yielded to d'Efcure's arguments, and promifed to go with him to court, 
 and reveal to the king his clofet fecrets, and even to fhew a letter from 
 his fifter, which he faid was of the utmoft confequence, provided that 
 his majefty would grant him the pardon he had promifed. The ori- 
 ginal of this letter from the marchionefs de Verneuil was not produced 
 till the following year, and it was not very certain what credit fliould 
 be given to it, becaufe the brother and filler fometimes appeared to be 
 on friendly terms, and often in fuch high diiguft that they could not 
 bear each other's fight. That which appears moil: worthy ofobfcr- 
 vation in this letter is, that in it (he exhorts her brother to a fecure 
 retreat in a foreign country, and appears herfelf determined to do the 
 like. 
 
 That tTie count d'Auvergne was not very fincere in the promife he 
 made d'Efcures, appears by his fending Yverné to Spain, at the very 
 time that he fet out himfelffor Paris. The bifliop of Montpellier difco- 
 vered this intrigue, and fent the king notice of it : but this prince was 
 willing a fécond time to lifi:en to his fine promifes. He only ordered, 
 that the parliament fliould finifli Morgan's trial, that the crime being 
 made public might give more weight to the pardon he was refolved to 
 grant to the whole family of Auvergne, which was comprehended in it. 
 All that this prince gained by the profecution was, to get that famous 
 promife * of marriage he had in vainfolicited his miftrefs to return, re- 
 flored to him by d'Entragues ; which was done in the prefence of the 
 count of SoifTons, the duke of Montpenfier, the chancellor, Sillery, 
 La-Guêle, Jeannin, Gevres, and Villeroi, that this reftitution might 
 not be afterwards eluded by any reftriftion or difavowal ; and an aft 
 was made, importing, that this was the true and only writing given 
 by his majefly on that fuhjea; ; and the declaration of d'Entragues 
 confirming this, was joined to the paper. 
 
 This conduâ: of Henry was not calculated to make the count of 
 Auvergne lefs ralli and enterprifing j and, in effeét, he renewed his 
 former intrigues almofl: before his majefty's eyes : his whole care was 
 to deceive the king, who for a long time was impofed upon by his 
 
 * Henry IV. in order to get back this pro- France to the count of Entragues, who 
 
 mife, was obliged to pay the m rchionelsde had never been in any military action. De 
 
 Verneuil, twenty thouiand crowns down. Thou, book cxxxii. 
 and to promife the baton of a maréchal of 
 
 appearances
 
 Book XVIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 appearances of fincerity : but at length the whole myftery was difco- 
 vered by fome letters written and received by d'Auvergne, which fell 
 into the hands of Lonienie, and by him carried inimediately to the 
 king. This prince was then convinced of the full extent of his 
 crimes j but this convidlion came too late, for the count, either by 
 his own penetration, or that he received notice of what had happen- 
 ed, had time to leave the court before the refolution that had been 
 taken to arreft him could be executed, determined within himfelf 
 never to return to it again after the danger he had fo lately efcaped, 
 and even to leave France altogether, upon the leuft information that 
 any thing was refolved on againfh him. 
 
 The king acquainted me with the perplexity he was in through his 
 own fault. D'Efcures was fent again to Auvergne : he went a third 
 time, but to no purpofe : the methods that had formerly fucceeded 
 were now ineffeélual. D'Auvergne always knew how to elude his re- 
 turn to court, to which he was earneftly preiled, but with fuch ap- 
 pearance of indifference and unconcern, that it was not pofllble to draw 
 from his refufal a convidlion of his crime, as it was expeâed they 
 fliould do. He made the faireft promifes imaginable, and always ap- 
 peared difpofed to fet out. There was a neceflity at length for mak- 
 ing ufe of the only method yet unattemnted, which was to fecure his 
 perfon ; but this did not feem eafy to effedt. 
 
 I CAST my eyes upon a man who feemed to me likely enough to 
 {ucceed in fuch an attempt, and this was the trenfurer Murat ; his 
 perfon al hatred to the count d'Auvergne, his knowledge of the coun- 
 try, the convenience he could have of flaying a long time upon the 
 fpot without giving caufe of fufpicion, his refolution in any arduous 
 enterprize, and his zeal for the fervice of his majefty, all promilcd a 
 happy and honourable end of this commiffion. I propofed him to 
 the king when his majefty mentioned the affair to me, and upon his 
 approbation I fent for Murat j to whom at firft I adled with all the 
 referve and precaution that a matter of fuch confequence required. 
 When I found that infteadof bringing arguments for being difpenf- 
 ed with for fuch a fervice, he himfelf prevented my'offers, I ex- 
 plained myfelf clearly, and perceived that the propofal was far from 
 being difpleafing to him : he only required a commiffion for it under 
 tlie great feal, which was granted, and kept very fecret. As we had 
 not yet loft all hope that d'Efcures might be able to draw the count 
 to court, and in that cafe Murat would have nothing to do, when I 
 gave him his inftruétions I enjoined him not to adt but in concert with 
 
 Vol.. II. Uu d'Efcures,
 
 
 o MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XVIIÎ, 
 
 1604. li'Efcures, and to conceal from everyone the part that was to be- 
 " given him in this bufinefs, if he found there was no longer any occa- 
 làon for him. 
 
 D'EscuRES fet out for Auvergne on the 17th of Auguft (this was 
 the third or fourth time of his going) and Murat followed him a few 
 days afterwards, provided with blank letters for the cities and officers 
 des prefideaux, which were to be filled up at the places themfelves. 
 In the mean time fome letters from d'Auvergne came to hand, in 
 v^hich he exprefled fo much fear and fliame, that the king rightly 
 judged he would never be prevailed on to appear at court, and there- 
 fore thought it bell: for d'Efcures to avoid preffing him to take that 
 flep, left he fhould increafe his apprehenlions, Murat had now orders 
 to adt fingly; and d'Efcures, on his fide, to ufe his utmoft endeavours 
 to procure certain intelligence of all d'Auvergne's praftices- in Spain, 
 and, if poffible, to intercept the treaty which it was thought he had 
 already made with the council of Madrid. All this d'Efcures execute 
 ed with fuch dexterity, that he prevented the count, artful and pene- 
 trating as he was, from fufpedling any of thofe meafures the council 
 was now purfuing. 
 
 A LITTLE aiFair between a brother of Murat's and the count 0/ 
 Auvergne gave this trufty agent a pretence for going to the count.; 
 which having fettled between them, the count, of himielf, entered into- 
 a converfation with him concerning the ftate of his affairs at court, 
 which gave Murat an opportunity of feeming to regulate the advice 
 he offered him upon v/hat he himfelf had faid. D'Auvergne founded 
 violent fufpicions upon the rnfinuations that were given him, that the 
 king expeîled he fliould (hew himfelf at court j and upon d'Efcures's 
 endeavouring to perfuade him to go, yet pretending not to know that 
 it was the king's defire, he therefore afiured Murat that he would not 
 go; and that rather than expofe himfelf to the fury of his enemies, 
 he would fubmit himfelf to a voluntary exile in a foreign country : he 
 mentioned the fate of maréchal Biron, which feemed to give him great 
 apprehenfions ; and faid, that having formerly had the misfortune to 
 offend his king, he could not refolve to appear before him till he had 
 effaced the memory of his fault by new fervices, and till the pardon 
 his majefty had granted him was confirmed. At length he gave Murat 
 to underfland, that his reafon for not being willing to truft the inten- 
 tions of the court, arole from the informations he had received of the 
 danger he was threatened with if he appeared there, this notice having 
 been fen t to him from fome of the courtiers themfelves, perlons of 
 
 the.
 
 BookXVîII. m E m O I R s O F s U L L y. • v^I 
 
 jj> ' 
 
 the firfl: diftindlion, who were well acquainted with the affair, and dc- 1 604. 
 ferved to be relied on. 
 
 MuRAT finding himfelf thus made a confidant of, anfvvered with 
 great feeming iimplicity, that fince the count had confefTed his error 
 to the king, he faw no inconvenience attending his return to court; 
 that the pardon he had obtained made a wide difference between his 
 cafe and that of maréchal Biron ; and that nothing but a relapfe into 
 the fame error could authorize his fcruples, fince Henry had never yet 
 broke his word with any one ; therefore his befl: counfellors would be 
 his own confcience. D'Efcures likewife laboured with equal folicitudc 
 to re-afTure him with regard to the king, and to give him a diftruilot 
 thofe perfons that fent him the informations he had mentioned. 
 
 To all this the count only replied, that when his life was in quc- 
 ftion he would not run any hazard ; that neither the king, the queen, 
 or the princes of the blood, were his friends, and the mafter of the 
 horfe was his mortal enemy ; that the filence of his friends on this oc- 
 cafion was one proof of his ruin being determined ; that noone folicited 
 for him to the king; that he now never received any letters from Vil- 
 leroi, Sillery, or me, becaufe v.-e were not willing to reproach ourfelves 
 with having been the inftruments of his fate ; that the conftable no 
 longer correfponded with him, for fear of rendering himfelf fufpedled : 
 but it was with the marchionefs de Verneuil he appeared to be mofl 
 dilcontented ; he knew his fifter, he faid, to make her peace with the 
 king at his expence, was capable of charging him with falfe crimes, 
 if ihe could not with real ones ; and concluded with new prutefta- 
 tions, that nothing fliould draw him from his retreat. As he did not 
 fufped that d'Efcures and Murat were come with an intention to per- 
 fuade him to go, he told them, that he fuppofed Vitry would arrive 
 in a few days, and expeél to gain him with fair words, but that he 
 would lofe his labour. 
 
 The retreat he was refolved not to be prevailed upon to leave was 
 Vic, a poor houfe, without any conveniences, but lituated in the midft 
 of a wood, where d'Auvergne pafîed whole days, under pretence of 
 hunting. Although there had been no other proofs of his crimes, his 
 fears, his continual alarms, the agitation of his thoughts, the wildnefs 
 of his look and air, and the diforder of his whole perfon, v/ouldhave 
 been a fufîicient teftimony againft him : nothing could be more mi- 
 ferable than the life he now led ; and the terror and anxiety that 
 
 U u 2 preyed
 
 332 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XVIIÎ. 
 
 1604. preyed upon his heart, revenged, by anticipating his punifhment, both 
 the king and the ftate. He was afraid to llay in his houfe, yet durfh 
 not truft himfelf at any confiderable diftance from it ; he was never 
 {een in the neighbouring towns ; he had left off viflting his friends, 
 nor durfî: even confide in his miftrefs, a certain lady, named madame 
 de Chateau-gay ; he no longer vifited her at her houfe, but when he 
 chofe to fee her they met in an obfcure village, or in the midil of the 
 fields, always in the night, and never twice together in the fame place. 
 His fervants, v/hom he ported on eminences in the neighbouring 
 places, were ordered to give him notice when they i'aw any one appear,, 
 by blowing a horn ; and fometimes he made ufe of dogs for his guard. 
 
 With thefe precautions he defied all his enemies, and infolently,. 
 as well as imprudently, boafted, that he fhould always be able to de- 
 ceive and efcape them ; neverthelefs, his refolutions were always va- 
 rying, he never continued two moments in the fame mind. And this 
 man, fo wife, fo fagacious, penetrated fo little into the intentions of 
 thofe that came to deftroy him, that he made them his friends, took. 
 them for his counfellors, and was many times upon the point of aban- 
 doning himfelf to their difcretion. But prudence is a quality feldom 
 found with a bad confcience ; had d'Auvergne pofi^efled ever fo little of 
 it, he would have known, that there was no fafety for him but in an 
 immediate flight to Spain ; and this, probably, was the only fcheme 
 that never entered into his head. At the very moment that, to 
 d'Efcures and Murat he appeared determined not to expofe himfelf to 
 the danger of going to court, he talked to them in a ftrain quite dif- 
 ferent. He once fent to them to come and meet him at a place three 
 leagues diflant from his own houfe ; though this fummons gave them 
 at firll; fome uneafinefs, not knowing what his intentions might be, 
 yet they went and found that he had fent for them only to tell them 
 he was now refolved to go and prefent himfelf to the king. His ma- 
 jefty, to whom they fent immediate notice of this refolution, and who 
 gave the more credit to it on account of a falfe report that was added 
 to it, wrote to me on the 19th of November, that d'Auvergne was 
 at Moret, ready to fet out for Paris. In this it was not d'Efcures and 
 Murat that were deceived by the count, but the count by his owri 
 inconftancy ; for he was the firft to retain them with him, when they 
 appeared willing to go back, and to refer them for his laft anfwer to 
 the return of Fougeu, from whom he expected to draw a great deal 
 of intelligence ; to which the two agents fecmed to confent, purely- 
 through complaifance to him. 
 
 This
 
 Book XVIII. MEMOIRSOÏ'SULLY. 333 
 
 This whole account I take from Murat's letters. I received at the 1604. 
 fame time, a letter from the count d'Auvergne himfelf. He com- 
 plained to the two agents, that he never had any anfwer to four let- 
 ters, which, he laid, he had wrote to me. I received, indeed, four 
 from him, but altogether; and the writing fu like, although of diffe- 
 rent dates, that I perceived immediately what credit I ought to give 
 to them. It was probable, that d'Auvergne did not think of me at 
 firft, or believed that it would not be proper to make any application 
 to me; but that afterwards, fuppofing this method was likely enough 
 to make his peace, for he often mentioned me to the two agents, he 
 had recourfe to it, with the well known artifice of antedating his let- 
 ters, to prove to me that this had always been his defign. 
 
 If the count had any intention to draw a promife from me, which, 
 on this occafion, he might make ufe of as a fecurity, he deceived him- 
 felf greatly: I fent him an anfwer indeed, but as if I had nothing 
 more nor better to fay to him, than what I had faid before to maréchal 
 Biron in the fame circumftances, I treated him like a ftate criminal, 
 without augmenting his fufpicions ; the letter I wrote to Auvergne, in 
 a word, was but a copy of that which I had written to maréchal Bi- 
 ron ; and he could not be ignorant that it was fo, fince I acknow- 
 ledged it plainly. It is by this counterftroke, which is doubtlefs of 
 new invention, that I gave d'Auvergne to underftand, he ought nei- 
 ther to attribute to the king, fuch fentiments of him as he really did 
 not entertain, negleâ: the advice I had often given him, relating to his 
 condudl, nor lay aftrefs upon actions and reports, that had no founda- 
 tion but in his own unquiet confcience. This was all that I wrote to 
 Auvergne ; and after his conviftion, this proceeding appeared fo can- 
 did, and fo free from all artifice, that he praifed it greatly. 
 
 Descures and Murat at length found the opportunity they had fo 
 long waited for. M. de Vendome's regiment of light horfe being to 
 be reviewed, they imparted a fcheme that they had concerted to 
 D'Erre, who commanded it; and the general officers of this body be- 
 ing all ready, it was effedted in the following manner: D'Erre went 
 to the count, and told him, that he being colonel general of the light 
 cavalry, he ought certainly to be prefcnt at this review. D'Auvergne 
 apprehended no danger, becaufe he was not only mounted upon a 
 horfe, which, as he faid, outftripped the wind ; and, indeed, he was 
 accuftomed to make him gallop ten leagues without intermiflîon ; but he 
 
 was
 
 M E M O î R S OF SULLY. Book XVIIL 
 
 was refolved not to enter any narrow place, or to difmount during the 
 whole time. Accordingly he came to the review. Nereflan advanced 
 to falute him, followed only by four footmen, in appearance ; but, in 
 reality, four flout and refolute foldiers, whom they had difguifed in 
 liveries. At the inflant that Nereftan was paying his compliments, 
 two of thefe foldiers feized the reins of the count's bridle, and the two 
 ethers, at the fame time, laid hold of his legs and pulled him off his 
 horfe, throwing themfelves upon him fo fuddenly, that he had neither 
 time to lay his hand upon his piftols, nor draw his fword, and ll:ill 
 lefs to fly. He was immediately conduced under a good guard, to 
 Paris, and fhut up in the Baflile *, 
 
 D'ExNTRAGUES was arrcflcd at the fame time that the count d'Au- 
 vergne was ; and the marchionefs de Verneuil was, in fome fort, af- 
 fociated with the two criminals, fince the king confented that fhe 
 fiiould be confined in her houfef-, where ihe continued under the guard 
 of the chevalier Du Guet. It was this aifociation that faved the livet of 
 the father-in-law and the brother. At firit they had not dared to hope 
 forfomuch lenity; nor could the public expedl it, after fuch frequent re- 
 lapfes,efpecially as they found that preparations were making for trying 
 them with the utmoft feverity. The count of Auvergne gave the king 
 an exadl account of his correfpondencies, as well within as without 
 the kingdom ; and he was obliged to give up that promife of affocia- 
 tion made by him and the dukes of Bouillon and Biron, which has 
 been mentioned before, and till now could never be forced from him. 
 
 " * The countefs of Auvergne, as meek 
 " and humble as the marchionefs was 
 " haughty and imperious, having thrown 
 " herfelf at the king's feet, with all the 
 *•' marks of the deepell forrow, to beg his 
 " pardon for her husband, his niajefl:)', 
 " with great courtefy, raifed her up and 
 " faluted her, faying thus to her, I feel the 
 " utmoft companion for your mifery and 
 " your tears, but if I fhould grant your 
 " requeft, this my wife (taking the queen 
 " by the hand) muft be declared a whore, 
 " my fon a baftard, and my kingdom fall 
 *' a prey to others. The fame lady hav- 
 " ing obtained the king's permiffion to 
 " fend one to fee her hufband, and to en- 
 " quire of him what fhe could do for his 
 " fervice, he fent her word, only to let 
 " him have fome good cheefe and muftard. 
 
 " and not to trouble herfelf about any thing 
 " further." Journal of the reign of Hen- 
 ry IV. 
 
 " The count of Auvergne," fays Ame- 
 lot in the place before quoted, " had fo en- 
 " tire a dépendance on the fidelity of An- 
 " thony (tliat is, the paymaftcrChevillard) 
 " that, in three examinations he under- 
 " went, he faid, with as much intrepidity as 
 " if he had been entirely innocent, in this 
 " refpeft, Gentlemen, jlmv me one fmgle 
 " line of my writing, to prove I ever entered 
 " into any treaty zvith the king of Spain, or 
 " hii ambaffachr, and I will write the fen- 
 " tcnce of my death under it, and condemn 
 " my f elf to he quartered alive" 
 
 t In the houfe of one Audicourt, in 
 Saint Paul's-ftreet. 
 
 Messages
 
 Book XVni. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 335 
 
 Messages at the fame time began to be carried between Henry 1604. 
 and the marchionefs de Verneuil, not on the fame account; for I am l ,- > 
 perfuaded, the reader does not expedt to fee any great feverity ufed 
 towards her. The king could not refolve to leave her a fingle mo- 
 ment in doubtof her pardon ; with difficulty it was that he endeavour- 
 ed to fave appearances, by fending different meffengers to tell the 
 marchionefs, that (he fliould purchafe this pardon, by an abfolute fub- 
 miffion to fuch conditions as he fliould prefcribe to her. La-Varenne, 
 Sigogne, the whole court was employed in thefe mellages, which, by 
 the manner in which they were delivered, were indeed the real ad- 
 vances of a lover, who ftared, notwithftanding his anger, that he 
 fliould raife too (Irong an obllacle to his reconciliation with the ob- 
 jedl of his paffion. The marchionefs difcovered and well knew how 
 to make her advantage of this weaknels. I likcwife ferved Henry 
 for an interpreter upon this occafion, although I plainly perceived 
 that he would not come off with honour : but he infifted upon my 
 interpofing, and I obeyed him, with an intention to make the coiï- 
 clufion of this affair as honourable as I could for him. 
 
 The firft order his majefly gave me, was to go to the marchionefs 
 de Verneuil, and hear what fhe had to fay concerning the crimes (he 
 was accufed of, to draw from her a confeffion of them, and make her 
 fenfible of her ingratitude. I cannot fay that my commiffion went far- 
 ther, unlefs one takes in feveral bitter reproaches, and fome advice 
 which proved to be ufelefs, concerning the manner in which flie ought 
 to have behaved to a prince who had laid fuch great obligations upcn 
 her. I did not fee her the firft time I went to her houfe ; ihe ordered 
 me to be told, that a defluxion which was fallen upon her face, hin- 
 dered her from, receiving any vifits. I fent a gentleman to her, to know 
 at what hour I fliould attend her ; but, before my meflenger was re- 
 turned, a fervant, whom (lie had fent in the mean time, came to tell 
 me, that fhe would lee me at two o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 I FOUND a woman whom difgrace could not humble, whofe info- 
 lence detedlion could not abate*, and who, inftead of endeavouring to 
 
 * " She faid, fhe gave hcrfelf no con- " upon the whole, flie only clcfired three 
 
 " cern about dying, but that, on the con- " things of his majeity ; a pardon for her' 
 
 " trary, fhe wifhed for death ; but, if the " father, a rope for her brother, and juf- 
 
 " king fhould put hef to death, it would " tice for hetfelf." Journal of the reign 
 
 " always be faid he had killed his wife, for of Henry IV. " On fearching her cabi- 
 
 ^* that ihe was his queen before the other : " nets, adds the liune author, and mak- 
 
 excufe^-
 
 336 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XVIÎÎ. 
 
 1604. excufe herfelf, or to implore a pardon, talked in the ftyle of one who 
 had fufFered wrongs, not given them, and pretended to demand con- 
 ditions for herfelf; (he complained, fhe raved againft the king, made 
 new demands, wrapped herielf up in referve, and afFedled the de- 
 votee. I was not a perfon on whom thefe arts were to be played off; 
 I neither flattered her pride, npr foothed her refentment ; I began 
 with the greatell: of her crimes, and reproached her with having 
 joined herfelf to the enemies of the ftate; I told her that flie would 
 have reafon to think herfelf happy, if her punifhment was confined 
 to a permiffion to banifli herfelf out of the kingdom, to end her days 
 in any country but Spain ; and that this favour would not be granted 
 her, till Ihe had fubmitted to be examined as a criminal, and afked 
 the king's pardon for her difobedience. 
 
 I PROCEEDED in the next place, to her infolent behaviour towards 
 the queen. I made her fenfible, that to offend, as flie had done, a 
 princefs, who was her queen and miftrefs *, by a thoufand injurious re- 
 flexions, vvas to attack the king himfelf, and expofe her own perfon to 
 a fevere punifliment : I reproached her with her ridiculous affeâation 
 of equalling herfelf to the queen, and her children to the children of 
 France ; with her haughty and infolent behaviour ; and efpecially her 
 malignity in fowing difcord between their majefties : and added, that 
 flae would be compelled to throw herfelf at the queen's feet, to im- 
 plore her pardon for all the faults (he had committed againft her. 
 
 Nor did I fpare her upon her pretended devotion to which /lie had 
 recourfe, not fcrupling, at the fame time, to violate her principal du- 
 ties to the king, the queen, and the ftate. I told her plainly, that this 
 fhewof regularity was mere grimace and affed:ation, which I proved by 
 entering into a detail of her whole life, to let her fee that I was well 
 informed of her amours. I even mentioned them all particularly, to 
 deprive her of her ufual excufe, that they exifted only in the jealous 
 imagination of the king; and thence drew anew fubjeélof fhame and 
 confufion for her with regard to this prince, whom flie fo grofly abufed. 
 I fliewed her what (he would have done if her inclination for a reli- 
 gious life had been a real return towards God ; and aflured her, that 
 
 " ing an inventory of all her papers, many * " She fometimes faid, that, if juflice 
 
 " love letters (the implements of her trade) " were done her, (he ought to be in the 
 
 " were found amongfi: them, fome of " place of that clumfy tradsfwoman." 
 
 " which were from Sigognc, whkh occa- Perefixe. 
 
 fioned his difgrace." 
 
 h 
 
 IS
 
 Book XVIir. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. ^i^^ 
 
 his majefty would never have oppofed her retreat into a convent, if 1604. 
 he had perceived in her behaviour any figns of true devotion. 
 
 I GAVE her, at length, all forts of good counfels, which indeed fhe 
 did not defire, nor was difpofed to follow. She ought, at leaft, to have 
 appeared willing to do fo ; but flie contented herfelf with anfwering 
 coldly, after hearing me the whole time with great indifference, that 
 fhe thanked me, and would confider of what I had faid. When I 
 afked her what caufes of complaint fhe had received that had thus car- 
 ried her to violate her duty to the king, her anfwer was, that if the 
 king had afked her this queftion, he would have been to blame, fmce 
 he knew them better than any other perfon ; and if it came from my- 
 felf, I was no lefs fo, lince I had no means of fatisfying it. 
 
 Continuing flill to queflion her, I afked what it was that fhe re- 
 quefled of his majefty ? She anfwered, that although flie knew well 
 the king's inclinations would not be conformable to hers on this article, 
 vet fhe flill perfifted to demand permillion for herfelf, her father, mo- 
 ther, brother, and her children, to go and fettle themfelves fome- 
 where out of France : and added, in naming her brother, that he 
 fuffered only on account of his affeâion for her. I could hardly per- 
 fuade myfelf this refolution was fincere. I contrived it fo as to make 
 her repeat it feveral times, and fhe never varied from it in the fmalleft 
 article. It was natural enough that the rage and grief fhe conceived 
 at the imprilbnment of her family, and the treatment flie herfelf 
 fuffered, lliould make her form fuch a defign ; and the conditions flie 
 annexed to it abfolutely convinced me that fhe was in earnefl. Upon 
 my obliging her to explain herfelf farther as to this intended retreat 
 nut of the kingdom, flie faid, that flie would not go among foreigners 
 to ftarve ; the queen fhould not have the fatisfaftion to know that flîe 
 dragged on a miferable life in poverty and exile. She therefore infifled 
 that an eftatc in lands fliould be given her of a hundred thoufand 
 francs at leafl, which was but a trifle, after all fhe might have lawfully 
 expedted from the king. Thefe words, which fhe pronounced with 
 great bitternefs, doubtlefs related to the promife of marriage given her 
 by Henry, the lofs of which had affedled her flrongly : and fhe en- 
 deavoured, but in vain, to conceal her rage from me. 
 
 I HAD never formed to myfelf any great expeftations from an in- 
 terview with the marchionefs of Verneuil ; but I could not help laying 
 Vol. II. X X fome
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLT. Book XVIII. 
 
 fonie flrefs upon her repeated requeft, to be allowed to fettle out 
 of the kingdom ; the more I refleded on it, the more I was con- 
 vinced that it was the only method by which this whole intrigue * 
 could be unravelled j and all which now remained to be done, was to 
 prevail upon Henry to confent to this propofal of the marchionefs, by 
 which he would remove from his eyes an objedl that drew him into 
 continual weakneiTes, and purchafe the future peace and tranquility 
 of his family. Money was all that was required of him to procure 
 thefe advantages : ought the effort then to be fo painful ? I was de- 
 termined to ufe my utmoil endeavours to accomplifti it. 
 
 I WENT to his majefty; and, after giving him an account of the 
 fuccefs of my commiffion-, propofed to him the expedient that pre- 
 fented itfelf to free him from all his uneafinefs. I was not furprifed to 
 find, that it did not appear fo happy to him as it had done to me ; but 
 I was armed with flrong arguments of every kind to fupport it : what 
 did I not fay to this prince ? what perfualion did I not ufe ? Policy, in- 
 tereft, quiet, reafon, each of thefe motives I dwelt upon, andexhaufted 
 all ; I brought to his remembrance his own unfavourable opinion of 
 this woman and her family ; I repeated circumftances fo much the 
 more likely to re-kindle his anger, as they had already often produced 
 that effed: ; the harfli epithets he had given the countefs d'Entragues 
 and her daughters ; the intrigues fo well known and fo inconteftable, 
 that had given caufe for them ; the fum of money granted by his order, 
 to pay for an imaginary facrifice in the firil favour, which he confelfed, 
 at the fame time, was no longer in the power of his miftrefs to beftow ; 
 
 * M. de Sully had made Henry IV.^lofe " thoufand crowns, but very difRcult to 
 
 a ftvourable opportunity of getting hand- " find out the means to raife them, the 
 
 fomely rid of his miflrefs, if we may believe " chancellor, without taking notice of 
 
 BalTompierre's Memoirs, where the thing " what he faid, went on ; Sire, I am of 
 
 is thus related, vol. I. p. 90. " The king " opinion, that you fhould take two hun- 
 
 ♦' afked, whether he Ihould give Madam " dred thoufand good crowns, and if that 
 
 " de Verneuil any thing to enable her to " is not fufficient, three hundred thoufand, 
 
 " marry a prince, who, flie told him, was " or, in fliort, any other fum that may be 
 
 *' willing to have her, provided (he had a " fufficient, and give them to this fair lady 
 
 " hundred thoufand crowns more than Ihe " to get her a husband ; this, I repeat it, is 
 
 " then was worth. M. de Belliévre faid, " my advice. The king repented after- 
 
 " Sire, I am of opinion it will be well " wards, he did not follov/ this advice." 
 
 " worth your while to give that lady a But fuppofmg this pretended match to he 
 
 *' hundred thoufand crowns, if (he can fomething more than a mere artifice of the 
 
 " find a good match by that means : to lady's, I believe it mifcarried through Hen- 
 
 " which M. de Sully aiifwering, that it ry IVth's fault rather than the duke of 
 
 " was an eafy matter to talk of a hundred Sully's. 
 
 the
 
 Book XVIIL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 the untimely birth of the infant by a ftorm, and other anecdotes of 
 the fame nature, capable of difgufling a delicate lover. Never before 
 had I made a difcourfe fo pathetic, nor, in my own opinion, fo con- 
 vincing : all my tendernels for the honour of this prince was alarmed 
 by the fhame I faw ready to overwhelm him ; I entreated, I implored, 
 everypowerofperfuafion I exerted ; I was not difcouraged by an ineffe- 
 dtual attempt : again I returned to the charge; my zeal became per- 
 fecution; and fometimes carried me out of myfelf, as it did in a con- 
 verfation we had in the garden, belonging to the Conciergerie at Fon- 
 tainebleau, where we fpoke fo loud, as to be heard by Baftien and 
 Brunault. 
 
 Nothing was ever more fingular or incomprehenfible ; a prince, 
 ■whofe great qualities might ferve as a model for other monarchs 
 to form themfelves upon, reduces us to the necefTity of either 
 throwing a veil over one part of that heroic mind, or of confefling that 
 it difhonours the other. I take, without hefitation, this laft path, 
 while I lament the force of human frailty, for I hold myfelf under an 
 obligation to do it ; and fhould think I had laboured but by halves for 
 the inilrudion of mankind in general, and of princes in particular, if I 
 threw any part of this piéture into fhade. I therefore open to them 
 the recefTes of that heart, where lb much greatnefs was blended with 
 fo much weaknefs, that, by the contraft, each may become more 
 confpicuous ; and that they may be upon their guard againft that dan- 
 gerous paffion, fo capable of infpiring fliameful affecSlions, and of taint- 
 ing their fouls with vices abhorred before ; mean artifices, cowardly 
 fears, jealoufy, rancour, rage, and even perjury and lies. Yes, I repeat 
 it again, perjury and lies ; Henry, that man on every other occafion fo 
 upright, fo open, fo fincere, became acquainted with all thefe vices, 
 ■when he abandoned himfelf to love. I often found that he deceived 
 me by falfe confidances, when he was under no obligation to enter 
 into true ones ; that he feigned returns to reafon, and refolutions which 
 his heart rejeded ; in a word, that he pretended to be afliamed of his 
 fetters, when he fecretly vowed never to break them. 
 
 It was but too true, that he was infedled with that jealoufy his mif- 
 trefs publicly reproached him with. This was eafy to be perceived by the 
 efforts he made to fupplant rivals, whom he was too weak to defpife, 
 and too timid to puniih. " Aut Ca^far, aut nihil," fays he, in one 
 of his letters to me. What a flrange contraft of caprices and ex- 
 travagances ! He was convinced that the marchionefs of Verneuil 
 
 X X 2 had
 
 3^0 M EMOIRS OF SULLY, Book XVIIL 
 
 1604. had recourfe to the afFedlation of devotion to conceal her libertinifm ; 
 <— — V— — ' and this convidtion pierced his heart with a thoufand cruel and infup- 
 portable wounds ; but he felt, no lefs forcibly, the delight which the 
 deûre of triumphing over a real devotion gives to a depraved heart. 
 
 One of thofe caprices which moil; furprifed me, and perfuaded me 
 that it was abfolutely impoflible to cure this unhappy prince, wasj 
 that at thofe very times when he appeared moft cool and indifferent in 
 all he faid of his miftrefs, yet the letters he wrote to be fliewn to her, 
 exprefled quite contrary fentiments. I have made the fame obfervation 
 of the marchionefs, but with lefs furprife. It mufi; be therefore, thai 
 thefe lovers, amidft the wildeft tranfports of their anger,could not hinder 
 themfelves from ftill depending a little upon the latent tendernefs of 
 each other; and that their tendernefs ftill fubfifted without their perceiv 
 ing it themfelves : or that the king, ingenious in finding out methods 
 to debafe himfelf, had a long time before furniflied his miftrefs with 
 arms againft him, which he would not oblige her to make ufe of, by 
 driving her to extremities : or laftly, and this is the leall: unfavourable 
 judgment that can be formed of this prince, that fome private tranf' 
 aftions had pafled between them, which Henry, through regret or 
 fhame, could not refolve to. impart to me,, or to any one whatever. 
 
 I HAVE thrown together all that relates to the prefent fubjetfl, al* 
 though part of the fadls, as has been feen, fuch as the feizing of the 
 count d'Auvergne, and the procefs carried on againft his family, did 
 not happen till towards the end of the year, that I might not be 
 obliged to interrupt the narration fo frequently *. I ftiall refume it at the 
 
 ■* I here fubjoin an anecdote of Vittorio danger to come to fee her at Maleflierbes, 
 
 Siri's, relating to the amours of Henry IV. which place is but 'hree leagues diftant 
 
 and the confplracy of the count of Au- from that palace : and truly, Henry imme- 
 
 vergne. This writer afferts, Mem. recond, diately fcnt mefTage after mefTage to ma- 
 
 vol. I. p. 297, that one ohje£tof this con- demoifelle d'Entragues, by fome of hfs 
 
 fpiracy was to feizc the king's perfon, by courtiers difguifed in the habit of peafants. 
 
 laying an ambufcade for him, and then put- Her anfwer to which was, that fhe was fo 
 
 ting him to death; and that d'Entragues, clofely watched, that there was not the 
 
 who had undertaken the execution of this lead: probability of her being able to fee the 
 
 projeft, intended to make ufe of the paf- king. At lafi: he could n >l forbear going 
 
 fion he had difcovered the kLng to have there in perfon, accompanied by maréchal 
 
 newly conceived for hii fécond daughter, Baflbmpierre ; and not daring to go into 
 
 who is reprefented as much handfomer than the houfe for fear of being difcovered, he 
 
 her fifter, to draw him into the fnare. He was obliged to content himfelf with fpeak- 
 
 therefore fent his wife to fetch her away ing to her at the window of a lower room : 
 
 from Fontainebleau, making no queftion he wrote to her every day, and fcnt her 
 
 but the king would expofe himfelf to any verfes of gallantry, which he got the beft 
 
 beginning
 
 Book XVIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 !4i 
 
 beginning of the following year, that we may fee the event, after I 1604. 
 
 have given, in this, an account of fome. other matters very ditEbrent ' s- — 
 
 from thofe. I have been treating. 
 
 poets of the court to compofe for him. At 
 laft they agreed to meet one another on a 
 day appoimcd, at a certain place, in a mea- 
 dow named by the king, v/here they might 
 be at full liberty, and where he promifed 
 to come in difguife. D'Entragues feemed 
 to be entirely ignorant of all this contri- 
 vance : but either having mentioned to 
 his daughter, or accidentally given her 
 fome reafon to fufptcl his defign, whether 
 fhe really loved the king, or was appre- 
 henfive of the confequences, fhe broke off 
 the appointment, and took other precau- 
 tions againft the danger to which Henry IV. 
 was going to expofe hicnfelf on her account. 
 The king, wearii.d out by fo many obfta- 
 cles to his wifhes, renewed i is amour with 
 the marchionefs of \'crncuil ; and, if we 
 may believe Siri, often was expofed to the 
 fame dangers with her : one day in particu- 
 lar, as he was going in difguife from Fon- 
 tainebleau to vifit her at Verneuil, he fo 
 narrowly avoided filling into the hands of 
 fifteen or fixteen of D'Entragues' relations, 
 who were upon the watch for him in the 
 fields, in order to aniiilinate him, tiiat his 
 efcaping them may be confidered as a par- 
 ticular inflancc of his good fortune. But, 
 as thefe circumftances are not taken notice 
 of in any memoirs of credit of thofe times, 
 they feem to be only fome of thofe flrokes, 
 
 with which a foreigner, on the authority 
 of popular report, may think he has a right 
 to enliven his fubjed:. 
 
 Mademoifelle d'Entragues, of whom we 
 have been fpcaking, fecms to be her of 
 ETenry the IVth's miftrellès, whom he has 
 celebrated under the name of Lifa : and 
 there are ftill iome original pieces of poetry 
 in being which he feiit hcrj amongfè 
 others a fonnet, of which I fhall only repeat ■ 
 the four firfl: verfes : 
 
 ye neffals par où commencer, 
 A louer votre grande beauté \ 
 Car il n'ejl rien, ni na été, 
 ^/e vous ne puijjès effacer, l^c. 
 
 What tongue can tell, what words 
 
 exprefs, 
 The beauties of thy charming face : 
 Since all we've feen, and all we fee. 
 Appears but as a foile to thee, &c. 
 What follows is in the fame flrain. Though 
 there is a remark at the head of this fcnnet, 
 of the hand-writing of Henry IV. that it 
 was made by Collin, a poet whofe pen that 
 prince often was pleafed to make ufe of in 
 works of this kind, thefe compofitions are 
 neither too corredt, nor too poetical, to 
 prevent our believing Henry himfelf mijht 
 be the author of them, or at leaft in fonis 
 degree concerned in them. 
 
 U E M O I R S
 
 E M O I R 
 
 O F 
 
 U L L Y. 
 
 BOOK XIX. 
 
 ^ ^' , ^ K ^ H E king, from the year 1602, looking out fora fafe and 
 i convenient place where he might lay up his revenues, and the 
 -^ money which he fet apart for the execution of his defigns, 
 fixed upon the Baftile, where he ordered cherts to be made, and all 
 other neceflary conveniences : for this article he was obliged to publifli 
 a regulation that might bring this new difpofition of money into me-» 
 thod, to prevent the confufion of different offices, and to hinder the 
 receivers from being entangled with the chamber of accounts : the 
 regulation was thus. 
 
 "b 
 
 No money was to be carried to the Baftile but that which remained 
 clear in the king's hands; all charges, both ordinary and extraordinary, 
 being firft taken out of the revenues of the quarter in which they fell. 
 The money was put into the hands of the treafurer in office, in the pre- 
 fenceof the fuperintendant of the finances, and thecomptroller-general, 
 who at that time was John de Vienne ; the comptroller and I had each 
 of us a key, and the treafurer had likewife a third ; when his year of of- 
 fice was over he received a certificate, figned by me and Vienne, of the 
 fums that had been put in the king's chefts during his adminiftration ; 
 this he put into the hands of his fucceflbr, and received from him an 
 acquittance, which he was at liberty to Ihew as his difcharge. The 
 
 new
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 new .treafurer had a right to know whether the certificate was exaâ", 
 by inlpeiSting the money contained in the treafury j upon this acquit- 
 tance, the treafurer was authorifed to draw up his account, which the 
 chamber of accounts was obhged topafs without further examination. 
 
 • His majefty was of opinion, that he ought early to pubHdi his in- 
 tentions and juftify his condudl, both with refpeft to that accumulation 
 of riches, and to the changes which had been already made, and which 
 were flill to be made in the finances. This was done in a council ex- 
 traordinarily aflembled for this purpofe. The chancellor received from 
 the king, and publifhed, the lift of thofe who were to compofe the 
 council, confifting of deputies of the fovereign courts of Paris, named 
 by his majefty, the principal members of his council, and the chief 
 adminiftrators of juftice, the revenues, and police. They met on the 
 appointed day in the great clofet of the Louvre, which is at the end 
 of the guard-room, joining that of the king's chamber. When they 
 were all alTembled the king came in, and having ordered the whole 
 aflTembly to be feated, he explained to them the motives of his condudl, 
 in a difcourfe of which this is the fuhftance : The civil wars, he told 
 them, had reduced the revenues of the kingdom to fuch a ftate, that 
 the annual income was fcarce fufficient to clear the annual debt ; and 
 it was neceflary therefore to improve the ftate of affairs, not only by 
 enquiries and profccutions, which had already fo far benefited the na- 
 tion, that it was cleared of pirt of the debt, but likewife to form new 
 funds, that if there fhould either happen a war of confequence, or a 
 troublefome minority, the king might neither be obliged to become 
 bankrupt, nor to let public affairs fink into their former confufion, to 
 fupport the expences which could not otherways be raifed for this pur- 
 pofe ; that the beft ufe was to be made of peaceable times, in which 
 there was nothing of that kind to be dreaded; that the means necef- 
 fary to this, which however fliould be praftifcd, without doing any 
 mifchief by precipitation, were the extinction of revenues granted by 
 the ftate on feveral pretences, the reimburfement of offices, and the 
 refumption of crown-lands that had been given away. 
 
 His majefty was refolved to begin by examining the feveral grants 
 of revenues ; and this was to be entered upon this very year : upon 
 this head he let fall an exprelTion to prepare their minds for the juft 
 feverity of this procedure, by fiying, that in the firft place he ftiould 
 endeavour to make a rigorous difcrimination between thofe that had 
 really paid in money the principal of the arrears, which they were 
 
 now
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Boofc XIX. 
 
 now receiving back from the king's revenues, and thofe v/ho had made 
 falfe claims upon the king. Henry added, that he reckoned fo much 
 upon the ceconomy with which he intended to manage his revenues 
 for the time to come, that he confidered a defign which required the 
 amaffing of large fums in the trealury, as by no means inconfiftent 
 with his purpofe of eafing the people by leflening the taxes, which he 
 fhould always keep before his eyes. He exhorted the alTembly to affift 
 fuch juft and upright intentions, and direâed that they fliould twice 
 a day, during eight days, deliberate maturely upon this proportion, 
 and at the end of that time, fliould lay before him the refult of their 
 deliberation. He promifed to follow any good fcheme that fliould 
 be offered, with the fame fincerity which he had difcovered in im- 
 parting his own ; and not to forget thofe who fliould give proofs on 
 this occafion of their regard for the public. 
 
 Assemblies of this kind are, in my opirtion, not to be condemned, 
 tven when they are only called to keep up a form which may be of 
 no great ufe, lince they ferve, it may be faid, no other purpofes than 
 to notify to the minifters, with lefs appearance of abfolute power, the 
 decrees of the prince already fixed in a fccret council. This very af- 
 fembly did not efcape this refledtion ; the propofal of the king, tho' 
 in itfelf unqueflionably juft and beneficial to the community, did not 
 meet with the more approbati. n for its ufefulnefs. I know not what 
 will be faid on this occafionby the aflertors of the authority of the 
 people, but I for my part am of opinion, and multitudes of in- 
 ftances like this fufficiently prove it to be juft, that the defigns of a 
 good and wife king muft not be at all times, and in every fituation, 
 the fame with thofe of the people. The confiderations which re- 
 gulate popular opinions are feldom free from intereft or paffion, and 
 never, or almoft never, reach farther than the prefent. Thofe who 
 judge beft are themfelves deceived by their own fenfe of intereft, and 
 feem, one by one, to have determined, though they will not confefs, 
 and perhaps do not know it, to procure their own fatisfadion, with" 
 out any care about the future. 
 
 This corruption arifes from the defire natural to man, of prefent 
 happinefs ; and unhappily it falls out in government as in policy, that 
 there may be juft reafons for deferring this completion of felicity for 
 ten, twenty, or fifty years, and fometimes for a longer time. What 
 means can be contrived to make this delay not offenfive to the common 
 people, and even to thofe who, tho' they have more knowledge, have 
 
 the
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 the fame p^Tions with the vulgar. The cafe is otherwife with a wife 
 and good king, or with a minifter who reprefents him, and performs 
 the aiits of government. His indinations, it is true, ought to be diredled 
 to the good of the fubjeds, but he always knows, that by catching too 
 foon at happÏTîefs, it is almofl always miffed, and that there is no pro- 
 portion between the real evils into which men are plunged by fuch 
 miftaken precipitations, and the vexations merely ideal and imaginary, 
 which are complained of by thofe that think they want fomething. 
 Happy is the public when it is governed by fuch principles of policy, as 
 put it in the way to tranquility ; all regard to fhort-lived and tranfitory 
 advantage is cafi afide in confideration of general good, and a wife king 
 is not lefs a father of thofe fubjeds who fliall live at the diftance of three 
 or four generations, than of thofe who live in his own time; and con- 
 fiders the falfe tendernefs which he might have fliewn to his own time, 
 at the expence of fucceeding ages, as the partiality of a father in favour 
 of fome of his children, which is to end in the ruin of his family. 
 
 The fcheme, which Henry had formed for the intereft of his king- 
 dom, making it neceffary that he fhould take all meafures to encreafe 
 his revenues, inftead of making all thofe,defalcations about which fome 
 who pretended great zeal for his fervice were continually talking to him, 
 he required my private advice. The advance which I had made in the 
 knowledge of the finances enabled me to difcover fome fources of large 
 profit which would very little burthen the people; of thefe I put nine 
 into a memorial which I prefented to his majefty as follows : 
 
 1. The contradlors who in late times managed the chief farms of 
 the revenue, had, under pretence of feveral employments which they 
 reprefented as neceffary, mifapplied the money which they had re- 
 ceived, and made thofe fums pafs in their accounts, to the ruin of the 
 exchequer, which was reprefented as having received them, though 
 not a penny came to it. By this article alone the crown was robbed 
 of feveral millions. Of thefe accounts and details I therefore demand- 
 ed an exaél revifal, that I might lay hold on the contradtors, who had 
 not been able fo completely to conceal themfelves under the different 
 names by which they carried on their robberies, but that I fliould be 
 able to trace them. 
 
 2. The clergy of France had, by the mouths of the cardinals, arch- 
 bifhops, and biûiops, accufed Caftille, their receiver-general, of having 
 detained their money. The petition which had been prefented to me. 
 
 Vol. II. Y y was
 
 346 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 1604. was accompaniedwithanaccountof thearticlesofaccufationfopofitively 
 and clearly ftated, that nothing remained but that the king fhould re- 
 claim the immenfe fum which the receiver appeared to have embezzled. 
 
 3. All the managers of the finances, and the people of bufineis, 
 particularly the treafurers of France, who had contributed much to 
 the ruin of the finances, might be aflbciated with Caftille, by the erec- 
 tion of a chamber of juftice ; which muft produce great advantages^ 
 if private intrigues and fecret artifices could be kept out, by which- 
 thefe enquiries are often defeated. 
 
 4. The abufes in the alienation of the king's lands were fo grofs,, 
 that many of thofe who had them in their hands held them by mere 
 ufurpation, without any title ; and the others had them at a price fo 
 fcandaloufly low, that they were repaid by the income of the very firft 
 year at fix per cent, which was the intereft then current. Of this I 
 made his majefty fully fenfible, who would not fuffer thefe alienations 
 to be exadlly verified, that he might be drawn to confent to the re- 
 fumption of all thofe poifefiions, or to fome meafures for obliging the 
 pofiTeflbrs to pay the true price. 
 
 5. In the other ofiices and employments there was the fame cor- 
 ruption to be removed by the fame means; the perfons in pofleffioa 
 were to be obliged to fupply the déficiences' of their firft payment ia 
 proportion to their falaries, or to give back their employments for the 
 fame fum for which they had purchafed them. 
 
 6. The debts due to the Swifs Cantons were, by a bad regulation, 
 fo far from being lefi"ened, that they had been always encreafing.^ t 
 had already made fuch an alteration in that part of our affairs, that by 
 the feafonable payment of one million, I had obtained an acquittance 
 of eight; half of it reckoned to the principal and half to the arrears; 
 and by taking the fame method with the reft, the public was foon 
 cleared of that debt. 
 
 7. As it was eafy for the king to recover the poffeflion of the crown 
 lands that were alienated, fo it was of great advantage to him to alie- 
 nate I know not how many little parts of them, confifting in ground- 
 rents, and particular claims, of which the expences for repairs, leafes 
 and receiving, fometimes under pretence of profecutions, fometimes of 
 drawbacks, and improvements, were rifen, by the connivance of the 
 
 treafurers
 
 îîooK XIX. MEMOIRSOFSULlV. 347 
 
 treafurers of the finances, who alone made their advantage of them, 1604. 
 to fuch a prodigious heighth, that according to a calculation which I >> 
 made, by reckoning ten years, one with another, a fifth part mufli 
 have been added, before a fingle penny could come to the king. This 
 was the chief fource of plunder to the officers of the revenue. By alie- 
 nating all thefe parts at the rate for money fettled by the lafl edidt, 
 the king would be more than doubly a gainer, becaufe he might buy 
 with the money, which this rate would bring in, thofe parts of this re- 
 venue which were mortgaged at ten per cent. 
 
 8. The profit was yet greater with refpedl to therefiimption of the 
 royal revenues that had been alienated ; lome of the contractors had 
 oftered me to purchafe them back to the king for forty millions, with- 
 out obliging him to repay any part of the fum, provided he would 
 let them take their choice of the part to be purchafed, and allow them 
 to enjoy them for a certain number of years, after which they would 
 reftore them to the crown clear of all debts and incumbrance. The 
 king, inftead of accepting their propofal, had nothing to do but to get 
 himfelf the money which they would have gotten by the bargain. 
 
 9. France had in her hand the infallible means of drawing to her- 
 felf all the commerce of the Ocean and Mediterranean, and to fee 
 them, without any great expence, in the middle of her provinces : all 
 this would coft her nothing but the labour of cutting a canal from the 
 Seine to the Loire, from the Loire to the Saone, and from the Saone 
 to the Meufe* ; and the firil: glance of this projeft prefents us with 
 
 * Before the duke of Sully came into they are yet far from being impoflible. 
 the miiiillry, it had never been thought of The joining rivers, and making roads, 
 in France to derive any advantage from which render the communication either of 
 the rivers ; to which, neverthelefs, it mufl different provinces, or different parts of the 
 be owned, the kingdom is indebted for its iame province, more eafv and commodious, 
 wealth and commerce. He began with the arc perh.Tps the two moft important objefts 
 canal of Briare, but was not able to pro- to which a wife government can apply its 
 ceed farther. Perhaps nothing will contri- attention in time of peace ; and by employ- 
 bute fo much to render the reign of Lewis ing the foldiery, who are at fuch times ufe- 
 the Great immortal, as that wonderful ca- lefs, or that prodigious number of beggars, 
 nal for joining the two feas : the great be- who are always fo, in performing works of 
 hefits rcfulting to the nation from thefe this nature, they will be executed at a mo- 
 undertakings, fo happily executed, palling derate expence. Idlenefs, which generally 
 over the example Holland affords us, points makes beggars and vagabonds turn thieves 
 out to us what remains to be farther done, and robbers, at the fame time will be ba- 
 and at the fame time proves, that however nifhed from the nation, and commerce in- 
 difEcult attempts of this nature may appear, troduced into every, part of it. 
 
 Y V 2 moro
 
 M; E M O I R s OF SULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 more than two millions a year, which we fliould get from Spain 
 alone, and which would be real and folid wealth, as all that is which-, 
 is produced by commerce. 
 
 I ENTERED into a long feries of particulars, when I gave in my re- 
 port to the king J and I accompanied it with a paper, in which I- 
 cleared up the reality of fome of the revenues which were not com- 
 prifed in thefe articles. The prince, who certainly expefted a very 
 different fcheme, and whofe natural livelinefs of temper kept him from 
 attending to my difcourfe fo clofely as was neceffary, railed at firll a 
 thoufand difficulties to all my defigns ; he faid, that indeed the fchemes 
 were great, but fome of them were wild and unfettled ; others of no- 
 great profit ; fome difficult to be executed, and fome hard to be made 
 confiflent with each other. All this was becaufe he did not under- 
 ftand them. I knew well enough what his majefty was wanting, and 
 what propoflil would have fuited his inclination : an augmentation of 
 the cuftoms, creation of new offices, or a further alienation of his 
 Grown lands : if I would have fbewn him a fcheme which I had my- 
 felf drawn up upon thefe means of raifmg money, I might have brought 
 fourfcore millions of ready coin into his coffers ; befides fixty millions 
 more, by letting a leafe of five millions a year, to which Ihad raifed 
 fix of his farms above their former value. But I eafily brought the 
 king to allow, that though thefe methods were eafily praticable, they, 
 were at the fame time very burthenfome to the people ; that we ought 
 not to have recourfe to them but in the moft preffing exigencies, and 
 that the leifure of a time of peace fhould be employed in carrying 
 on meafures that required more time and application. Such were 
 the nine fchemes that I had laid before him, of which I affured him, 
 that although he feemed to rate them at fo little, yet if they were 
 ildlfully managed and brought on one after another, they would in 
 time make him richer than he was by two hundred millions. 
 
 The king fell into my opinion, and we determined to begin by the 
 re-eftablifhment of the public revenue, when I had (liewn, by good i 
 
 It is neceflary there fhould be fome prin- whole machine. Much trouble might be 
 
 cipal center for the riches of a nation ; but faved in ftudying the nature of thofe lecret 
 
 neverthelefs other cities Ihould not fall a fprings which give motion to the moft mi- 
 
 facrifice to the capital ; which being in the nute branches of commerce, were due at- 
 
 body politic, what the heart is in the hu- tention given to that fimple and obvious 
 
 man body, conftantly receiving tlie blood, principle, of only fupplying the country 
 
 and as conftantly propelling it, even to the people with the means of living ia eafe and . 
 
 moft extreme parts,, they cannot be depriv- plenty. 
 
 cd of it without bringing a languor on the 
 
 extrads
 
 Book XIX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. ^^^ 
 
 extratSls and authentic papers out of the chamber of accounts, the 1604. 
 court of aids, and other offices, that this regulation would, without 
 the leaft injuftice, bring fix millions into the royal treaibry. He en- 
 gaged in this afterwards fo warmly, that he (lie wed the higheft impa- 
 tience to begin, and never writ me a letter in which he did not men- 
 ,tion it. To fucceed in this, I thought it neceflary that a new council 
 or office fliould be ercdled ; to this an oppofition was made by the 
 chamber of accounts, but no regard was had to their arguments. 
 This council was compofed of Chateau-neuf, Calignon, and Jeannin, 
 the prefidents De Thou and Tambonneau alternately, and of Rebours ; 
 a treafurer, and a regilter, who were Le-Gras, and Regnouard ; and I 
 was the chief of it, and prefent at it as often as my other bufinefs 
 would give me leave ; but whether I was there or not every thing 
 went forward according to a fcheme which I had drawn as the rule * 
 of their operations. All our proceedings would be tedious to relate, 
 it is fufficient to fay, that I had made a clear and exadl diftindbion be- 
 tween the grants made at different times and from different funds; fome 
 had been bought for the payment of the third part of their price in 
 ready money, fome for half, others for the whole fum ; there were 
 fome that had coft their poffeffors very little, fome were obtained by 
 mere fraud, and others honeitly procured ; thefe laft were never 
 touched otherwife than to fettle them more fecurely according to their 
 original condition ; as for the reft, according to the degree of fraud 
 and injuftice with which they had been procured, we either ftruck 
 them entirely off, or ordered the full purchafe to be paid j there were 
 fome, of which the poffeffors were obliged to pay back the arrears, 
 which they had fo unjufllygot into their poffeffion ; and others, who, 
 for having embezzled the arrears, were obliged to dedudl them from 
 the principal, which it was fo much eafier to pay off. The public 
 gained another advantage, by fuppreffing a number of receivers of the 
 revenue, who were an ulelefs burthen upon it, and of whom I left 
 only one remaining. 
 
 The enquiry which I had fchemed out againft monopolizers and 
 officers of the revenue was afterwards carried on by the ereâion of a 
 chamber of iuftice ; but as the corrupt man.igement of folicitation and 
 interceffion was not cut off, nothing was produced, but the common 
 confequence, the chief criminals efcaped, and thofe who were lefs con- 
 fideiable lijffered all the feverity of the law : fome remedy was found 
 
 * A more particular detail is given of thefe regulations in the old Memoirs ; thofe 
 concerned in the revenue may there have an opportunity of confulting them, 
 
 for ;
 
 MEMOIRS QF SULLY. Book XîX» 
 
 for this abufe, at leafl in the time immediately following my enquiry j 
 for Itook great care, that when any man was found guilty of corrup-i 
 tion he fhould be immediately puni(hed. Exadt information vva§ 
 given of thofe that were committed at Rouen. Mankind now began 
 to give to all thefe ftrokes of art the name that they deferved ; and 
 thofe unlawful gains which had i^o long impoverillied France, and en- 
 riched the officers of the revenue, were treated, without cctemony, aâ 
 robbery and rapine ; and honefty began to Iliew her head in a fane- 
 tuary where flie had never refided before. 
 
 The treafurers of France having this year prefented their accounts 
 full of blanks for nonpayment, I could think of no better method to 
 cure them of a practice which I very much fufpefted of diflionefty, 
 than to aflign them thefe pretended blanks for the payrOient of their 
 next year's wages. The removal of Drouart, whofe place was given 
 to Montauban, and foiiie other flrokes of the fame kind, taught the 
 chief of thefe men of bufinefs to do their duty, and to do it well. By 
 a decree paffed againfl: one Le-Roi, they were forbidden, under a pe* 
 nalty of an hundred thoufand livres, to take any foreigner as a partner 
 in the king's farms. This decree was declared in the name of Charley 
 Du-Han, farmer-general of the five great farms, to the chief perfons 
 interefted in the revenue, and the other farms of the king at Paris, 
 and the other principal cities in the kingdom. 
 
 1 COMPLAINED to the king of an invafion made by the parliament 
 of Touloufe on his authority, by forbidding any corn to be carried 
 out of the province of Languedoc I was informed of this by thz 
 treafurers of the province, becaufe it threatened the ruin of the foreign 
 cuftoms, the farmers of which demanded a very confiderable abate- 
 ment : it likewife reduced both the galleys and thegarrilbns into ditfi- 
 culties, as they were generally vidtualled from that part of the kingdom. 
 
 The four hundred thoufand livres raifed by augmenting the taille, 
 kito which half of the tax of a penny in the fliilling had been changed, 
 continued ftill to be paid ; as likewife the other half, laid upon mer-, 
 çhandifes : tho' the edid: by which thefe taxes were eftabliihed was 
 fettled but for two years. The officers of the revenue made reprefen- 
 tations to the king upon this account : they complained of the low va- 
 lue to which certain farms were fallen which depended upon com- 
 merce with Spain, by the prohibition of that trade, as well as by the 
 multiplicity of edids daily iffued by the council, and which they re- 
 
 prefented
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 prefented as more dangerous to the public, than the taille itfelf. I 
 allow, for my part, that their complaints were juft, and had myfelf 
 remonftrated to the king long before them. He had written two let- 
 ters upon this fubjeft, one to the council, in which he ihewed them, 
 that the prefent ftate of affairs, and particularly the armament of 
 Spain, did not allow him to make any abatement in his revenues fcr 
 the prefent year ; and the other to me, to prevail upon the council to 
 come into his opinion. 
 
 I GAVE him what affiftance was in my power, as grand mafler of 
 the ordnance. The arfenal was at that time flored with an hundred 
 pieces of cannon ; there were in the galleries, fmall arms for fifteen 
 thoufand foot, and three thoufand horle ; and in the Temple and at, 
 the Baftile, were two millions of pounds of powder, and a hundred' 
 thoufand bullets. I remember, that one day as Henry was walking 
 with me in the arfenal, he feemed alarmed at the number and power 
 of the enemies that threatened him : but I fhewed him the formidable 
 ftore, by which hé would be able to bring them all to terms. He 
 then demanded a lift of his arms, ammunition, and artillery, with a' 
 fummary account of his ready money, and what could be added to it, 
 in the year 160- and 1606. He entered into my cabinet, and made 
 my fecretaries write thefe minutes, that he might have them always 
 ih his pocket. 
 
 The regulation and difcipline of the foldiers was' afi article of go- 
 vernment mofi; necelTary to be confidered in order to its reformation. 
 It is hard to conceive, that, in a nation which from its firft eftablifliment 
 has been engaged in war, and has indeed purfued no other trade than 
 that of arms, no care fliould have been hitherto taken to form and 
 methodife them. Whatever related to the foldiery of France, was 
 offenlive and difgufting. The foot foldiers were enlifled by vio- 
 lence, and made to march by a cudgel ; their pay was uniuftly Vv'ith- 
 held, they heard of nothing but a prifon, and had nothing before 
 their eyes but a gibbet. This treatment drove them into all me- 
 thods of defertioii, Vv-hich was prevented only by the prevots, who 
 kept them in their camp like men beheged : the officers themfelvcs 
 being ill paid, had fome kind of right to violence and plunder. Henry 
 would often fay, and he fpoke acco ding to his own experience, that 
 the public could never be well fcrved, till the troops were put into ■ 
 another ftate. 
 
 The
 
 MEMOIRS G F SULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 The fîrft point, on which this new regulation muft depend, was 
 exadnefs of payments, which the king began by fettUng it i'o, that, for 
 the future, it could neither be delayed, nor the money appointed for it 
 applied to any other ufe. This regulation was followed by another equally 
 juft and equally proper to reconcile the mind to the trade of arms : by 
 this there was a provifion made for the relief of foldiers, when, by 
 wounds or ficknefs contrafted in the fervice, they were unable to 
 live either by war or labour : things were managed fo, that, in this flate 
 of mifery, they wanted nothing, either for their maintenance, or their 
 cure *. 
 
 The liberty with which I have cxprefTed myfelf concerning the 
 king's faults gives me a right to praife him for his good qualities. He 
 was born with the virtues and method of ceconomy, and therefore 
 pradifed them without any conftraint : particular details of bufinefs 
 were to him merely an amufement. Princes who engage perfonally in 
 the adminiftration of government, fall commonly into one of thefe two 
 inconveniences ; either they are incapable of fubmitting to moderate 
 views, or they cannot raife them to any heighth. The mind of Henry 
 adapted itfelf with the fame eafe to things fmall or great, of which 
 his letters give fufficient evidence, and a way that was then ufed of 
 applying to him immediately, fometimes for mere trifles, fhew it ftill 
 more plainly. There had been long due two hundred and fifty crowns to 
 a wine merchant of Gifors, who had formerly furniflîed the houfhold 
 with wine. His maiefly fent me to pay him, and to recompence him 
 
 * By the king's edi<5l, dated the 7th of hofpital of Mars, or the Invalids, a menu- 
 July 1 605 (for poiTibly this affair could not ment alone fufficient to immortalize his me- 
 be concluded till the year after) his ma- mory. This houfe of chriftian charity was 
 jefty granted to the gentlemen, officers, before this only an hofpital, without any 
 and foldiers difabled in his fervice, the royal revenue belonging to it, built by Henry III. 
 houfe of chriftian charity, built with the for maimed foldiers; it flood in the fub- 
 money arifing from the furplus of the ac- urbs of faint Marcellus, in the ftreet called 
 counts of hofpitals, alm-houfes, and fpitals rue de l'Ourfine, and was ready to fall 
 for lepers, &c. and from the penfions of down. Two years after, Henry IV. alfo 
 lay-monks, and the oblats -f : the fuperin- caufed the hofpital of Saint Lewis to be 
 tendance of it belonged to the high confia- built ; for this purpafe, he granted to the 
 ble of France. This eftabliftiment has fince Hôtel Dieu, ten fous on every minot J of 
 been chan-ed, or rather totally abolifhed, fait, within the diftriâ of Paris, during fif- 
 by what Lewis the great fubftituted in its teen years, and five fous for ever, 
 ftead, in building and endowing the royal 
 
 f Lay-Monks or oblats, were foldiers difabled in the king's fervice, who had the maintenance of a monk 
 alTigned to them on the revenues of an abbey, as a reward for their fervice. 
 
 X A minot oi fait contains four French bufhels, and is fomething lefs than an EngUfh bu(hel. 
 
 for
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. ^553 
 
 for the delay, " my confcience, fays he, obliges me to pity that poor 1 604. 
 " man." I have, perhaps, told too many of thefe kind of ftories ; ' 
 but my book would make quite another kind of a figure, if Iprefent- 
 ed to the public all the letters which the king wrote to me. 
 
 As to thofe other ideas that had a higher objed:, eithe' of intcreft, 
 of glory, or public happinefs, the king never loft fight of ihem, either 
 in his vexations or his plcafiu-es : that he m'ght know whether my idcaj 
 agreed with his, he made many enquiries ; and concluded at laft, that 
 I flîould give him an enumeration of all thofe things, by which I 
 thought the glory of a powerful kingdom might be deftoyed or ful- 
 lied. I thought therewas no better way of complying with his in- 
 tention, than that of prefenting him a fketch, v/ritten with fuch fim- 
 plicity, and with fuch few ufelefs ornaments of ftyle, that he might at 
 once glance it over: it contained an enumeration, without proof or 
 expofition, of thofe abufes which commonly find their way into pub- 
 lic affairs. I here lay it before my readers, to whom it may fervc as 
 a compendium of the principles, which they have feen, and muft ex- 
 pea: to fee, diffufed through thefe Memoirs. 
 
 The caufes of the ruin or decline of monarchies are exorbitant fub- 
 iidies, monopolies, chiefly thofe relating to corn ; negledl of merchan- 
 dife, trade, agriculture, arts, and manufadtories ; the great number of 
 public employments, the fees, and exceilive authority of men in of- 
 fice ; the coft, the delavj and the injufticc of tribunals; idlenefs, 
 luxury, and all that is connedled with it, debauchery and corruption 
 of manners, confufion of ranks, changes of the value of money, unjuft 
 and imprudent wars, the defpotic power of fovereigns, their blind ad- 
 herence to particular perfons, their prejudice in favour of particular 
 conditions or profelHons ; the greedinefs of minifters and favourites, 
 the degradations of perfons of quality j contempt and negledl of men 
 of letters ; the connivance at bad cuftoms, and infraction of good 
 laws ; an obftinate adherence to cuftoms, either mifcliievous or in- 
 different i and the multiplicity of edidls and ufelefs regulations. 
 
 If I was to chufe among all the forms of government, of which 
 this monarchy has furnifhed examples, Ifliould propofe Clovis, Char- 
 lemagne, Philip the auguft, and Charles* the fagej and I fhould wiOi 
 
 * It would perhaps have been ftill bet- the duke of Sully, we fliall find the one 
 
 ter, to have alfo rejected the three firft of a6tcd on the principles of a Roman, the 
 
 thefe, and kept only to Charles V. On oiher on tho'e of a true Spartan: the maxr 
 
 examining the characters of Henry IV. and ims here laid down difcover a mixture of 
 
 Vol. II. Z z that
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 that the eye might never fall lb low, as upon the reign of Charles 
 VIII. and our times ; and if I was to eftablifli a fingle principle of 
 government, it fhould be this, " That good laws and good manners 
 " produce each other." Bat fuch is our unhappinefs, that wc never 
 perceive this valuable connexion, till corruptions and abufes have been 
 carried together to the higlieft points ; fo that among men, the prin- 
 ciple of good arifes always from the extremity of evil. 
 
 The regulations, for the augmentation and fecuring of commerce^ 
 appearing to Henry to be of the firil: importance to the public, he laid 
 out the greateft part of his care upon them. The projeâ: of the canal 
 for joining the Seine to the Loire * being ratified, I removed myfelf to 
 thofe parts, that there might be no miftake in the preparations that 
 were previous to the execution ; whether in taking heights, or levelling 
 the ground, or laying hold of any advantages that might occur. I 
 fpent but little time in this journey, for the king recalled me as foon 
 almoft as I was gone. In the like manner I regulated feveral affairs of 
 commerce in the journey I made to Poitou, as has been already related. 
 
 both thefe principles. I have obferved be- 
 fore, what correcSlives were necefiary. to 
 modify the too auftere temper of the duke 
 of Sully : I fliall here take the fame liberty 
 with the too warlike difpofition of Henry 
 IV. A military fpirit is undoubtedly ne- 
 cefiary to defend a ftate ; it ought there- 
 fore to be nourifhcd with the utmoft care ; 
 but it fhould notwithftanding be kept in 
 the fame ftate we do a maftifF, for the de- 
 fence of our houfe, that is, chained up, and 
 very feldom indulged with the liberty of 
 puri'uing its own courfe, left it fhould turn 
 upon its mafters and tear them to pieces. 
 The reputation alone of courage produces 
 almoft the fame efFecl as the exertion- of it 
 can. It may be laid down as a principle, 
 that there are no means but what are pre- 
 ferable to war, if the fame end can be ob- 
 tained by them. 
 
 * This is the canal of Briare, which 
 from that litile town runs to Montargis, 
 about ten leagues diftant from it. It was 
 to have been continued to Moret ; but this 
 part of the defign was left unexecuted, and 
 the canal itfelf was negleifted, after more 
 than three hundred thoufand crowns had 
 been laid out upon it, through the malice 
 
 of thofe who envied M. de Rofny, or, ac- 
 cording to Mezerai, through the change 
 that happened in the miniftry. This work 
 was far advanced at that time ; it has fince 
 beeYi refumed, and at length finiflied. M. 
 De Thou beftows great commendation on 
 M. de Sully, for being the inventor of this 
 defign, b. cxxxii. A further proof of this 
 may be drawn from the fdver and copper 
 plates, or a kind of medals found in 1737, 
 when they were at work on the fluices in 
 this canal, and which it was certainly wrong 
 to take from thence. The count of Bu- 
 ron, one of the parties intercfted in this ca- 
 nal, fent the copper ones to the prefent 
 duke of Sully, which are now in the duke's 
 cabinet of medals, but kept the filver ones 
 on account of their value. One of thefe 
 copper medals is charged with the duke of 
 Sully's arms, and another bears this in- 
 fcription : " 1607. Aiaximilian de Bethune, 
 under the reign of Henry IV. by the hands 
 of Meffire Peter Ozon, at this time mayoc 
 and governor of Montargis-le-Frsnc." The 
 duke of Sully has alfo lately recovered part 
 of the memorials and other writings rela- 
 ting to this canal. 
 
 Op
 
 Book XIX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 355 
 
 Of thefe affairs, the moil: important and mofi: perplexing, was an 1604. 
 unforefeen quarrel which happened this year with Spain, concerning 
 the mutual traffic carried on between the two nations. The king of 
 Spain had, in the preceding year, laid a duty of thirty per cent, upon 
 all French goods imported to Spain or Flanders ; as likewife upon all 
 goods exported from thefe two liâtes into France; a heavy impofition, 
 which was at once an infult upon our n tion, and tended to revolt the 
 minds of his own fubjedts. The king returned it by exprefsly prohi- 
 biting all commerce with the fubjefts of Spain, and the arch-duchies, 
 and by a duty ilill larger upon all the Spanifh goods landed at Calais : 
 but this prohibition could not prevent the fraudulent carriage of our 
 provifions to the enemy's country. The French merchants, notvvith- 
 flanding the new monopoly, ftill found there were fuch great profits to 
 be made on our grain and other goods, from the fcarcity of them in 
 Spain, that they expoled themfelves, for thofe profits, to all the rigour 
 of the law ; and, on that account, there was a kind of fedition raifed 
 in the city of Marfeille, of which the prefident Du-Vair fent imme- 
 diate notice to the court. The merchants of this city lofl all pa- 
 tience, when they found themfelves obliged to fit idle and inadtive, 
 while the Italians came and carried away tneir provifions, and depriv- 
 ed them of their ufual profits. This permiffion, which was granted 
 by his majeiiy to the Itahans, was, in my opinion, ill judged. 
 
 The Engliflh were pleafed at this new incident; and fo far were they 
 from endeavouring to accommodate the affair, that they fecretly fcrove 
 to make it worfe, becaufe they carried on the lame trade fraudulently, 
 which the Itahans were authorifed to do. It was difcovered, that 
 eight or nine Englifh veiTels had taken in their loadings of grain at 
 Clone, and went from thence to Saint Sebaftian, to difembark them : 
 this, doubtlels, was the refource the Spaniards depended upon, other- 
 ways their prohibition v/ould have fallen heavy upon themfelves, 
 which Henry, from the beginning, had flattered himfelf would hap- 
 pen : and it was the hope, that Spain would futfer more from it than 
 we, joined to his folicitude to maintain the honour of his crown, that 
 it might not be faid his enemies could difpofe of its commerce, which 
 made him flill require a ftridl obfervation of the prohibition he had 
 pubh(hed. He commanded me to fend a perfon of probity and under- 
 ftanding, to vifit all that part of the country, from the mouth of the 
 Loire to the Garonne, and all along the borders of thefe two rivers, to 
 fee that this ordonnance was pundually obeyed; and he was empowered 
 
 Z z 2 ' to
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 to punilli all that fliould be found to have afted contrary to it ; thofe 
 being generally the places where iuch illegal praftices were carried on. 
 I gave this commiffion to La-Font, who executed it fo well, that his- 
 majefty kept him afterwards about his own perfon. 
 
 Henrv, at the fame time, ordered his ambaffador in England, to 
 complain to king James, of the praâiices of his fubjedls ; and to give 
 him to underftand, that, if he made peace with Spain, with a view to 
 appropriate tohimfelf the trade we carried on with that kingdom, he 
 would take fuch meafures that France flîould not fuffer alone, but that 
 England fliould lofe more by it than her. This was tacitly to defire, 
 that he would offer his mediation to compofe the difference between 
 the two crowns ; for Henry thought it probable, that the king of Eng- 
 land might be tempted by the apparent advantage of fuch an accefîlon 
 to the trade of his kingdom, as to make peace with Spain ; and he was 
 now fenfible, though too late, of the injury he had done himfelf, and 
 that the arguments his council had made ufe of were all falfe : this 
 threw him into great perplexity. Villeroi and Sillery were appointed 
 by his majefly, to attend this affair with the utmoft affiduity ; and I 
 likewife was ordered to confer about it with the conftable, the chan— 
 cellor, the commandeur de Chaftes, and vice-admiral De Vic. 
 
 We found many difficulties to flruggle with on both tides. Trade 
 muft neceffarily fufler great injury, if the prohibition remained in 
 force ; and if repealed, great fliame muft refledt upon the crown.. 
 Henry could not refolvc to do any thing that, in his opinion, feemed 
 to acknowledge his fears of Spain, which had not condefcended to 
 take any flep that led towards an accommodation with him; and all 
 that could be hoped for from his moft chriflian majefly was, that, 
 although he fuffered the prohibition to remain in force, he would 
 wink at the infringement of it by the merchants, that he might be at 
 liberty to repeat it again if they too openly abufed this indulgence, to 
 the prejudice of the royal authority: as for me, the wound that was 
 given to trade, was the only thing almoft that I confidered ; there- 
 fore, on this account, England and Spain were equal to me ; and I 
 reprefented to his majefty, that the damage wemufl inevitably fuftain, 
 made it neceflaiy that he fhould ufe no more feverity with the one 
 than the other. 
 
 The king of England did not refufe his mediation in this difference; 
 he even offered to engage for the faithful performance of the promifes 
 
 both
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 both parties Should make on this occafion : but he afFedledto aâ: as an 
 arbitrator between the two crowns ; and the king, offended with his 
 vanity, would not accept of his mediation, but in the quality of a com- 
 mon friend. The pope likewifc began to intcrefl: himfelf greatly in 
 the difpute, being apprehenfive that a more dangerous rupture might 
 enfue between France and Spain. He wrote to cardinal Bufalo, his 
 nuncio in France, to ufe his utmofl; endeavours to prevent it; and this 
 cardinal, a (hort time afterwards, found a favourable opportunity to 
 obey him. 
 
 The count of Beaumont, who ftill continued to be our ambaflador 
 at the court of London, had often mentioned the late difpute concern- 
 ing our trade, in the prefence of -the counts de Villa-mediana and 
 d'Aremberg, the one ambalTador from the king of Spain, the other 
 from the archdukes ; and had even drawn up a kind of an agreement 
 with their concurrence, together with that of the prefident Richardot, 
 and Lewis Vroreylzen, which had been communicated to the conftable 
 of Caftile, who was likewifc at London : but his fudden departure, to- 
 gether with fome other difficulties that came in the way, hindered this 
 matter from proceeding fo far as to get the preliminary of this agree- 
 ment figned. The conilable of Caftile paffed through Paris, and had 
 an interview there with cardinal Bufalo, who prelied him fo earncftly, 
 and upon fo many motives concerning this aft'air, that he obtained a 
 promife from him that it fliould be referred to the examination of fome 
 commilTioners, whom he named for the king his mafter : the council 
 of France appointed fome on their fide. But this method of proceed- 
 ing was not likely to bring the affair to a conclufion, which, bv being 
 fubmitted to fo many arbitrators, was protradled to an infnfferable 
 length. Bufaio prevailed upon Don Baltaf^r Stuniga, the Spanifh 
 ambalfador in France, and upon Alexander Rovidius, a fenator of Mi- 
 lan, who were intcrefled in a caufefor one of the parties, to refer every 
 thing relating to it to him ; this done, that the bufinefs might on the 
 fide of the other party be wholly coniigned to one perfon, he delîred the 
 king to give me a power equal to his, and without any adjunct : from 
 that time, the affair was thought to be in great forwardnefs. I went to 
 vifit the cardinal, and animated his zeal by a new incitement, telling 
 him, that we were up^n the point of declaring war, and that his ma- 
 jelly was buiieci in making great preparations for it. In a few days 
 I prevailed upon hiai to agree to the articles I had drav/n up, by which 
 the freedom of trade was fecured : thefe articles were almofl the fame 
 with thofc that had been propofed and difcuifed at London. 
 
 Tup:
 
 35^ 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX, 
 
 1 604, The fubftance of this treaty, for fuch it becarrre afterwards, although 
 every thing had been agreed on only between cardinal Bufalo and my- 
 felf, was, that the ediét of thirty per cent, and that for the fufpenfion 
 of trade between the two crowns of France and Spain, fliould be and 
 continue repealed ; this was the great point. But the two princes hav- 
 ing both endeavoured to juftify their condudl by many reciprocal 
 complaints againft each other, which likewilb related to the trade of 
 their kingdoms j many other articles were added, that tended to re- 
 move thefe grievances. 
 
 It was fpecified, that his mod: Chriftian majefty fliould publifh an 
 ediâ, forbidding all his iubjeâs either to export or authorife the ex- 
 portation of any Dutch goods into Spain, or any flate under the domi- 
 nion of that crown, by lending veffels, waggons, or any other fort 
 of carriages j that the real French goods fliould be ftamped with the 
 feal of the city which furniflied them, and fliould be inferted in a re- 
 gifter : this was done with a view to obviate the inconveniences which 
 might arife from a refemblance in the goods, which otherwife fliould 
 be liable to confifcation ; but they were not upon a bare fufpicion of 
 fraud to flop or retard the exportation of thefe goods ; that all the 
 Dutch, who were taken in French veflels, fliould be feized ; that the 
 French fliould not carry Spanifli goods into any part of the Low Coun- 
 ties, but thofe that fliould be fpecified in the bills ; and that to pre- 
 vent any breach of faith, they fliould enter into an obligation in writ- 
 ing before the Spanifli magillrate of the place from whence they fet 
 out, to pay the thirty percent, which obligation fliould be returned to 
 them upon their bringing back, within a year, a certificate from the 
 magiflirate of the place where they difembaiked, either in France, or 
 in any part of Flanders where trade was permitted ; that the king of 
 France fliould order all Spanifli goods to be feized, which were brought 
 by his fubjects in Spain, to be carried into any of the prohibited places, 
 half of which fliould be given to the informer, the thirty per cent, de- 
 duded : that the French magiftrate, who fliould be convidted of having 
 given falfe certificates of difcharge, fliould beprofecuted andpuniflied; 
 and that the two kings fliould mutually engage to leave the places of 
 pafllige free. The article of the imports, which ever fince the peace of 
 Vervins, were laid upon goods earned from Spain to Flanders, or from 
 Flanders to Spain through Calais, and when they entered this port, 
 having been already lettled in the prefence of this cardinal, nothing re- 
 mained to be added to it. It was ftipulated, that forty days after the 
 
 date
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 359^ 
 
 date of this treaty, it fliould be publiflied in the refpedive dates on 1604. 
 the fame day : it was dated the 12th of Odtober, and figned at firft 
 only by cardinal Bufalo and me*. 
 
 Although I was very fure that Henry would approve of this trea- 
 ty, as he had been firft confulted upon every article in it, yet I was 
 apprehenfive of the cavils of Sillery and the other commiffioners, from 
 whom the cognizance of this affair had been taken : the expedient I 
 made ufe of therefore was, to fend Arnaud the elder with the articles 
 to Sillery, with a civil rcqueft that he would give me his opinion of 
 them. Sillery, without looking into them, anfwered quick, that the 
 affair was in very good hands, and that the perfon who had trani'aded 
 it alone might aifo conclude it alone. This anfwer would not fatisfy 
 me ; I fent Arnaud back again to tell him, that it appeared to me ne- 
 cellary that the treaty (liould be figned by him and the other commif- 
 fioners firft named, and that I entreated he would come to my houfe 
 and fign it ; but that if he refufed, I could not difpenfe with myfelf 
 from fending the treaty to his majefty by Arnaud ; letting him know at 
 the fame time, that the difficulty he made in figning it would delay 
 the conclufion for two days : and this was no more than the truth. 
 Sillery, being afraid that if any accident ftiould happen during this in- 
 terval that might prevent this agreement on trade from taking effeét, 
 he fliould be anfwerable for it, went to cardinal Bufalo's houfe and- 
 figned the treaty, as did alfo Villeroi. 
 
 The king, when he received a copy of thefe articles, confirmed by 
 thefe free fignatures, beftowed great praifes on the cardinal nuncio, and 
 made him a prefent of a crofs of diamonds; he recommended him to 
 the pope, in a letter which was conceived in terms very advantageous 
 for him, and honoured him with the diftindtion of eating at his table. 
 His majefty would not publifli the treaty of commerce till the ratifi- 
 cation of it arrived from Spain, but he fecretly permitted the expor- 
 tation of grain, which was what the people ardently defired. 
 
 About this time another treaty was concluded at London between 
 England and Spain, in which France could not avoid interefting her- 
 
 * Seethe treaty itfelf ill the Chronologie fign it, but only meflieurs de Rofny and 
 
 Septennaire. The king gives the marquis de Sillery ; Don Balthazar de Cuniga, for 
 
 de Rofny no other titles in it but that of the king of Spain ; and the fenator Rovi- 
 
 great mafter and captain-general of the; oid- dius. Matthieu, vol. IL b. iii. p. 655. 
 nance of France. Cardinal Bufalo did not 
 
 felf
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX, 
 
 felf greatly, after what had pafled the preceding year between her and 
 England. To be thoroughly informed of this treaty, it is neceffary to 
 reprefent the affairs, both political and military, in Spain and Flandersy 
 with Vv'hich thofe of England have in this refpedl an unavoidable con- 
 nexion. 
 
 The fiege of Oflend continued ftill to be carried on with the 
 fame obftinacy by the Spaniards : in the mean time, the prince of 
 Orange, at the beginning of the campaign, attacked the ifle of 
 Cadfan, which he made himfelf mafter of on the loth of May, 
 and afterwards of all the neighbouring forts, defigning to open 
 himfelf a way from thence to the frontier of Calais ; and at length 
 laid flege to Sluys. From Bruges the king received advices, that the 
 arch-duke, who beheld this attempt with grief, was gone to af- 
 femble fifteen or fixteen thoufand men, with whom he hoped to fuc- 
 cour this place, by forming Ardembourg, which covered it ; but 
 that Maurice had fo well intrenched himfelf there, that it was not 
 believed he could be forced out, provided he had a fufficient number 
 of men to guard his intrenchments : the Flemifli general took likewifc 
 the precaution to carry his trenches as far as Ardembourg, that if he 
 Ihould be obliged to draw off his troops from the operations of the 
 fiege, he might he in a condition to reduce the place by famine, if 
 he could not by force. Sluys furrendered on the loth of Auguft.- 
 
 The Spaniards, animated by the vigorous refifrance of their ene- 
 mies, and a fenk of the prodigious loffes they had fuffered before 
 Oftend, thought their honour IHII more concerned after this fuccefs 
 of the prince of Orange, to prevent their being foiled in an enterprife 
 which had lafted fo long. De- Vic informed his majefty by D'Auval, 
 who was returned from England, that he had caufed three mines to 
 be blown up before Oftend, but without fuccefs : however, it is cer- 
 tain, that Ortend was reduced to the laft extremity j the Spaniards 
 boafted that they would take it before the end of July; and that they 
 fliould Hill have time to go and deliver Sluys with all their forces 
 re-unitcd. No one gave credit to this boafi:, efpecially when Perfi le 
 riche, captain of the regiment of Nereftan, who came lately from that 
 place, faid pofitively at Paris, that it would flill hold out fix weeks 
 or two months. In effedl, Sluys furrendered before Oftend, for the 
 Flemifh defended themfelves with a courage that has few examples : 
 they were feconded by a reinforcement of eleven companies, which 
 
 made
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OV SULLY. 
 
 made up between a thoufand and twelve hundred n:ien, all frefli, which 
 had been juft fent them by the States, under the condudt of general 
 Marquette. They fell upon an expedient to make an inner intrench- 
 ment, which might enable them, when reduced to a necelhty of ca- 
 pitulation, to obtain more advantageous terms, by holding out there ; 
 and they found means, prefled as they were, to throw in ammunition 
 and money. 
 
 This was a new and furprifing fpedacle for all Europe, that a little 
 ftate which forms but a fcarce perceptible point in the map, fhould 
 dare to raife her head from the midft of her marfhes, and brave, dur- 
 ing fo long a time, the formidable power of Spain. It is wonderful to 
 think where they found forces or funds to pay them, for it was com- 
 puted that this war coft the States twenty thoufand florins a day ; the 
 perplexities to which they were often reduced were not indeed known ; 
 they hardly any longer knew to whom they fiiould have recourfe, and 
 were obliged to apply to every one for relief. The duke of Bouillon 
 having promifed them a fum of money, they fent captain Sarroques to 
 receive it ; but he came back without any thing, but the regret of 
 having put his maflers to the expence of four or five thoufand florins, 
 which their compliments to the princefs of Orange coft them. 
 
 Henry was their ufual refource ; fometimes they requefted an hun- 
 dred thoufand crowns j at other times, two hundred thoufand weight 
 of powder, for they confumed great quantities of it : there was no 
 end of their demands. Buzenval, whom his majefty ordered to refide 
 in thofe cantons, to give him an account of all that paflfed, was of 
 great ufe to them in fupporting their folicitations with the king, who 
 at length was the only power that continued to be their friend, whea 
 rU the others had abandoned them. The Dutch exprelled great fond- 
 nefs for Buzenval, and kept him with them as it were by force 
 when he was recalled home. And who indeed was there whom they 
 did not footh, and endeavour to engage in their interefts ? They would 
 have made me a very confiderable prefent; but Buzenval, whom they 
 acquainted with their defign, afihred them I would not accept of it : 
 and they contented themfelves with offering me, by Aërfens, fome 
 curious pieces of fhell-work, and fome coach-horfes of their country 
 for my wife. Henry fhewed a readinefs to oblige them, which could 
 not proceed from felf-interefl:ed motives, and which, v^ith that people, 
 ought to have given him the merit of one of the founders of tneir li- 
 berty. They muft be ungrateful in the higheft degree, if they ever 
 • Vol. II. A a a abandon
 
 «— V — —J 
 
 362 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XIX. 
 
 1604. abandon a crown to which they owe luch great obligations *. Henry 
 wrote to me this year, when I was in Poitou, that Buzenval had made 
 him new requefls in favour of the States, which probably it was not 
 prudent to giant; but that he could not refolve to abandon them, 
 whatever reports might be raifed in England, or whatever threats 
 Spain might throw out againfi: him. 
 
 It is eafy to judge what the prefent war mufl: have cort: Spain, 
 which was in effeft the aîiailant, by what I have juft related of the 
 United-Provinces, who kept themfelves merely upon the defenfive,and 
 did not ftir from their own doors; and of the refentment that Spain 
 preferved againft us. The council of Madrid, enraged at the lolTes 
 they fuftainedby a war that had almoft drained their treafury, which, 
 however, they concealed with the utmoft care, often threatened never 
 to forgive the treatment they received from the French. Henry af- 
 fected to be ignorant of thefe threats, and he acfted wifely : the coun- 
 cil, by this impotent anger, fliewed its own weaknefs ; and it was well 
 known in France, that his catholic majefly's revenues were exhaufled. 
 
 4 
 
 OsTEND-f- was taken at length on the 22d of September, and Henry 
 had the confolation to fee, that for five or fix hundred thoufand crowns, 
 which this expedition had coft him every year fince it firfl began, he 
 had confiderably advanced the ruin of his enemies the Spaniards. 
 
 It might reafonably be expeded, that the treaty I had negotiated 
 with England the preceding year would have produced greater things. 
 Spain was convinced that flie rt:iould lofe Flanders entirely, if flie did 
 not find means to make fome change in thofe difpofitions in which I 
 had left the king of Great Britain. After my departure, therefore, 
 from London, {lie renewed her intrigues and folicitations to obtain at 
 leafi: a neutrality in what concerned the United-Provinces, if fhe could 
 not bring his Britannic majefty over to her party. The Spaniards, at 
 firfl, thought they ought to make very high demands ; and afterwards 
 their offers alfo were as high to procure a grant of part of thofe de- 
 mands. Their fir'l propofals were rejedted without being examined; 
 but thefe were followed by another, which gave them hopes that they 
 ihould prevail upon the Englifli to abandon the Dutch, knowing they 
 
 * Grotius fpeaks of it almoft in the f See the furrender of Oflend and Sluys, 
 
 fame words, in his book, intituled, The and the other aftions of this campaign, in 
 
 annals and hiftory of the troubles in the DeThou, the Septen. Matthieu, Siri, and 
 
 Netherlands. other hillorians, ann. 1604. 
 
 had
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 had nothing Co much at heart ; this was to make the Indian trade free 
 to both nations. But this offer proved ineffeftual, becaufe Spain, 
 forefeeing that there would be ftill a neceffity of abating fomething in 
 her demands, added a condition that deftroyed its force, and required, 
 that England fhould enter into a league offeniive and defenfive with 
 her. The king of England's council having many ftrong reafons for 
 reje(5ling this alliance, made no fcruple to confers, that it was the in- 
 tereft of their crown to fupport Holland, inftead cf openly taking 
 part with her enemies. 
 
 It was now abfolutely believed, that the Spaniards had nothing to 
 hope for from England : Beaumont was the only one who was of a 
 contrary opinion, and foretold, that notwithflanding all thefe apparent 
 obftacles they would come to an agreement, which in effeél they did. 
 The Spaniards, fome time afterwards, returned to the charge, ftill lef- 
 fening their demands according to their fubtile maxims of policy, and 
 commiffioners were appointed on both fides; thedifputes ran fohigh, 
 that they were many times upon the point of breaking off the confe- 
 rence. The affair imperceptibly turned into a negotiation more 
 peaceable ; the EngliOi commiffioners reduced the Spanifli ones not 
 only to exprefs no refentment againfl France, but they were the firll 
 to fay, that fhe ought not in any manner to be excluded. They never 
 mentioned the two kings without joining the third to them ; and even 
 treated the States with refpsct and coafideration, appearing inclined 
 to come to an agreement with them at all events. All this was done 
 to conceal from his Britannic majelly whatever was contrary in the 
 real defign of this negotiation to the firfl, and to remove all his fcru- 
 ples. 
 
 To this battery they joined the afiiftance of little anonymous wri- 
 tings, in which the authors endeavoured to prove, that peace was 
 equally advantageous for the three kings. In one of thefe papers, 
 which was fuppofed to be written by an Englifliman, becaufe the 
 power of the king of England was greatly exaggerated, who, fays the 
 author, can fublifl independent of any other ftate, though none can 
 without him : as if the Spaniards were not capable of fo high a flight 
 of flattery to fecure the fuccefs of their defigns : in one of thefe 
 papers, I fay, it was malicioufly infinuated, that this peace was de- 
 iired with equal ardour by the three kings ; but that their moft chrif- 
 tian and Britannic majefties fecretly wiflied, at the fame time, that it 
 would give them a claim to thepofleffion of Inlanders. 
 
 A a a 2 However,
 
 364 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XIX. 
 
 1604. However, they could come to no agreement during thefpace of 
 
 a year ; and it was not till the 21 ft of June this year that the nego- 
 tiation was likely to fucceed ; but it went on rapidly at the begia- 
 ning of July, and was fo far advanced, that no one in England doubt- 
 ed of its being concluded, as foon as the conftable of Caftile arrived, 
 who was upon the point of going to London in the quality of ambaf- 
 fador extraordinary from his catholic majefty, and furniflied with full 
 powers to conclude the peace : the fame opinion prevailed in Paris j 
 and it was even believed there, that not only England but the United- 
 Provinces, had fecretly made conditions of agreement with Spain j 
 and that the States, by the interpofition and arbitration of his Britan- 
 nic majefty, had put an end to the difputes on occafion of the cautio- 
 nary towns, the navigation of the Indies, the liberty of trading with- 
 out paying the thirty per cent, and others. But why, if this was fo, 
 did we not fee the fiege raifed, and other hoftilities ceafe on both 
 fides ? 
 
 This report, however, was abfolutely falfe, at leaft with regard to 
 the imaginary agreement and arbitration. The States perceived but 
 too foon, and even while the conferences were fjbfifting, that they 
 had nothing more to expedl from his Britannic majefty. This prince 
 became weary at length of ftruggling fo long with his inclinations; 
 he affedled to be the common friend of all Europe. He had lately 
 given the name of Great-Britain to his united kingdoms, and had 
 made a folemn entry into London, where a conference was held by 
 his orders to reconcile the church-party and the puritans ; for his pa- 
 cific notions extended to all things : he did not refledt, that by this con- 
 duel he was going to exclude from the benefit of a peace thofe very 
 perfons that had moft need of it, who were the Dutch, whom he left 
 to the mercy of their enemies. The Englilh already began to abufe 
 every one of that nation whom they found trading in their ports : 
 and when the Dutch alledged, as ufual, that the Englilli ought not to 
 concern themfelves with a certain kind of traffic upon their coafts, 
 they replied, that they had permiffion to do it from the king of Spain 
 their fovereign. Nothing fo irritated the Dutch as fpeeches of that 
 nature; and if the inhabitants of Flufliing had been fuftered, it is 
 believed they would have murdered all the Englifti they had amongft 
 them : but the fatal confequences of fuch a proceeding being repre- 
 fented to them, they rcftrained their rage. 
 
 Tee
 
 Book XIX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 365 
 
 The States had expeded a quite different treatment, when, at the 1604. 
 beginning of the conferences between the commilTioners, his Britannic 
 majefty inlilled that they lliould be admitted, and their agent, the fieur 
 Le Caron, heard there. Le Caron acknowledged, that at fir(l he had 
 good reafon to be fatisfied with the Enghfh comniiffioners : upon the 
 Spaniards introducing the fubjed: of the Dutch cautionary towns, which 
 they paOlonately dcfired fnould be put into their hands, the KngUlh 
 told them, that they could do no othervvife than furrender thefe towns 
 to the council of the United-Provinces, when the money lent upon 
 them was repaid : and when the Spaniards retorted, with fome refent- 
 ment, that the reftitution of them ought to be made to thofe whohad 
 given them as hoflages, the Englilh counfcllors only anfwered, that 
 if the States refufed to pay the money that was lent, they would make 
 the fame propofai to the Spaniards. They were likewife favourable 
 enough to the Dutch in the article concerning trade, which held them 
 a long time in difpute j the Spaniards infifted, that Holland fhould 
 open to them the trade of the Flemiih coaft, and particularly that of 
 Antwerp, which ihe had, as it were, locked up, by building feveral forts 
 upon the Scheld, and among others that of Ilîbt : but the Englifh fooa 
 cooled in thefe favourable intentions for their neighbours. Buzenval, 
 whole letters furnifhed me with great part of what I have related con- 
 cerning thefe conferences, judged thus of the event, that the Englifh 
 knew well what would be the confequences of this new plan of politics 
 which they had embraced ; but that great jealoufy of us, and a little 
 folly, had fuggefted all that had been done on this occafion. 
 
 Matters were In this ftate, when the king of England thought 
 proper to inform his mofl: chrillian m.ajefty, by his ambaflador at the 
 court of France, of his intention to conclude a treaty with Spain, 
 the Englifh ambaffador prefenting the memorial to the king at the fame 
 time. His Britannic majefty, in this memorial, perfifted ftill in the 
 ftrange opinion, that this treaty was not inconfiftent with that of the 
 preceding year. James had attempted to perfuade Beaumont to believe 
 the fame, and promifed Henry that he would defer the conclufion of 
 it till the difputes which then fubfiftcd between the two crowns of 
 France and Spain concerning trade were terminated. ThecommifTion- 
 ers, however, did not fcruple to fign the * treaty between Spain and 
 
 * This treaty is noway difFcrent from doni,who are all named, except the Un'ftd- 
 a true treaty cf peace ; the kings of Spain Provinces alone : it is (et out at large in 
 and England engage their aJli..s in it, that the Septen. an. 1604. Matthieu, 650, &c. 
 isj all the Itates and princes of Chriileji- 
 
 Enc^l.ind
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XrX, 
 
 England, and referred Beaumont to the arrival of the conftable of Ca- 
 ftilc, to fettle the affair of the trade bv:t\veen this nation and Spain. 
 The conftable was applied to when he pafl'ed through Paris in his way 
 to London ; but he prevented, by obflacles which he raifed on purpofc, 
 the concluding upon any thing with cardinal Bufalo, who had already 
 begun to intereft himfclf in the affair. But what was ffill more fur- 
 prifing, thefe commiflioners, without giving Beaumont any fatisfacflion 
 on that head, had the aflurance to demand the impoft on the port of 
 Calais to be taken off. Beaumont, who knew it was his majelty's in- 
 tention to continue it, even after the affair of thirty per cent, was 
 concluded, which had no relation to that, evaded the propolal, by 
 making one of the fame nature to them. 
 
 TuE conftable of Cartile paffcd through France again the latter end 
 of September, in his return to Spain, carrying with him the treaty con- 
 cluded, and arrived at Paris ju(t as the treaty of commerce was con- 
 cluded there likcwife.[ He demanded pcrmiflion, the next day, to pay 
 his refpeâs to the king, to whom he prcfented himfclf with an air 
 and countenance full of fatisfacStion ; he made him a lludied compli- 
 ment, which for that reafon was perhaps the lefs finccre ; taking for 
 his fubjed: the two agreements lately made, he endeavoured to pcrfuade 
 this prince, that I-^rance and Spain being the two moll powerful mo- 
 narchiesof Chriflendom, a ftridt union between them was thcncceffary 
 and infallible means of accomplirtiing every enterprize they Ihould un- 
 dertake in concert ; he laid great flrefs upon the alliance which had at 
 all times been between France and Caftile ; he dwelt upon the advan- 
 tages of this affociation, which would give the fame friends and ene- 
 mies to the two crowns, and upon the means of rendering it indiffo- 
 luble; which was, he faid, to be wholly free from all partiality; to 
 divefl themfelves of all jealoufyof authority, and pre-eminence j to ex- 
 plain and determine, in an amicable manner, their prctenfions upon 
 certain cantons and cities of Europe; he did not forget to infinuatc to 
 his majefly, that the proteflants were enemies which policy required 
 fliould be humbled: he concluded his fpetch with reprefenting to the 
 king, the advantages that a double marriage between the children of 
 the two kings muft neceffarily produce ; a marriage which feemed 
 (he faid) by the circumflances of the times, to be already determined 
 in heaven. lie artfully affured tiie king;, that he had no authority from 
 his mafter for what he had faid on this fubjcd, but entreated him to 
 acquaint him with his fentiments on it ; becaufc, though they were 
 only overtures made by himfelf, yet if they had the good fortune to 
 
 be
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF S U L I. V. 367 
 
 be approved by his majelly, he Hunjlil \vitl\ the greater (.■oiirulciice pro- 1 604. 
 pofc them afterwards to the kiiv; his inalU r. 
 
 I WAS not prefent at this dilloiirfe, hut the king cMiue to the aile- 
 nal on purpofe to give me an aotount of it. He lloppeil, attfr rela- 
 ting the Spaniard's propcifals, tclhng me he dellred to know what an- 
 swer I (hould have made to them, hctore he repeated that wliii h lie 
 had given himk If. I rephtd, vvitli tlie fame gaiety, that 1 et>uld tell 
 him immediately, but tliat 1 would defer latistying him till the iu-\t 
 day, that I mi!;ht take time to conlider oC it, and prevent hin\ Iron» 
 acculing me of precipitation, as he oltcn liid when my opinion had 
 not the good tortunc to pleiilc him. His m;>jilly lonlentrd to it, 
 liniling, and gave me a little tap on the cheek, as was his cullom 
 when he was in good humour. 
 
 I WKNT the next day to the Louvre, to acquit mylîUOf my promife, 
 and found the king walking upon the terrace of the Capuchins ; I told 
 him, tliat if he ilill remembered a lentencc which I had once applied 
 to the Spaniards, and which he thought divei tiiij; ( (ioii|',h, •' that 
 *' they preferred works* to faitli," he would not be lon|; at a lois to 
 know what anfwcr I would have made to their aMd);iir.idor ; that after 
 fo many breaches of faitli, fij many pcrjinic, and \ iolations ol truth, 
 with which Spain had dilhononreil herlell in the hi'ht ol all lùuope, 
 the confbible of Callile's difcourfe would have Iccmed to uic to be a 
 new ftratagem of the king of S|>ain, to break oil' the allmncc between 
 his majefty and the United-Provinces, and the otln r protellant powers 
 his friend<;, that lie might find a (lill more fivourablc opportiuiity ol 
 invading his kingdom than iiis father had done. Tliis bcmg a fa<it of 
 fo atrocious a nature, that ncj palliation of it(ni;'ht cvm to be attempt- 
 ed, I recalled it to his remend)rance, and addcil, that but lor lOiig- 
 land, Holland, the French ai^l foreign protellintH, but for his incredi- 
 ble labours and incclîant fatigues, Spain had jircjbably at tlii'. day talk- 
 ed to him in the flilc of a maflcr : that the council of Mailiid, ac- 
 cuftomcd to profane all tliat is mofl facred in religion, abufcd liie name 
 of marriage, which had nothing binding enough in it to rcllrain their 
 lawlcfs attempts. And here I made an obfcrvation to Henry, which 
 appeared to me to have great weight in it. 
 
 It was not, I told him, a flroke of fuch wife policy as war) generally 
 believed, to marry the fons of France into families almoft ecpinl to 
 
 • Iji aJlufjon to one of Calvin's doiStrinc», wliicfi is» ccnfurcd by ihe catholic cliurdi, 
 
 thtir
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX, 
 
 their own, fuch as that of Spain * ; for befides that there was no al- 
 Hance, however clofe, but muft yield to the hatred which ambition in- 
 fpires againft a rival, the advantage that was expected from thefe unions, 
 might be deftroyed by the very caufe which made it too confider- 
 able : but it was quite different with marriages contra(fted with infe- 
 rior families ; from them, at leall:, we might promife ourfelves all the 
 alTiftance they are in a condition to give : the honour of an alliance 
 with the moft illuftrious houfe in the world is too flattering for them 
 not to make them contribute with all their power towards the fupport 
 of its grandeur, and the increafe of its glory, Spain -f-, by this praétice, 
 has found the fecret of confiderably augmenting her power, by means 
 lefs rapid, indeed, but alfo lefs hazardous, than war. 
 
 I TAKE this occanon toobferve, that Î am not of the common opi- 
 nion with refpeiSt to the Salic law ; that law fo much talked of, which 
 is no where to be found in writing, but whofe original is fufficiently de- 
 mon ll: rated by the name it bears : as its antiquity is proved by the un- 
 certainty even of this origin];. It has been generally conlidered as the 
 
 * By this ftroke of politics, France ne- 
 verthelefs gained the crown of Spain to the 
 houfe of Bourbon, after the death of 
 Charles II. 
 
 f " The houfe of Auftria, hid Guy- 
 *' Patin, has gained great inheritances, /xrr 
 " Imccatncarnis; that is, by alliances and 
 " marriages." 
 
 X As to the Salic law, the abbé du 
 Bos fpeaks of it as follows, in his Criti- 
 cal hiflory of the eftablifltment of the 
 French monarchy in Gaul, vol. III. b. vii. 
 p. 290, 291. " It probably obtained its 
 " name from its being already in force 
 " amongft the Salian Francs, when Clo- 
 " vis incorporated into their tribe all the 
 " tribes which acknov^ledged him as king, 
 '* in the year 510, except the tribe of the 
 " Ripuarii. The moft ancient digeft we 
 " at prefent have of this law, is what was 
 " made by the order of kiri^ Clovis, and 
 " afterwards corrected by the orders of 
 " Childebert and Clotarius his children. — 
 " In the year 798, Charlemagne made a 
 " new digefl: of it, in which he added 
 " many new ordinances to it, &c." This 
 writer farther aflerts, ibid. 273, That the 
 claufes which enacf, " That the crown of 
 
 " France fhall not defcend from the lance 
 " to the dillafF," is really contained in the 
 62d article of the Salic laws. 
 
 But another opinion has been maintained, 
 and feems to be fupported by reafons of ftill 
 greater force, in oppofition to the forego- 
 ing, by an academician of equal judgment 
 and knowledge (M. d'eFoncemagne) in his 
 excellent memoir on this fubjeift, inferred 
 in the colleilion of tlie memoirs of the 
 Royal Academy of Infcriptions and Belles 
 Lettres, anno 1727. p. 490, & feq. It is 
 thereby proved, that there is no one article 
 in all the Salic code, which excludes daugh- 
 ters from the fucceffion to the crown ; and 
 that the 6th paragraph of the 62d title of 
 this code, where it is faid, " That males 
 " alone can enjoy the Salic lands ; and that 
 " females can have no fhare in the inheri- 
 " tance," ought only to be extended to 
 the lands and inheritances of pri\ ate per- 
 fons ? but that, befides this, there was a 
 cuftom, exifting from time immemorial, 
 even amongft the Germans, that daughters 
 could not fuccecd to the crown : that Ta- 
 citus makes mention of this, &c. — }A, de 
 Foncemagne had before demonflrated, in 
 another memoir (ibid, anno 1726. p. 464. 
 
 furefl
 
 Book XIX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 369 
 
 fureft foundation of the kingdom and of the regal power. To mc it 1604. 
 appears, from the refledions I have made on this fubjedb, that the fitua- 
 tion of France, and the other advantages fhe has received from nature, 
 are of themfeh-es fufficient caufes for that pre-eminence fiie has over 
 all the other ftates of Europe; and that the Salic law, fo far from 
 contributing to thefe advantages, has often hindered them from being 
 improved by thofe which a well-direfted policy might have added to 
 them. It is certain, that if a foreign prince, by marrying an heirefsof 
 France, fhould become our king, the firft kings of this race would be 
 confidered either as Germans, Italians, Spaniards, or Engliflî ; but as 
 there is not the leaft realbn to fear that he would transfer the feat of 
 his empire from a city which every prince, if he had it in his power, 
 would chufc to refide in, this firft foreign prince, or king, would be 
 foon a naturalized Frenchman ; and his pofterity, from the firft gene- 
 ration, would be wholly French. The houfe of Auftria, eftablilhed 
 in Spain, and that of Stuart, placed on the throne of England, are evi- 
 dences of this truth. This firft foreign prince, or king, would likewife 
 unite to our crown his hereditary dominions, probably for ever. The 
 Salic law, by forbidding (if I may ufe the expreffion) the kingdom of 
 France from falling to the diftaff, has deprived it of one way of ag- 
 grandizing itfelf ; and a way fo much the lefs to be defpifed, as force 
 having no ftiare in it, it affords no occafion nor pretence for war. 
 
 Henry was much pleafed with the anfwer I would have given to 
 the Spanifh conftable ; he aflured me, that his fentiments were the fame 
 with mine, but that he had concealed them under fair words, that he 
 might not give the Caftilian any fufpicion of his defigns *. 
 
 &feq.) that the kingdom of France was proper deference, and be produftive of 
 
 hereditary, but in the male line only, dur- many other inconveniences, of which the 
 
 ing the firft race of our Icings. author undoubtedly was not aware : I can- 
 
 The fentiments of thefe two writers, not therefore believe but the whole is only 
 
 tho' oppofitc irt themfelves, become unit- an imaginary fcheme of the compilers, fince 
 
 ed againft the principle laid down in this none of the duke of Sully's maxims are 
 
 part of thefe Memoirs, which conveys to difcoverable in it. On the actual exiftence 
 
 us an idea in every refpect infupportable. of the Salic laws confuk Venderlin, Eccard 
 
 Befidcs its direct tendency to deltroy the Baluze, &c. cited by the two academicians 
 
 pre-eminence this nation enjoys, it would above named. 
 
 involve the whole kingdom in almoft a * John De-Serre, fpeaking of the re- 
 perpetual feries of civil and foreign wars, ception Henrv IV. gave the conftable, fays : 
 from the cabals it would occafion in the *' The king fent the duke of Montbazon, 
 choice of a fucceflbr to the crown ; it would " with a moft honourable train of noble- 
 create a confufion in the laws, for which " men,to receive him at the gate of Paris." 
 foreign kings would not always obferve a When Zaract.gave an entertainment to the 
 
 Vol. IL Bbb These
 
 ;7o M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. BookXIX- 
 
 1604. These defigns might indeed fuffer fome prejudice from what pafled 
 
 at London between England and Spain, yet it did not take away a 
 probability of carrying them into execution ; things were not yet fo 
 far advanced as to attempt that immediately : in political affairs, time 
 brings every thing about, if its operations are waited for with p:u- 
 dence. In cardinal Bufalo, I found all that I had been fo Ions: feek- 
 ing for on the part of Rome ; nor did I fcruple to acquaint him with 
 whatmipht polHbly happen hereafter, being perfuaded that the king- 
 dom of Naples, which I allotted for his holineis's fliare, was a bribe 
 fufficient to fecure his fecrecy, and even to make him folicitous for 
 the fuccefs of it. This cardinal had always appeared to me to be a 
 perfeél politician : Spain, by feizing, as (he had lately done, upon the 
 fortrefles of Porto-hercole, Orbitello, Talamone, Piombino, Final, 
 and Monaco, had opened the pope's eyes ; and indeed, if the Romans 
 had not confidered thefe frequent innovations as the forerunners of 
 their approaching flavery, they mu ft have been wholly void of re- 
 flexion. That Clement the eighth was of this opinion is fufficiently 
 clear, from the fteps that he was obferved to take ; he was juft fuch 
 a pope as Henry had occafion for, and this prince ftudied to oblige 
 him on every occallon : he gave him a convincing proof of this difpo- 
 fition, by fending the prince of Conde to his court to be brought up» 
 and inftrudled in the Roman-catholic religion. 
 
 The princes of Germany had equally favourable imprefllons of 
 Henry. Flis inajefty commanded me to treat the duke of Wirtem- 
 berg's ambaffador with great refpeél, that he might make a friend of 
 his mafter ; and tho' he had fome reafon to be diflatisfied with the 
 eleftor palatine, on account of the duke of Bouillon, yet he paid, with- 
 out making any cavilling, certain fums that ftill remained due to this 
 eledor, for which his minifters folicited, Henry only requiring that he 
 
 conftable, the king came in unawares, jufl; Spain on thofe they think proper to 
 
 as they were giving water to the conftable elevate to the next degree below them- 
 
 to wafh, faying, " lam come to fup with felves. 
 
 " you." The conftable being furprifed, This ambaffador had already had the ho- 
 
 was going to put one knee to the ground, nour of paying his refpesSs to the king, two 
 
 and prefent a napkin to him ; but the king years before, when he was going to Flan- 
 
 raifed him up, and faid, " It is not your ders. " He continued on his knees,' fays 
 
 " bufinefs to do the honours of this houfe, " Matthieu, fomething longer than he ex- 
 
 " but to receive them, you are of theblood " peeled, and thereupon faid, the king re- 
 
 " royal :" and truly, the king is related to " ccived him like a king, and careffed him 
 
 the houfe of Velafques, holding the of- " as a relation." .Vol. II. b. v. p. 605. 
 
 fice of conftable by hereditary right, and Siri, 317. 
 
 which is conferred by the kings of 
 
 fliould
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 fliould recal his Con from Sedan. With refpedt to the United- Provinces, 
 thougii they were abandoned by England, yet as that crown did not 
 turn her arms againft them, this made no alteration in their affairs, the 
 afliftance they had received from the Enghfh having been very incon- 
 fiderable. After the lofs of Oftend and Sluys, the States took a little 
 repofe; but it was wearinefs, and their exhaufted condition, that made 
 them fubmit to this refpite, which was to continue but a fliort time. 
 Thus the means of a diverfion was fecured, to be ufed whenever 
 France fliould make attempts upon Spain. 
 
 I H.\VE (lightly touched upon a difference between Spain and the 
 Grifons*, which made noife enough this year, to give occafion for 
 many hiftorical memoirs that were compofed on this fubjeél. This 
 difference I am now going to explain. 
 
 The Swifs Cantons have, for neighbours and allies, the three leagues 
 of the Grifons, the thirteen corporations of the Upper and Lower Va- 
 lais, confifting of fifty-four pariflies, of which the bifliop appointed 
 by them is lord; Saint-Gal, Geneva, Neuf-chatel, Baden, and other 
 cities, imperial and not imperial, which fubmitted to the Swifs, on 
 condition that their privileges fliould be preferved : thefe cities are 
 comprehended in nine bailiwics. 
 
 The Grifons, of whom we fpeak at prefent, inhabit the Alps ; and 
 that which is called the Valteline, which is a valley or rather a kind of 
 large ditch, lying between the foot of the Alps belonging to Italy, and 
 thoie on the other fide of it ; for tho' its length be thirty leagues, or 
 thereabouts, it is not more than one league broad, where its breadth 
 is greateft, from the Tirol to the lake of Coma. All the ground of 
 this valley is watered by the Adda, which runs quite through it, and 
 being increafed by the torrents it receives in its paffage, is but little 
 lefs than the Marne, when it difcharges itfelf into the lake of Coma ; 
 it contains about a hundred thoufand inhabitants, -and is very fruitful 
 in grain, vines, fruit-trees, and pafturage : it is bounded on the eafl 
 by the earldom of Tirol, to which it is contiguous, but the palfages 
 are both narrow and ditHcult J on the fouth by Breffe and Bergame, 
 dependencies on the republic of Venice j the chain of mountains 
 which feparates it from thofe two cities, are fo fteep, and the ground 
 fo hard, that it is wholly inacceffible on that fide, except by two 
 
 * See Matthieu, vol. II. b. iii. and other hiftorians, particularly Vittorio Siri, who 
 treats this point of hiftory very fully. Mem. recond, vol. I. p- 369, & fcq. 
 
 B b b 2 " paffages'
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 pafTages, from Tiron into BrelTan, and from Morben into Bergamaf- 
 que ; a like chain of mountains, inhabited by the Grifons, bounds it 
 on the north. The difpofition of this place is fuch, that there are no 
 paflages to enter Icaly from thofe countries which lye to the north of 
 it, but thofe that lead into this valley, which at the weft ends in a 
 plain in the duchy of Milan, in which runs the lake of Coma, be- 
 tween the Milaneze and the Valteline. This is the place we arc 
 about to fpeak of. 
 
 About fix hundred paces from the lakeof Coma, Spain had lately built 
 a fort called the fort of Fuentes, from the name of him whowas appoint- 
 ed to command it, upon arock two hundred feet in height, which com- 
 manded the whole extent of ground which feparates the Milaneze 
 from the Valteline, and which is already but too difficult to pafs from 
 the bogs and miry fields. Upon the fhore of the lake, which in this 
 place is not above two or three hundred paces in breadth, another 
 fort was built over againft the firft, but not near fo large j and to clofe* 
 up this paflage completely, deep trenches were dug in the fpace be- 
 tween the bottom of thefe mountains and the lake. The fortifica- 
 tions of thefe two caftles were very well contrived, being rendered 
 pointed and angular, to fuit the form of the rock j which has this 
 farther advantage, that no cannon from any of the neighbouring 
 places can take a direct aim at it. ^ 
 
 It was not likely that the Grifons would not take umbrage at fuch 
 an enterprize ; for although the Spaniards appeared, or feigned, to 
 have no thought of thefe people in building this new work, and to fhew 
 they had no defign upon any part that did not belong to them, caufed 
 fome trenches which had been carried too far to be filled up ; yet it 
 was but too apparent, that their view was to endeavour one day to 
 join the ftates of Italy and Germany, by invading the Valteline ; and 
 till then, to put an obftacle in this place to the pafiage of thofe be- 
 yond the Alps into Italy, to cut ofi^ all communication between the 
 Swifs and Grifons, and the French their allies, with the republic of 
 Venice ; in a word, to reduce the Grifons to capitulate with them, 
 and acknowledge them for their mafters. 
 
 Spain had already given the Grifons fome proofs of this laft defign.. 
 The proteftant party had hitherto been mofi: powerful in the three 
 leagues, being eltabliflied in the moft confiderable canton, and em- 
 braced by perfons of the greateft riches and diftindion among them ; 
 thefe were firmly attached to France, and were mortal enemies to 
 
 Spain::
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Spain : but the differences of religion had as yet given rife to no mifiin- 
 derftanding among thefe people, becaufe they were fenfibie their flrength 
 confifted in being lirmly united : the Spaniards, however, found means 
 to break this union, by fending their ufual emillaries, the jefuits and 
 capuchins, into thofe cantons. Thefe fathers, by perfuaiions, pro- 
 mifes, and bribes, eafily fucceeded in their defign of fetting the two 
 parties at variance with each other ; and gave the cathoHcs as great a 
 difguft to the form of government eftabhflied by their countrymen, as 
 averfion to the rehgion they profcfled. 
 
 Their hatred began fird to (liew itfelf in the refuh of the debates in 
 theaflembly of cathoHcs, which was held at Baden, and which for the 
 firft time was diredly contrary to that of the proteftants, who held a 
 fcparate one at Arau at the fame time. Some demanded, that thofe 
 perfons who had embezzled the money of the republic fliould be profe- 
 cuted, and arrets ifflied again ft them ; others openly fupported thofe 
 perfons : but the catholic party becoming at length the ftrongeft, they 
 proceeded to fuch extremities with the proteftants, as to banifli 
 them entirely into fome little cantons, under pretence that they 
 intended to deliver their country up to France. This is a thing which 
 France hardly thought of j but flie could not be indifferent to what 
 palled there, any more than the republic of Venice, who took an equal 
 intereft in thefe people. The iieur Pafcal had been long our ambaflador 
 to them; and the Grifons appeared fo well fatisfied with him that they 
 defired they might have juft fuch another; and as while thefe good in- 
 tentions continued, they had alfo requefted that the ambaflador might 
 be one capable of teaching them the art of war, we fent them De 
 Vic, with orders to him and Canaye, who refided at Venice in the 
 fame quality, to 2.0: always in concert with each other. 
 
 The beft and fliorteft method we could have taken, was to fupport 
 the leagues, in hindering by force the building of the fort of Fuentes, 
 or at leaft to have furnifhed them with the means of building one on 
 their fide, which would have rendered it ufelefs. They had thought 
 of this themfelves; and it would not have been a new thing, if his 
 majefty had given fome money to thefe people : but indeed the Grifons 
 had greatly cooled the zeal of their friends for their interefts ; they 
 were fo far from expreffing any gratitude to his majefty for the penfions 
 he dilfributed. amongft them, that they made no other return but 
 complaints of their being injudiciouflybeftowed, and that this diftribu- 
 tion was not referred to their miaiflers.. 
 
 The.
 
 374- 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XiX. 
 
 1604. The Venetians were alike difcontented with them, upon other ac- 
 
 counts, which Canaye communicated to De Vicj and it was highly' 
 probable, that the Swifs would ferve them no more with their accuf- 
 tomed good-will. The latter had allowed themfelves to be allured by 
 the gracious reception their ambafTador bad met at Milan; and no 
 one, on the other hand, doubted but the five cantons of Lucern, 
 Schwitz, Zug, Vri, and Underwalt, would renew their alliance with 
 the Milanefe. 
 
 In oppofition to all this, the liberty of the Grifons appeared a fort of 
 point, to every interefted party, which ought not to be neglecfled ; nor 
 could the Spaniards hope as yet to complete their defign of hood- 
 winking the eyes of the Helvetic fenate, though they fuppofed it 
 not greatly illuminated with true political principles. In a word, 
 it was at the diet appointed to meet at Coire, June 12, that thefe great 
 efforts were to make their appearance ; and each refpeâiive party, who 
 expedled the clearing of the whole affair in queftion, took care to 
 depute a reprefentative worthy to be trufted. Alphonfo Cazal came 
 thither in the behalf of count Fuentes : I, by the means of Mont- 
 martin, fent letters from his majePcy, to De Vic, which, however, never 
 happened to be produced in public, becaufe Canaye declared that the 
 flate of Venice, with regard to the Grifons, held fentiments very dif- 
 ferent from thofe of the king; and it was a principle inculcated into all 
 our ambaffidors, to unite confidently in the fame demands. The 
 French and Venetian ambaffadors contented themfelves- with carrying 
 on their point behind the fcene, nor did they hardly ever appear to 
 adl : their feeming inadlivity gave great hopes to count Fuentes; yet 
 all the intrigues and movements of Alphonfo Cazal, in conjunction 
 with him, could not fiipport his party 'from mifcarrying. The refult 
 of the diet was, that the * leagues would bear no mention of a treaty 
 with Spain, except the fortrefs of Fuentes was previoufly razed, except 
 communication and commerce were rendered free and open ; in a 
 word, except all things were reduced to their antient fituation. The 
 alliance with France received at the fame diet a new confirmation ; 
 neverthelefs, a great diftance of fpace and time was required to pafs 
 from fuch refolutions to adlual effedis; and the Spaniards had many 
 fubterfuges to recur to, by way cf amufing the Giifons. Montmar- 
 tin returned not thence, till he had maturely confidered every point 
 
 * When two or more cantons unite in one common caufe, it is called a league. 
 
 that
 
 Book XIX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 37^ 
 
 that adminiftered matter in thefe debates, taking a draught at the fame 1 604. 
 time, by my order, both of the fortrels and the diftridt round it. I ^— — v^ — -' 
 have formed this article upon his reprefentation and memoirs. 
 
 A DISPUTE of the fame nature with this, but in which his majcfly 
 was immediately concerned, arolc this year, on account of the bridge 
 of Avignon. This famous bridge was falling into decay for want of 
 fome repairs which had a long time been necelfary. This delay was oc- 
 cafioned by the particular fituation of affairs in France, which left no 
 time for the difcuffion of a queflion between the king of France, 
 and the pope, without which thefe repairs could not be undertaken. 
 The queftion was this; the pope, in quality of proprietor of Avignon, 
 claimed likewife the proprietorfliip of this bridge; of the toll and paf- 
 fage of the Rhone, between Avignon and Villeneuve, and confequently 
 of all the privileges annexed to thefe paffes*; therefore the repairing 
 of this bridge was deferred till it was decided, to which of the two, 
 his ma'iefty or the pope, it belonged to do it. The king being de- 
 firous that this queftion fliould be decided once for all, and falling en- 
 tirely under my cognizance, it was referred to me, which affords me 
 an opportunity of explaining it to the public. 
 
 The law received in France,has at no time, granted any claim upon 
 the waters and courfe of the Rhone to its borderers, though fovereign 
 princes -, for of this rank fome of them have been, as the prince Dau- 
 phin, the duke of Savoy, the count of Provence, and the prince of 
 Orange. The queftion was reduced to this point, namely, whether 
 the pope, who is one of the borderers, has any right to be excepted 
 from this general rule by any particular conceffion. 
 
 To decide this point, I caufed the archives of the monarchy, the 
 antient rights of inheritance, the regifters of the fenefchal jurifdidlion of 
 Nimet., and all the charters of the province to be confulted. I fent 
 coinmiffioners of probity and underftanding to the place; and the refult 
 of the'e laborious inquiries was, that the regulations by which rivers are 
 divided between the borderers have no relation to the king of France, 
 and alfo that he enjoyed a double right with refpedl to the Rhone, poC- 
 fcffing folely as fovereign its bed, the old and new channel, with 
 all the rights annexed to them. Among the provinces through which 
 this river runSjLanguedoc has this claim moftinconteftablyeftablillied, 
 
 * Cardinal D'Ofiat fpeaks of it in a manner greatly in favour of the pope, in liis letter 
 to M. de Villeroi, of the 2d of June 1603. 
 
 being 
 
 t
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 toeing an antient fief of the crown, which has never been feparated 
 from it, and the counts of Touloufe have always held it in this quality. 
 In this it is different from Dauphiné and Provence, which areacqjifi- 
 tions to the crown : but neither this reafon, nor another equally ftrong, 
 the poffibility that the provinces of Dauphiné and Provence, might be 
 alienated for an appanage or a portion, could hinder them from being 
 comprehended in the fame law with the Rhone, by the right of re- 
 gale, which our kings could not be deprived of A great number of 
 ediâs which were iffued in the mean time in their favour, againfl: the 
 borderers of the Rhone, confirmed this right ; and the treaty which 
 was after the laft war concluded with the duke of Savoy, eftablifhed 
 it upon a folid foundation. The doubt concerning the pope's intereft 
 in Avignon arofe from this : 
 
 A FUND of four thoufand livres was formerly fet afide by the kings 
 of France, for making repairs in this bridge. This fund was after- 
 wards relinquiflied to an order of monks, who make a vow to affifl 
 all poor travellers, and called themfelves the brothers which ferved 
 the hofpital at the bridge of Avignon, becaufe that hofpital joins to 
 the bridge : they were likewife inverted with the rights v>/hich were 
 to come to the king, on their binding themfelves to keep the bridge 
 always in repair. Thefe reâors of the bridge enjoyed a long time 
 thefe revenues and rights, but took no care to perform the obligations 
 they had entered into. At length this firft fund was diflipated and loft, 
 no one knew how ; during which time the officers of his holinefs made 
 feveral different attempts to get poffeffion of the bridge audits rights; 
 and the bcft v/ay to effed; this, in their opinion, was to make a volun- 
 tary offer of being at all the expence of the neccffiry repairs : they fe- 
 veral times attempted to begin the work ; but although his majefty's 
 council did not adl with all the fpirit they ought to have done upon 
 this ftep of ufurpation, the candidates, however, were always contra- 
 didted, and their demands rejedled. From all thefe proofs, his ma- 
 jefty's claim was afcertained. 
 
 I CAUSED a definitive arret to be iffued, which decided this difference. 
 By this arret, theRhone and its ifles,itsports, tolls, rights, anddependen- 
 cies, particularly the bridge of Avignon, were declared to belong folely 
 to the king, by the regal rights of the demefne, and the patrimony of 
 the crown. In confequence of this arret, his majefty ordered the re- 
 pairs of the bridge to be begun, and meafures to be taken to recover the 
 
 firft
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 firfl funds, that hnd been mifapplied and loft : and thus was this af- 
 fair ended, in which the duke ol Savoy was almoll as much concern- 
 ed as the pope. 
 
 His majefty alfo made an acquifition of the earldom of Saint-Paul, 
 one of the appanages of the count of Soiflbns. This prince being plung- 
 ed in debts, determined to fell this earldom to fatisfy his creditors, who 
 were very prefling for payment : he thought, no doubt, that, after the 
 birth of a fon, which his wife had lately brought, he ought not to 
 live any longer in a diffipation of his fortunes: he received, with his 
 ufual affei^ation of gravity and ftoicifm, the compliments his majefty 
 fent him upon the birth of his fon ; and afterwards fent Guiilouaire to 
 the king, with the offer of his earldom of Saint-Paul. Henry, in this 
 acquifition, firft confidered his inclinations, and afterwards the incon- 
 venience of doing homage for it, if it paffed into the hands of any fo- 
 reign prince; he therefore heard the count's propofal favourably, and 
 till th-v could agree upon the price, advanced him a confiderable fum 
 of money to free him from the importunity of his creditors. 
 
 His majefty, who had not yet mentioned this affair to me, wrote to 
 the count of Soiffons, and delired him to apply to Caumartin and I, 
 to whom he intended to entruft the management of this purchafe ; and 
 wrote to me alfo, to know my opinion of it. I approved of it entirely, 
 and ufed my utmoft endeavours to ferve the count of Soiffons ; but I 
 found it neceffary to give great attention to the form in which the 
 purchafe was to be made. The affair being protraded to fome length, 
 I fet out on my journey to Poitou : Henry, in the mean time, liftening 
 only to his impatience, and being perfuaded that there was no danger 
 to be hazarded by bringing the affair to a fpeedy conclufion, referred 
 it to meffieurs de Bellievre, Villeroi, Sillery, and Maiffe, who fettled 
 all matters with the count of Soiffons by a bargain of exchange. At 
 my return the king acquainted me v/ith what was done ; and feeing 
 me greatly aftonillied at his precipitation, enquired the caufe, reproach- 
 ing me at the fame time with the little inclination I difcovered for 
 making fo fine an acquifition to the crown, which had, from my an- 
 ceftors, fallen into the pofieffion of the count of Soiffons : it was for 
 this very reafon that I knew more of the matter than any other perfon, 
 and I excufed myfelf in the following manner to his majefty. 
 
 From the time that this earldom had been poffeflcd by the counts 
 
 of its name, it had been the fubjed of many debates, whether it 
 
 Vol. II. C c c fliould
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XIX. 
 
 fliould be held of the county of Boulogne, or the county of Artois ; that 
 is to fay, of France or Spain, This difpute being of the number of 
 thofe v/hich it is not eafy to decide, it was agreed to in the lafl: treaties 
 made by Francis I. and Henry II. with the kings of Spain, that till the 
 queftion could be decided, the lords of Saint-Paul fliould be at liberty to 
 hold it of either of thofe counties which they fliould prefer. The fuc- 
 ceedine counts of Saint-Paul chofe to do homag-e for it to the county 
 of Artois ; and, by this preference, gave Spain a claim which might 
 furnifli a fufficient pretence for re-kindling the war, as foon as the 
 king of France, the poffeflbr of this fief, fliould declare, that he would 
 hold it for the future of the count of Boulogne, who was himfelf, for 
 he could not without a kind of diflionour do otherwife. It would 
 have been a melancholy thing, to fee the war re-kindled for a trifle of 
 this nature ; and fliameful to avoid it, by fubmitting to do homage to 
 a crown which owed it to France. The king was convinced by my 
 arguments ; and the remedy was, to break the firfl: contract, and fign 
 a fécond in the name of a third perfon, and his majefliy was not to de- 
 clare himfelf till he could do it without any injury to his dignity. 
 
 This affair was concluded at Fontainebleau, where the king made 
 a long flay this year. He lent for the Dauphin and the reft of the chil- 
 dren from Saint-Germain. It was his firfl defign, that the Dauphin 
 ihould notpafs through Paris in this journey ; but he altered it upon 
 fome reprefentations which I made him. The children of France, 
 with madam de Monglat their governnefs, pafTed through Paris in 
 their way to Saint-Cloud, and came to Fontainebleau by Savigny. 
 
 One of his majefly's natural fons, who was called Alexander, and 
 had the title of Monfieur, was received into the order of Malta, in 
 compliance with the king's inclinations*. He gave orders, during his 
 flay at Fontainebleau, for his buildings to be begun. The expences of 
 this year were not lefTened but increafed, by the addition of thofe funis 
 laid out on the buildings deflined for the new manufadlures. My part 
 was to obey, and I did it in filence, but with deep regret. I remem- 
 ber only, that feeing at the fame time a great number of religious or- 
 ders 'f- efliablilhed in France by the pope's commiflion, I quoted to 
 
 * This ceremony was performed in the him to the grand prior, promifing that the 
 
 church of the Temple, in the prefence of prince fliould ratify them when he fhould 
 
 the legate and ambafladors. The young be fixteen years of age. De Thou, book 
 
 prince not being able to pronounce the cxxxii. 
 
 words of the vows, Henry IV. haftily de- f Politicians havs always made a great 
 
 fcended from his throne aiid made them for outcry againft the too great increafe of 
 
 his
 
 Book XIX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 his majefly the examples of Charlemagne for the firftand the Romans 
 for the fécond. 
 
 Mahomet III. dying of the plague, Achmet his fon, who fuc- 
 ceeded him at fourteen years of age, was obliged to appeafe the mur- 
 murs of the people againi} the bad government, by banilhing his 
 grandmother, \\ho was the caufe of it. Sinan Bafha, the counlcllor 
 of this princefs, was cited to give an account of his condudl; but, 
 inftead of obeying this order, he fled. Pepfia, being then at war with 
 this crown, took advantage of thefe diforders to feize certain towns. 
 The fieur de Salignac was then our ambaffador at the Porte. 
 
 religious orders, and the excefTive number 
 of monks in this kinifdom. If our kings 
 and our minifters of the greateft abilities 
 have not follov.ed this maxim, it was not 
 owing to their not allowing the force of 
 thefe reafons, but to their thinking it their 
 duty to give religion the preierence to po- 
 litics ; fince, if it be true, that m nks are 
 ufelefs to the ftate, it is equally inconteda- 
 ble, that religion would fufferby their fup- 
 preiTion. " The man tnuft therefore be 
 " either wicked or blind," favs cardinal 
 de Richelieu, whofe evidence on this fubjefl 
 is lefs liable to fufpicion than M. de Sully's, 
 " who does not fee and acknowledge, that 
 *' ihe religious orders are not only ufeful 
 
 " but even necefTary ; as, on the other 
 " hand, nothing but too indifcreet a zeal 
 " can prevent one from perceivina;, that an 
 " excefs of th.m is not only inconvenient, 
 " but may be even increafed to fuch a de- 
 " gree as to become deflruélive. What is 
 " done for the fcrvice of the ftate is done 
 " for the fervice of God, who is the bafis 
 " and foundation of it : to reform the reli- 
 " gious houfes already eftabliflied, and to 
 " ftop the too great increafe of new foun- 
 " dations, are two things pleafing to God, 
 " who defires regularity and order in all 
 " things." Political Teftanient, part I. 
 chap. ii. §. 8. 
 
 C CC 2 
 
 M E M 01 R S
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 O F 
 
 S U L L 
 
 BOOK XX. 
 
 i6oC 'TP^ ^ ^ procefs carried on in the parliament, againfl the counts of 
 9 Auvergne and Entragues, and the marchionefs of Verneuil, 
 -*- terminated in an arret iflued the beginning of this year, by 
 which the two counts were condemned to lofe their heads, and the 
 marchionefs to be fhut up, during the reft of her life, in a cloifter. I 
 received the firft news of it from the king, who fent for me to ac- 
 quaint me with the fentence ; and, afterwards drawing me afide to the 
 balcony of the firft gallery in the Louvre, allced me what impreflion I 
 thought this treatment would make on the mind of h',s miftrefs. I 
 aflced his majefty, in my turn, whether in propofing this queftion, he 
 wifhed that I fhould tell him my fentiments freely. " Yes, yes," re- 
 plied Henry, *' do not be appreheniive that I fhall be offended ; I have 
 " been long accuftomed to your freedoms." I then told him, that he 
 himfelf could anfwer this queftion better than any other perfon ; for 
 if he gave the marchionefs reafon to believe that he was wholly cured of 
 his paflion, and animated with a juft indignation againft her, he would 
 fee her have recourfe to fubmiffion, to prayers and tears to move him j 
 but if, on the contrary, he fufFered her to fufpeél that he had afted only 
 under the impreflion of a mere Icve quarrel, ihe would not recede from 
 her former infolence of behaviour, 
 
 I AFTER-
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. -,Si 
 
 :>' 
 
 I AFTERWARDS frankly confcfled to Henry, that whichfoever of 1605. 
 thefe two parts fliould be taken by Madam de Verneuil, I was per- ' — "»~ ■ 
 fuaded the confequence would be ftill the fame, for many reafons, 
 among which, his natural clemency and his confideration for the chil- 
 dren he had by his miftrefs, did not fecm to be the leaft. " I would have 
 *' you vifit her, faid this prince to me ; I want to know what fhe will 
 " fay to you, and if fhe will not employ you as an interceffor for her 
 " to me." I entreated his majefty, with the utmofl earneftnefs, to 
 difpenfe with me both from the vifit and the interceffjon : I was truly 
 weary of adling a part which had never produced any eitc6l ; and I was 
 unwilling to lofe entirely the good opinion of the queen, to whom, 
 notwithifandJng I had always fupported herintereft againfl her rival, I 
 had been reprefented as an artful incendiary, and the venal fpy and 
 flatterer of Henry. I had proofs, that fuch inllnuations had been given 
 the queen more than a month flnce j I told the king fo, and named 
 three perfbns to him who had been the authors of them j and repre- 
 fented to him, that there wanted only this flep, which he required me 
 to take, to deprive me hereafter of all means of ferving him with this 
 princefs, on occafions which he was fenfible recurred but too frequently. 
 Henry contefled this point with me a long while, but I prevailed at 
 length, and left to another thole infallible means of making court to a 
 prince, but for which I ever had the flrongeft diflike ; and if I flill 
 took any part in the affair, it was only to prevent the conclulion of it 
 from being as fliameful for Henry as 1 forefaw it was likely to be. 
 
 This prince did not want courtiers conformable to his tafte; and 
 here the grofs fervility of a court was fully difplayed. As foon as it was 
 perceived that Henry could neither difengage himfelf from his mif- 
 trefs, nor rule the queen, this crowd of voluntary Haves to the paflion? 
 of the fovereign, accommodated their adlions, words, and even the air 
 of their countenances, to this difpofition : no one dared to contradict 
 either the queen or the marchionefs, and only feigned to do fo, when 
 the nature of their commiflîon required it ; they but half ferved his 
 anger, that they might always have their juflification ready for both 
 fides. Sigogne had been fent to me, by his majcfly, with a very fevere 
 order concerning the marchionefs, conceived in the flrongeft terms : 
 he did not fcruple to fupprefs one half of it ; and, what is indeed 
 aflonifhing, Henry difcovercd that he did fo, told me of it, and yet 
 continued to make ufc of him. If this prince carried weakncfs to an 
 extravagant length, his courtiers puflied their flattery flill farther ; it 
 
 was
 
 382 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XX. 
 
 1 60 '. was never better known to v/hat degree of ingenuity, and at the fame 
 time of fervilitv, meannefs, and wickednefs^ it could attain. 
 
 No one was deceived as to the manner in which Henry treated the 
 marchionefs of Verneuil j but it was matter of general furprife, to find 
 that the lenity fhewn her extended to the two other criminals, whom 
 the public voice had already condemned to the fame punifliment which 
 maréchal Biron had luftered : the count d'Auvergne's fentence*was 
 commuted into a perpetual imprifonment in the Baftile, where for once 
 he had leifure to grow weary -f- of confinement : that of the lady's 
 f;\ther, into a banifhment to his own eftates : and as for her, flie had 
 a full pardon '^, and even didated the conditions herfelf. 
 
 The affair between the king and the marchionefs could not be termi- 
 nated in this manner, v/ithout creating new quarrels between this prince 
 and the queen, to whom this late inflance of tendernefs and confider- 
 ation in the king her hufband for his faithlefs miftrefs afforded futfi- 
 cient matter for rage and exclamation : it was abfolutely neceffary fhe 
 fhould be appeafed, and Henry was obliged to have recourfe to me on 
 this occafion. No labour, no fatigue was equal to this ; every moment 
 there were new exprefiions to explain, new aâions to juilify, new in- 
 terefts to conciliate ; it was the bufinefs of the night as well as the day, 
 to compofe thefe differences: no fooner did a calm appear, than a dorm 
 
 * " The king changed thb punifliment, mademoifelle de Nargonne ; and, as this 
 
 " fays Bafl'ompierre, to an imprifonment lady did not die till 17 13, aged ninety-two 
 
 *' for life, partly in confideration of Ma- years, it made a kind of chronological pa- 
 
 •' dam d'Angoulême, who mofl: earneftly radox, that a daughter-in-law ftiould die 
 
 " begged it of him, but more for a rea- an hundred and forty years after her father- 
 
 " fon he gives us, which is, that the late in-law. 
 
 " king Henry III. his predecelTor, had, on J " The king, fays Perefixe, permitted 
 
 " his death -bed, recommended only the " the marchionefs to retire to Verneuil, 
 
 " count of Auvergne, and M. Le Grand " and feven months having paffed without 
 
 " to his favour ; and he would therefore " the attorney-general's finding any evi- 
 
 " not have it faid, that he put a man " dence againll her, by the king's order 
 
 " to death, who had been fo affeftionately " flie was declared guiltlefs of the crime 
 
 " recommended to him, by the perfon " whereof {he was accufed. He alfo, fays 
 
 " from whom he had received the king- " the Mercure François, difpenfed with 
 
 " dom." Vol. I. p. 165. But neither M. " her perfonal attendance on the parliament 
 
 de Sully, nor Henry IV. himfelf, when " to get her letters of pardon regiftered, 
 
 converfing with his minifter on this lubjeiS, " which were allowed by the parliament 
 
 makes theleaft mention of this motive. " on the 6th of September." See the parti- 
 
 t He came out of his prifon in the next culars of this procefs in M. De Thou, ann. 
 
 reign. He was feventy-onc years of age, 1605. Siri, ibid, p, 29g, and other hif- 
 
 when, in 1644, he took for his fécond wife torians. 
 
 arofe
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 383 
 
 arofe immediately after, which brought every thing back to its former 1605. 
 flate. At my return from theLimofin, at the end of the year, I found 
 more unhappinefs at Fontainebleau than there had ever been before : 
 what could be done, in an evil fo irremediable, than to deplore it in 
 filence ; and this was the method I purfued. I colledled all the letters 
 the king had written to me upon this fubjed:, and fuffered none to re- 
 main in the hands of my fecretaries, from whom I concealed, for the 
 future, what the king imparted to me in confidence, whatever inftances 
 they might make me. One of thefe letters of moft confequence, I 
 fnatchedfrom a fecretary of mine, who had begun to read it in a little 
 fummer-houfe, where I fenthim to fearch for fome papers. I adl upon 
 the fame plan at prefent with the public, to whom I do not commu- 
 nicate all thefe little quarrels, which they would find a needlefs 
 repetition of difputes, reproaches, jealoufies, and violent defigns, of 
 which the reader is, I believe, already fufficiently weary. 
 
 From the difpofition the count of Auvergne was known to be of, it 
 was believed he would not be very eafy under his confinement in the 
 Baftile, nor d'Entragues relifh the inadive life he was compelled to in 
 fpite of himfelf. It was difcovered, fix months afterwards, that the 
 count had concerted with his father-in-law, who apparently found the 
 fecret of getting intelligence even in his prifon, the means of efcaping 
 from the Baftile. It was a rope-maker, who gave information of this 
 defign, and fupported his evidence with fo many proofs, that, upon 
 his report, the grand prcvot, fearching the wood of Maleflierbes,, 
 found the cords, pullies, and other engines, with which the projec- 
 ted efcape was to be effedted ; for which d'Entragues was afterwards 
 arrefled, and obliged to go through an examination at his own houfe. 
 He alledged, that he was not obliged to anfwer the grand prevot ; 
 there was a neceflity therefore for forcing him to it by a fpecial com- 
 miflion, which his majefly fent for that purpofc, from the province 
 where he then was. 
 
 In the mean time, d'Entragues compofed a kind of cafe, written and 
 figned by his own hand, to julHfy his proceedings, and expeded that 
 this would acquit him. This piece, for its artful turn, and the fpe- 
 cious manner in which he glofled over his condudl, was well worthy of 
 its author : yet, with all his fubtilty of reafoning, he could not clear 
 himfelf of the principal charge, nor explain to his advantage, the mean- 
 ing of the cords and machines found in the woods of Maleflierbes. 
 He defended himfelf much worfe when, notwith(tanding this paper, he 
 
 found
 
 5 '< 
 
 1604. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX. 
 
 found himfelf obliQ;ed to so throug^h an examination : he maintained» 
 with great obilinacy, that no bad intention could be proved againft 
 him, by the difcovery of thofe cords and pulHes. The grand prevot 
 omitted no part of his duty upon this occalïon ; he took care to k°cp 
 all the domeftics of d'Entragues feparate, that they might have no op- 
 portunity to coniult either v/ith their mailer, or with one another. But 
 notwithilranding the rage Henry appeared to be in, yet, through the 
 whole procedure againrt the criminal, fomething lo favourable v/as per- 
 ceived, that he had no great reafon to be apprehenfive, altho' the rope- 
 maker furnirtied all the proofs that were neceffary to convidt him, and 
 heavily accufed among others a man named Giez : yet they cbofe to 
 believe the accufed perfon, upon his bare word, that hev/as abfolutelv 
 ignorant of everything: and he was not fo much as imprifoned. I 
 was at my government while this affair was in agitation, but fent or- 
 ders from thence to my lieutenant in the Baftile, to confine the count 
 of Auvergne more cloiely than ever j which was all that this plot pro- 
 duced. 
 
 I PROCEED now to the conclufion of another affair, which was be- 
 gun and almofl finiflied during t'le preceding year : this was the entire 
 refloration of the jefuits. Thefe fathers, whatever inftances ofkind- 
 nefs they received from the king, thought nothing was granted while 
 the pillar *, railed upon the foundation of Chatel's houfe, flill re- 
 mained. His majefty, perfecuted with prayers and entreaties upon 
 
 * This pyramid, about twenty feet 
 high, and tolerably well built, ftood op- 
 pofite to the palace, there being only the 
 ftreet betwixt them ; over the pedeflal, on 
 each of its four fides, was a plate of black 
 marble, having the arret of the parliament 
 (beforementioned, in fpeaking of the pro- 
 cefs againft John Chatel)engraven on them, 
 with fome infcriptions, conceived in terms 
 the moft injurious to the jefuits. We do 
 not think it neceffary to recite thefe in- 
 fcriptions, which are preferved in the me- 
 moirs of the league, vol. VI. D'Aubigné, 
 vol. III. b. iv. chap. 4. The royal MSS. 
 vol. 9033, where the French tranflation of 
 them made at that time may alfo be feen, 
 as well as in divers other writings. 
 
 M. de Thou's works, and the Mercure 
 François, which may alfo be confulted 
 touching the demolition of this pyramid, 
 
 anno 1605, agree with M. de Sully, that 
 it became a kind of juftice, to deface thefe 
 infcriptions, when the jefuits were reftored, 
 the two arrets being contradictory to one 
 another : but they alfo obferve, that the 
 deftruftion of it occafioned a violent out- 
 cry, it being thrown down at noonday, in 
 the month of May, by the lieutenant-civil, 
 fent for that purpofe by the king, and a 
 fountain was built in its place : " The order 
 " for it," fays Matthieu, vol. 11. b. iii. 
 p. 683, " was directed to M. de Sully, as 
 " furveyor-general. The moft valuable 
 " of the ftatues belonging to it were car- 
 " ried to the grottos of Saint-Germ.iin." 
 
 The enemies of the jefuits gratified their 
 revenge, by publiftiing numberlefs pam- 
 phlets, both in verfe and profe, containing 
 the moft virulent reflections on every thing 
 that pafled on this occafion, which the rea- 
 
 this
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 this article, confented at laft that it fhould be referred to his council. 
 I thought, and feveral others were of the fame opinion, that the fo- 
 ciety had no reafon to complain of ill treatment, if the council came 
 to no other refoliition about it, than to erafe the infcription upon this 
 pillar, which was indeed too fevere : but they knew fo well how to 
 gain over the greateft part of thofe who compofcd the council to 
 their fide, that they obtained an arret fuch as they defired. 
 
 I CANNOT admit, that my condudt, on this occafion, could merit 
 the whole weight of the jefuits indignation : however, my ruin ap- 
 peared to thefe fathers, and to the three efpecially who pi lyed the 
 greateft game at the court, to be of fuch confequence to religion, the 
 common caufe, and their own particular intereils, that it was refolved 
 to effedt it if poffible. With the three jefuits, a like number of the 
 principal lords of the court aflociated themfelves, whom I QrâW name 
 no more. All that was now neceflary, was to recall to their minds 
 the former notions of the league, of which the name indeed, but not 
 the fpirit nor the policy, was baniflied the court : they found no diffi - 
 culty toincreafe their party confiderably, in a very fliorttime, with all 
 the voluptuaries of the court, whofe foft and effeminate lives it was 
 owned I had cenfured with more imprudence than injuftice. The je-' 
 fuits by making themfelves ufeful to their aftbciates, drew great ad- 
 vantages from them; fo that, in a little time, a great number of col- 
 leges were founded in many of the chief cities in the kingdom, and 
 endowed with very coniiderable revenues. 
 
 They did not, however, fucceed every where with equal facility : 
 the people of Troyes, Rheims, and Langres, did noc receive the offers 
 they made them of their fervices very favourably. They were obliged 
 , therefore to have recourfe to letters from hismajefty: the fathers Cot- 
 ton and Gauthier were employed to aik them of the king, in whom 
 
 der ought not to exped to find here. Prompt- the utmoft eagernefs ; but Henry IV. fent 
 ed by their mahce, they laid a gteat flrcfs for the plate, about three months only be- 
 oji a circumftaiice happening merely from fore he was aiTaflinated. Moil of the in- 
 chance, or perhaps having no foundation fcriptions with which the pyramid was de- 
 al all in truth, which was, that, in taking corated, and the deftrudtion of which 
 down the four figures, reprefenting the meflleurs De Thou, De Serres, Mezerai, 
 cardinal virtues, which flood on the fcnir and fome other- hiftoriaiis have fo much 
 corners of the pyramid over the infcriptions, lamenred, were compofcd by Jofeph Scali- 
 they began with that of juftice. The priiu ger, too good a proteftantjnot to be an in- 
 of this pyramid, which till that time had vcterate enemy to the jefuits fociety. Même 
 been fold by John Le Clerc, by the king's chronol. Sc dogmat. vol. I. p. 3"'* 
 licence, was afterwards fought after with 
 
 Vol. n. D d d fo
 
 386 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XX. 
 
 1 605. fo many petitions, one after the other, fometimes occafioned a little re- 
 fledlion. He told them, that he was very willing to gratify all "their 
 defires, but that he feared they would, at laft, endanger the royal au- 
 thority : he brought Poitiers * for an example, where, notwithftand- 
 ing the mandates they had obtained from him, yet they had laboured, 
 for two years inefFedlually, to procure a fettlementin that city, thoug-hi 
 at the f\me time, it had folicited that a royal college might be found- 
 ed there. Father Cotton replied, that nothing could be inferred from 
 the behaviour of the inhabitants of Poitiers, which could affect the 
 other cities, becaufe they would not be fo unfortunate as to be oppo- 
 fed by perfons fo powerful, fo refpeéled in the province, nor even fo 
 much favoured by his majefly, as their enemies of Poitiers were. 
 
 The king had not here anyoccafion for all that penetration on which 
 he fometimes valued himfelf, which enabled him to difcover by the 
 geftures only, and the turn of the countenance, of thofe who fpoke to 
 him, all thatpafled in their hearts -f-. He anfwered the father, that he 
 perfedtly underftood what he had elle to fay, but that it was a mere ca- 
 
 * What the anthor here fays of the diffi- 
 culty thejefuits found to gain a reception 
 in Poitiers, is the more furprifing, as the 
 Septenary reckons this city by name, 
 amongft the number of thofe who defired 
 to have the jefuits with them, fol. 438. 
 Matthieu counts twenty of thefe cities, and 
 Poitiers as one of them ; " becaufe, fays 
 " he, their colleges, and their manner of 
 " inftruiting their feholars, were better 
 " than any others." Vol. II, b. iii. p. 606 
 and 686. If I did not fee that the bifhop 
 and treafurers of France were named here, 
 I fhould conclude, that what M. de Sully 
 calls the city, and the greateft part of the 
 citizens, meant only the Calvinifis, who 
 perhaps in faâ were the greatefi: part. The 
 bifliop of this city, who was particularly 
 intimate with that minifter, as appears 
 from both their letters, mentioned in thefe 
 Memoirs, as well as a great number of the 
 inhabitants of it, even catholics, might, 
 perhaps from motives of policy, cppofe the 
 eftablifliment of thejefuits, being perfuaded 
 they fhould by that means, make their 
 court to the governor of the province, 
 though hedid not openly require it of them: 
 on principles like thefe, men frequently 
 
 aft and form their conduft in life, to the 
 difgrace and at the expence of the religion 
 they profefs. This notion, not entirely 
 without foundation, may, in fome degree, 
 point out to us what may be faid in defence, 
 or at lead injuftification, of father Cotton,, 
 touching the difference between M. de 
 Sully and him,which the author here begins 
 to relate. It may alfo be applied to the 
 complaints thefe Memoirs, a little lower, 
 put into the mouth of the people at Poi- 
 tiers, that thejefuits, having at laft been 
 admitted there, the college in that city, 
 from being a good one, as it was before, 
 immediately became good for nothing ; and 
 that the fuccefs thofe fathers met with pro- 
 ceeded entirely from the ditFerence they 
 occafioned between the two parties. Thefe 
 two or three articles have a natural relation 
 to each other ; and one may alfo add to 
 them, the oppofition the city of Metz made 
 againft receiving thejefuits, which will al- 
 fo be mentioned below. 
 
 t Matthieu has obfervcd the fame thing 
 of Henry IV. " He could form a judg- 
 " ment, fays he, of a man's adtions and 
 " words, from his look and manner." 
 Vol. II. b. iv. p. 807. 
 
 lumny.
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 
 
 lumny, for which he had no other foundation, than fome reports 
 that had been made him; for that having fpoke to me himfeif of 
 this matter before, I was fo far from difcovering fuch intentions as 
 were attributed to me, that I had afTured him I would raife no obsta- 
 cles to their attempts ; and that I would give them my affiftance. 
 " Ah ! fire, replied the father, God keep me from offending in any 
 " manner thofe you love, and by whom you think yourfelf fo faith- 
 *' fully ferved ; I will love them and ferve them myfelf : but if your 
 ** majefty has any inclination to be convinced of the truth by incon- 
 " tefiible proofs, nothing is more eafy than to produce fuch as fhall 
 *' leave no doubt of the certainty of what I have had the honour to 
 " tell you." The king afked, with ftill greater earneftnefs, if he was 
 fure he could prove what he had advanced ? The father again con- 
 firmed it. " Well," faid Henry, leaving him, " I will confider of 
 this matter." And he fent forme that inflant. 
 
 As foon as I came to the Tuilleries, Henry took me by the hand 
 and led me into the orangerie, where, as we walked, he afked me, as 
 if without any defign, how the affair went on at Poitiers, concerning 
 the jefuits founding a college there. I replied, that I was wholly igno- 
 rant of their proceedings, having refolved not to concern myfelf with 
 them, for thofe confiderations I had mentioned to his majefty. "Think 
 •' well what you fay, replied this prince, for they would perfuade me 
 " that it is you alone who prevent their eftablifhment in that city." 
 I allured him, with an oath, that I had never, directly nor indirectly, 
 oppofed their fettling there, nor even expreffed the leaft diflike to it. 
 " Well, laid the king, fmce it is lb, take no notice of this matter to 
 " anyone." On his entrance again into the Louvre, he took father 
 Cotton afide : " Who has told you thefe idle tales, of M. de Rofny ?" 
 faid he, " they are abfolutely falfe, as I indeed fufpetfted they were." 
 " They will not be found fo," replied the father ; and for a proof of 
 his afiertion, told him, that I had written lèverai letters to the billiop 
 of Poitiers, the treafurers of France in that city, to Saint-Marthe, and 
 others, with whom I could do any thing ; exprelly ordering them 
 to oppofe the fettling of the jefuits there. He added, that he had 
 ieen thefe letters himfeif; and that they were in the hands of a nian 
 of ftri(ft honour, who had allowed him to read them. " Can you 
 *' fliew me thefe letters ?" faid the king. " Yes, fire, replied the 
 " jefuit, whenever your majefty pleafes." The king, who till now 
 had fufpended his belief, could not for this once hinder himfeif from 
 being inliuenced to my prejudice. " I will talk to you to-morrow~, 
 
 D d d 2 faid
 
 S8 - M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. ' Book XX. 
 
 1605. " faid he to the father, and give you all the neceflary orders upon this 
 " affair." 
 
 I CAME the next morning to the Tuilleries at eight o'clock, the 
 king having fent me orders to attend him vc ry early : he talked to mc 
 of the ufualdifpatches and the prefent affairs j then taking me again in- 
 to the orangerie, I gusfled immediately, by the very turn of his coun- 
 tenance, part of what he was going to fay to me. " You know, faid' 
 *' he, how much I love you, but you likewife know how much I love 
 " truth and hate all inllncerity ; you have ufed it with me; and altho' 
 " I never conceal any of my fecrets from you, you have dilTembled' 
 " with me, in the anfwer you gave me to the quefUon I afked you con- 
 " cerning the jefuits. I am not offended at your condudt in that af- 
 " fair : as they never difcovered any great friendfliip for you, it could 
 " not therefore be expeâed that you fliould become their advocate ; 
 " but I am grieved to find that you are capable of diffimulation, you 
 " who profefs to be a lover of truth and fmcerity." 
 
 My aflonifhment was fo great that I liftened to the king in a pro-- 
 found filence ; at length, recovering myfelf, " Sire, faid I, this is one 
 " of the blackefl impoftures that ever was invented; the only favour 
 " I implore is, that you will infift upon a free explanation of this 
 " matter. If the jefuits can prove their accufation to be true, infli(ft' 
 " what punifliment you pleafe upon me, I fliall never complain ; but 
 " if it is found to befalfe, fuffer me, fire, I moft humbly implore you, 
 " to do myfelf public juftice, that I may prevent fuch defigns from 
 " being undertaken againfl: me for the future; for if there is a necef- 
 " fity for my being continually employed in defending my conduct, it 
 *' will be no longer poffible for me to attend to ftate affairs, the number 
 " and weight of which are already more than I can well bear." 
 " What ! interrupted the king, have you not written any thing againft 
 " the jefuits, and prevented their founding a college at Poitiers ? Think 
 " a little, and refrefli your memory, that you may not engage to 
 " maintain any thing of which the contrary may be proved againft 
 " you." " No, fire, I replied, I fwear by my God and all my hopes of 
 " falvation, that what I fay is true." " What malignant minds are 
 ** thefe," purfued the king, moved with a juft indignation, " which 
 " can never ceafe to envy virtue, or be weary of their fruitlefs attempts 
 " to ruin thofe who are faithful to my fervice ; leave this affair to 
 " me, continued he, I will fearch it to the bottom, and difcover, if 
 *' poffible, both its fource and its authors." 
 
 He
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 389 
 
 He left me at thefe words to go and hear mafs at the convent of 160c. 
 the Capuchins, where he knew he fhould find father Cotton ; and, 
 calhng him, renewed the difcoiirfe of the preceding days, and alTced 
 for the letters which he faid he had fcen. " Thofe letters, fire, faid 
 " the father, arc in the hands of a perfon of honour, and I will anfwer 
 ** for the truth of what that perfon faid, as well as that the letters he 
 ** fhewed me are genuine." " It is enough, returned the king, but 
 *' go and bring them to me that I may fee them j I know his hand- 
 " writing and his fignature as well as rny own, having received more 
 " than two thoufand letters from him in my life." The father, per- 
 plexed by fo unfeafonable an order, endeavoured to elude it, by ap- 
 pealing to his maiefty's knowledge of his veracity, and his averlion to 
 all kinds of falihood. " I am willing to believe you, faid this prince 
 *' to him; but I would alfo have others believe you, by fhewing them 
 " thefe letters; therefore do not fail, purfued he in a fevere tone, to 
 " bring them to me, for I am determined to fee them, that I may 
 ** convidl of malice and fraud thofe who are really guilty. Go, and 
 •* return again immediately, 
 
 Thkre was no reply to be made to an order fo pofitive; the father 
 retired with a low reverence ; but the king expeded him in vain all 
 the remainder of that day: he apologized for it the next morning, on 
 account of the abfence of the perfon who was poffèffèd of thefe letters. 
 But there was a neceflity to find another excufe for returning without 
 them, which would cofl: the father much more. He told the king, 
 that this nobleman's valet de chambre had unfortunately thrown thole 
 letters into the fire with other papers. But for want of the letters, 
 he brought a thoufand new afiurances of the truth of what he had 
 advanced. The king, however, was not difpofed to pay himfelf with 
 that fort of coin : " How 1" faid he, interrupting him, in a rage, 
 " have they burned thefe letters ? this is not to be believed." And 
 perceiving that father Cotton, who was fenfible this affair would not 
 reft as it was, equivocated in his anfwers, and feemed defirous that 
 nothing more fliould be faid of it, he quitted him in difguft. " Rofiiy," 
 faid he, approaching and taking me afide, " your letters have been 
 «' burnt." 
 
 I CAME again to his majefty, to propofe an expedient to him which . 
 I thought would entirely filence my accufer; this was, to prevail upon 
 the king to write ^to the bifhop of Poitiers, and the ofiicers of that 
 
 city,
 
 590 
 
 M EMOI.RS OF SULLY. Book XX. 
 
 1605. city, to produce all the letters they had received from me; and to 
 write to them myfelf in the cleareft manner upon the fiibje<ft:. I 
 carried with me all the originals of thefe letters, in which his majefty 
 found nothing to take offence at : he ordered his fecretaries to write 
 thofe letters, which were to be in his name, immedi-itely ; and fent 
 them to Poitiers in the fame packet with mine, by a courier named 
 Confiant. Upon the receipt of thefe letters, the bifliop and the ma- 
 giftrates of the city fent the iieur de La-Parifiere to give his majefby 
 all the informations he defired. La-Parifiere, in the name of all his 
 fellow-citizens, attefbed, with regard to me, that they had always con- 
 fidered my letters as written with favourable intentions towards the 
 jefuits j and prefented to the king all they had been able to colled:. 
 
 Among a great number which related only to the affairs of the 
 province, four were found in which the jefuits were mentioned ; three 
 of thefe letters, dire(fl:ed to Saint-Marthe the lieutenant-general, and 
 to his brother, feparately, and the office of the finances, were copies 
 of each other j and after other matters were difcuffed, concluded with: 
 thefe words : " With regard to the jefuits college, I know not why 
 " you make fo many difficulties about that, and perfift in your folici- 
 " tations for the royal college, of which you have written to me, fince 
 ** you know, as La-Parifiere has often told you from me, that you 
 *' will never obtain of the king what is neceilary for it, and that he 
 " abfolutely commands the other ihould be allowed; it is your part 
 •' therefore to adt prudently, and do that with a good grace, which in 
 " the end you will be obliged to do whether willing or not: be it 
 " your care only, upon receiving them, to make fuch regulations as 
 " may not leave it in their power to diffurb the tranquility ot the city 
 " or province ; or make any alteration in that union maintained at 
 '* prefent between the two religions, that the king may be ferved with 
 *' duty and affedion by all." 
 
 The fourth letter, addrefled to the blfliop of Poitiers, is yet ffronger : 
 after fome bufinefs and fome compliments, which made up the firfl 
 part of it, the king read thefe words : " I always doubted, that the 
 " jefuits would not find people as kind and charitable in adions as 
 " in words : for my own part, if the province is willing they lliould 
 " have a fettlement in it, and that they will refolve to live quietly there, 
 " without embittering the minds of the people, or doing any thing, to 
 " diffurb that harmony which at prefent fubfiffs between the two re- 
 " ligions, I fliould be glad to fee them in my government, and will do 
 
 ♦• them
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 391 
 
 " them all the fervice I can; but if they foment divifions there, or 1605'. 
 " give rife to any jealoufies and diftriifls, I had rather they were any 
 " where elfe." 
 
 The king's courier, as he pafl'ed through Paris, which his majefty 
 had jufl quitted and fet out for Fontainebleau, left for me a particular 
 anfwer to the letter I had written to the bifhop of Poitiers, of which 
 thefe arc the contents; That father MoulTy, the jefuit, had brought 
 him a letter from father Cotton, in which this father mentioned cer- 
 tain letters, fuppoied to be written by me to him, againft the efta- 
 blifliment and honour of the fociety, and the complaints which this 
 father, believing them to be true, had made of me to his majefty. The 
 bifhop added, that after reading this letter, he had obliged father 
 Mouffy to own, that his brother had been greatly to blame to believe 
 a matter of fuch confequence fo lightly ; and afted ftill more impru- 
 dently to write it, and bring it to the ears of the king : that father 
 Moulfy had feen all the letters, and found nothing in them which 
 could authorize fuch an accufation, and undertook to undeceive fa- 
 ther Cotton, by acquainting him with what he had feen. 
 
 The bifhop of Poitiers, who really believed the exiflence of this 
 imaginary letter of accufation againil: me, which father Cotton had 
 told him in his had been fent from Poitiers, and who thought, pro- 
 bably, that it would do both me and him fervice to difcover the au- 
 thor of it, fent me word, that he would ufe his utmoft endeavours to 
 find it out; and that he had been told, the preceding day, that it was 
 figned Guillaume; but that no perfon knew better than father Cot- 
 ton himlelf J for although, as he was likewife informed, it was that 
 father who had thrown this letter into the fire, yet he could not 
 have forgot the fubfcription of it : the bifliop's letter is dated March 
 23, 1605. I fhewed it to Sillery, who fet out for Panfou, from 
 ■whence he went to Fontainebleau, to make his report to his majefty: 
 hut the king ordered me to bring this letter to him at Fontainebleau, 
 together with the copies of thole which had been fent me from Poi- 
 tiers. I perceived that this new proof of my fincerity had increafed 
 his eftecm for me. 
 
 The next day he fent for Richelieu and Pont-Courlay, and asked 
 them if they knew who it was that had fuggefted to father Cotton the 
 complaints he had made againfl me ? and whether they had any fhare 
 in it ? They repUed, that very far from engaging themfelves in the 
 
 affair.
 
 392 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XX. 
 
 1 605. affair, they had earneftly advifed father Cotton never to mention to the 
 'u-. ■ ,- ..' king thofe letters, whether fuppofititious, or written by fome impoftor 
 under a feigned name; becaufe that if his raajefty gave credit to my 
 words in matters wherein my rehgion might render me fufpedled, he 
 had much more reafon to believe me, rather than thofe idle reports 
 received to my prejudice. The king anfwered, that they muft pre- 
 vail upon me to ufe the fame moderation in this bufinefs as they had 
 advifed father Cotton to, and prevent, faid he, all occafions of mifun- 
 derilanding between my faithful fervants, as well in political as eccle- 
 liaftical affairs. He permitted them, if they could not by any other 
 means reconcile us to each other, to throw part of the blame upon 
 himfelf. 
 
 I SUBMITTED with a good grace to this reconciliation: after the 
 two agents had affured me father Cotton had no intention to injure 
 me, they entreated me to allow the father to wait on me, and affure 
 me of the truth himfelf. I confented, and they brought him the next 
 day. This father told me, that it was true, he had complained of 
 having a fecret enemy, who oppofed the eftablifhment of a college at 
 Poitiers, but that he had no thought of me. However, his majefty 
 had underftood that he meant me, and made me believe fo likewife : 
 that although in this whole affair there was only a miftake, yet he was 
 extremely affliâed that it had given me any diflurbance, the remem- 
 brance of which he would endeavour to efface by the mofl faithful 
 fervices. In this manner was an affair concluded, which had given 
 both parties a great deal of trouble. 
 
 It was probably in confequence of this reconciliation, that father 
 Richeome of Bourdeaux prefented me, at the clofe of this year, by fa- 
 ther Cotton himfelf, a book of his writing, with a mofl flattering de- 
 dication to me : he takes notice in this dedication, that although this 
 book could not be very agreeable to the profeffors of my religion (for 
 it treated of the pilgrimage to Loretto) yet he made no fcruple to offer 
 it me, and did not doubt of its being favourably received, on account 
 of my attachment to the king (to whcm indeed the higheft elogiums 
 were given in it :) to this motive he added afecond, which was purely 
 of his own invention, that he had been affured I felt in myfelf aftrong 
 difpolition to embrace the Roman catholic faith, a difpofition which 
 increafed every day ; and reminded me of a little prefent he had made 
 me the preceding year, which was a book, intituled, " The Apolo- 
 getic
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 
 
 " getic Remonftrance of the Jefuits to the King *." I told him, in my 
 anfwer, that knowing myfelf to he capable of loving even my enemies, 
 his fociety might from thence judge what were my fentiments con- 
 cerning thofe who profefled themlelves my friends. I returned him 
 compliments for compliments, wilhes for wiflies, and even book for 
 book ; for I fent him the Journey to Jerufalem, in return for that of 
 Loretto. 
 
 !93 
 
 1605. 
 
 If any one doubts that thefe profeffions of efteem which were made 
 me by the Jefuits were not fincere, let him fufpend his judgment for 
 a moment, and he will know what to afcribe them to; I will not omit 
 any circumftances of the fadl I am going to relate, as I do not imagine 
 they will feem tedious to the reader, fince they concern perfons fo di- 
 ilinguifhed at court as the duke of Epernon, and Grillon -f, colonel 
 of a regiment of guards. 
 
 * This is the lafl of that father's works 
 againft Antony Arnaud : he wrote many 
 boolcs with great fuccefs on behalf of his 
 order. 
 
 t Lewis Berto de Grillon or Grillon, a 
 gentleman of Avignon, as remarkable on 
 account of the peculiarities in his temper as 
 his intrepidity, which had procured him the 
 name of Dread-nought. I find in the life of 
 the duke of Epernon a ftory very proper to 
 be related along with what the duke of Sully 
 tells us of this gentleman. " The duke of 
 " Guife, to whom he had been fent after 
 " the redu(3:ion of Marfeilles, having a 
 " mind to try his courage, fays the hiflo- 
 " rian, agreed with fome gentlemen, to 
 " give a fudden alarm before Grillon's 
 " quarters, as if the enemy had been ma- 
 " fters of the town ; at the fame time 
 " he ordered two horfes to the door; 
 " and going up into Grillon's room, told 
 " him all was loft ; that the enemy were 
 " mafters of the port and town ; that they 
 " had forced the guards, and broke and 
 " put to flight all that oppofed them ; that 
 " finding it impoflible to refift them any 
 " loncier, he thought it was better for them 
 " to retreat, than by fuftering themfelves 
 " to he taken, add to the enemy's vi£lory ; 
 " that he had therefore ordered two horfes 
 " to be brought, which were ready at the 
 " door ; and defired he would make hafte, 
 " for fear they fliould give the enemy time 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 " to furprize them. Grillon was afleep 
 " when the alarm was given, and was 
 " hardly awake whilft the duke of Guife 
 " was faying this to him. However, with- 
 " out being at all difconcerted by fo hot 
 " an alarm, he called for his cloaths and 
 " his arms, faying. They ought not, on 
 " too flight grounds, to give credit to all 
 " that was faid of the enemy ; and, evea 
 " if the account fhould prove true, it was 
 " more becoming men of honour to die 
 " with their arms in their hands, than to 
 " furvive the lofs of the place. The duke 
 " of Guife, not being able to prevail on 
 " him to change this refolution, followed 
 " him otrt oftheroom; but when they were 
 " got half way down ftairs, not being; able 
 " to contain himfelf any longer, he burft 
 " out a-!aughing ; by which Grillon dii- 
 " covered the trick that had been played 
 " him. He thereupon afi'umed a look 
 " much fterner than when he only thought 
 " of going to fight, and fqueezing the 
 " duke of Guife's hand, faid to him, 
 " fwearing at the fame time (for he al- 
 *' ways began his difcourfe with the moft 
 " horrible oaths) Young man, never make 
 " it a jeft to try the courage of a man of 
 " honour ; for, by God ! h.-idft thou made 
 " me betray any weaknefs, I would have 
 " plunged my dagger in thy heart : and 
 " then left him, without faying a word 
 " more." Page 176. 
 
 E e e Grillon
 
 ;9.1. M E M O I II S O F S U L L Y. Book XX. 
 
 1605. Grii.i.on had at firfl; the fame unfavourable fcntiments for me with 
 
 v/hich ahnoft all the courtiers were tainted ; but after a little adven- 
 ture which happened at the fiege of Charbonnières, during the war 
 with Savoy, his friendHiip for me became ftronger than his hatred had 
 ever been. Grillon, at that time, was quartered at Aiguebclle, a little 
 town at the bottom of a fort, where he commanded our foot, and of- 
 ten came to vifit the quarter of the artillery, where I was ; he happen- 
 ed one day to be with me in a meadow, from whence I was obferving 
 a ravelin which I wanted to have battered down ; and myfelf, and 
 thofe that accompanied me, were within reach of a battery, from 
 whence the difcharges began to be fo frequent, that I refolved to de- 
 fer doing the buiincfs 1 was about till a fitter opportunity, when we 
 needed not ufelcfly endanger our lives. *' How ! Morbieu, liiy grand 
 •• mailer," faid Grillon to me, with an air and tone of voice peculiar 
 to him, " arc you afraid of guns in the company of Grillon .'' Arnidicu ! 
 " fince I am here they will not dare to come nigh us ; let us go 
 " to thole trees I fee about two hundred paces from hence, we may 
 " reconnoitre the ravelin there with lefs danger." " Let us go then, 
 " replied I fmiling, fince we are trying who Iball fhew himlelf moffc 
 " mad ; but fince you arc the oldeft, I would willingly allow you to 
 *• be the wifeft alfo." Probably I fhould have done better to have paid 
 no attention to what he faid ; however, I took his hand, and led him 
 fo far beyond the trees he had pointed to, that the bullets began to 
 whiflle flrongly in our cars. " Arnidicu ! faid Grillon, thcfc rogues 
 *' have no' regard to the grand mailer's baton, or the crofs of the Holy 
 " Ghofl, and may probably lame us ; let us gain that range of trees 
 " and thofe hedges, which may flielter US; for, par-la-corbicu, you 
 " are an honeft fellow, and worthy to be grand mailer : I will, dur- 
 " r ng my whole life, be one of the rnoft faithful of your fervants ; 
 '* let us vow an inviolable friendfliip to each other; do you promifc 
 " me yours ?" I took his hand, which he held out to me in token of 
 union j and from that moment he continued to love me with a 
 greater affedlion than he had ever fliewn to any other perfon whatever, 
 not even, as it was faid, to the king himlelf; and this adventure, 
 which had given rife to it, he talked of to every one. 
 
 By what means I regained the duke of Epernon's fricndflup has been 
 already mentioned. About the beginning of the year, hecametomeand 
 dcfired that I would diredl his appointments, as colonel of a regiment of 
 guards, to be paid him in ready money. Irepicfentcd to him,thathc had 
 
 been
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 395 
 
 been paid already all he could with reafon demand upon that account j i^'Oj- 
 and that what he farther required, was but a poficfilon without a 
 claim, or rather an ufurpation, which his favour with Henry the third 
 Jiad given him an opportunity of committing (for this was a difcovery 
 I had lately made) and that I was refolved to cut it off for the future, 
 unlefs he brought me an order from the king, by which this fupple- 
 ment was granted him in the manner of a gratuity. D'Epernon, of- 
 fended at this difcourfc, complained to the king, and endeavoured to 
 perfuadc him that I was become his enemy. His majefty, to unde- 
 ceive him, reminded him of the council held at Blois, wherein I op- 
 pofcd the advice given by the count de SoifTons, to arrefl; him with 
 maréchal Biron. This circumflance, which d'Epernon had never be- 
 fore been acquainted with, made a great imprcfTion upon his mind. 
 " Do you alfure me, Sire, laid he to the king, that it was from M. de 
 " Roihy, I received this a(Sl of friendfliip." " Yes, I afiure you of it, 
 " replied this prince, for I am not ufed to lie, efpecially in things of 
 " confequence." 
 
 D'Epernon left Fontainebleau the fame day, and fet out for Paris in 
 a hired coach, having fcnt one of his own before to Eflbnne, where it 
 was to wait for him ; I had left Paris in the fame manner, his majefty 
 having fent for nic to Fontainebleau : d'Epernon and I met each other 
 in a place over-againft a chapel above Eflbnne ; the duke ordered his 
 coachman to flop, and called out to me, that he entreated I would give 
 him an opportunity to fiiy one word to me : we both alighted. " I 
 " have too long," faid he, approaching me, " been under a great ob- 
 " ligation to you, without paying you thofe acknowledgements you 
 " merit from mc." He then repeated what the king had juft told 
 him, and in the tranfport of his gratitude, loaded me with praifes, and 
 afliuances of the moil iiwiolablc friendfliip. I replied, with my ufual 
 (inccrity, that he was under no obligation to me, on account of the 
 circumflance he mentioned, flnce it was the buflnefs of every honefl: 
 man to take the part of innocence, exclufive of all intereft and views 
 of any kind ; and that hereafter he would be Hill better convinced, that 
 all my intentions, with rcfpeét to him, had been equitable, and more 
 fo than he had fometimes believed. This affair produced fuch a pcr- 
 ictt good intelligence between us, that eight days after, being upon 
 the point of fetting out for Guienne, d'Epernon made me a vifit to 
 requcfl one of thofe little favours of me, with which a man takes pica- 
 lure to oblige his friends. 
 
 Eee 2 The
 
 396 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Rook XX. 
 
 1605. The duke had been informed that fome perfons,. who were enemies 
 
 v- - V- -J to him, earneftlj folicited Grillon to refign his colonel's commilTion, 
 in favour of another whom he had likewife as little reafon to love ; 
 and, knowing that Grillon was wholly governed by my advice, he en.- 
 treated me to prevent his refigning this poll: till he returned from 
 Guienne : and this I promifed him. During d'Epernon's abfence, his 
 majefty was told fome things to his difadvantage, which determined him 
 to give the poft to a man who was not fo much devoted to the duke 
 d'Epernon as Grillon : it was not with this view, that the affair was 
 propofed to Grillon from the king, but becaufe he, in reality, was not 
 very diligent in the exercife of this employment, and was foon to take 
 a journey to Provence, where his ftay was likely to be very long. He 
 was given to underftand, that it was for thefe two reafons his majefly 
 wiflied he would difpofe of this employment, and promifed to procure 
 him a good price for it. . 
 
 Grillon, fingular and fantaftic to the laft degree, and already a 
 little diflempered in his brain, only fliook his head, without anfwering 
 the three firlt times that they mentioned the king's intentions tohinr. 
 He afterwards fufpefted, that it was I whom the king had in view to 
 fucceed to his employment ; and when he came to take leave of me, 
 afked me if it was not Co, making me, at the fame time, many of- 
 fers offervice: it was with great difficulty that I could put this notioH 
 out of his head, and was obliged to tell him, that I would not accept 
 of this employment, although it fhould be given me for nothing. 
 *' How 1 returned Grillon immediately, fure you do not think an 
 " employment which Grillon has pofTeffed unworthy of you ; Arni- 
 " bieu, my grand mafter, you are very vain, for fmce I have hlled it, 
 " it is worthy the bed of you." " I know, replied I, that one 
 " Grillon is of more value than a thoufand Rofnys j but I have other 
 " realons which hinder me from thinking of it." " Oh, very well, 
 • *« that is enough," faid he : and then, without my folicitation, en- 
 gaged not to refign it till I fliould adviie him to it, and then only to that 
 perfon who fliould be agreeable to me : and from this time, he would 
 not give a ferious anfwer to any of the propofals that were made him 
 on this fubjed. 
 
 At length the king was obliged to talk to him himfelf ; he fent for 
 him, and repeated the fame arguments which were ufed to him before 
 to prevail upon him to refign a poft, the duties of which were incom- 
 patible--
 
 Book XX. M E xM O I R S OF SULLY. 397 
 
 patible with the longftay he propofed to make in his native country, 1605. 
 
 adding a thoufand kind and obliging things upon the valour and fer- 
 
 vices of Grillon. " By what I can underiland. Sire, replied Grillon, 
 
 *' you want me to quit your fervice, and that I fhould become abfo- 
 
 " lutely papiftical : for you know I am born a fubjedt of the pope." 
 
 " Ah no, Grillon, replied his majefty, that is not my intention :" then 
 
 adding new reafons drawn from the nature of his employment, " So 
 
 *' then in good earneft, faid Grillon to him again, you would have me 
 
 ** refign my employment ; and unce it is your deiirc, I will notdoit^ 
 
 ** at lead to the perfon for vvhom I hear it is defigned". 
 
 This fpeech indeed was no great indication of a found mind ; ha 
 withdrew in a rage, but the king, who knew his humour, only 
 laughed at him : he even took a refolution to (peak to him no more of 
 the matter, fo little was this prince inclined to ufe any reftraint to per- 
 fons who had ferved him faithfully. But happening to mention this 
 little extravagance of Grillon beiore Roquelaure, Zamet, Piles, Por- 
 tia, and fome other captains of the regiment of guards, cne of them 
 faid, that there were but two ways to render Grillon tradable, which 
 were, to employ d'Epernon in the affair, and to tell him that it was for 
 me, and in my name, that he afked him for his poll. Tiie king re- 
 plied, that he would never difpofe of it, at the folicitation of the 
 duke d'Epernon ; neither did he defire that I fhould accept of it : but 
 that he believed I would not refufe to entreat Grillon to yield it to 
 the perfon he had in view. His majefty did not name this perfon, but 
 only added, that he was worthy of it by his abilities, and rich enough 
 to give Grillon a good recompence for it. Henry then ordered Piles^ 
 Fortia, and Zamet, to come to me and propofe it as a thing that 
 would be very agreeable to him, but without owning that they had 
 his orders for mentioning it. 
 
 At firfi: I made no other anfwer to thefe gentlemen, than that I had 
 private reafons for not meddling in the affair j but upon their preffing 
 me to difclofe thefe reafons, I informed them, vv'ith my ufual fincerity, 
 of the engagement I had entered into with the duke d'Epernon, which 
 was, as I may fay, the pledge of our reconciliation. When thefe words 
 were related to the king, .l:e was immediately feized with fo violent a 
 tranfport of rage againft ne, that, as he afterwards owned to me, he 
 never remembered to have bcrne me fo much ill-will before : doubt- 
 lefs the occafion would appear very flight, if I did not, at the fame 
 tiracj. inform the reader that it was in this year, and at this very time, 
 
 thaï.-:
 
 39^ 
 
 ^> 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX. 
 
 1605. that my enemies had then actually given me the fevereft blow they 
 had ever aimed againfl: me, and brought me, in reahty, within an 
 inch of my ruin, or at leaft of my difmiffion from my employments, 
 to the laft of which I think I fhould have readily fubmitted. Libels, 
 letters, informations, malicious infmuations, atrocious calumnies, all 
 that envy could fiiggefl moft injurious and mod: horrid, had been 
 pradlifed, and ftill continued to be pradlifed every day againfl me, all 
 which I fliall particularité hereafter : for the prefent it is fufficient to 
 fay, that the poifon had been fo fubtilly applied, that the king, al- 
 though he had long been aware of the malice of my enemies, had 
 not been able to avoid being tainted with it, and it had reached even 
 to his heart. 
 
 I SHALL not here ufe the ordinary ftyle of thofe who have fullered 
 fuch trials, when they exclaim with fo much vehemence, againfl: the 
 ingratitude and injuftice they have met with from princes; I always 
 fufped: that fuch outcries proceed cither from great vanity, or great ig- 
 norance of the human heart. To make calumny againfl: the abfent 
 fuccefsful, nothing more is requifite than to find the means of open- 
 ing the mind to fufpicion, and to thofe, who, having every thing to 
 govern and diredt, have likewife every thing toforefee and to fear, in- 
 numerable arguments will occur to keep alive and jufl:ify this fufpicion. 
 How many appearances of fidelity are there fo well difguifed, that truth 
 itfelf could hardly alTume any other face, efpecially before kings, from 
 whom one would imagine fhe delights to conceal herfelf? But are 
 there not many miniflers likewife, who from being loyal and affec- 
 tionate, have become traitors to their fovereigns ? To all thefe confi* 
 derations, Henry, on his fide, added a too curious and too aftive re- 
 iearch into all pofTible contingencies, wherein, for the prefent or the 
 future any danger to the flate might be apprehended ; and I, on mine 
 too little folicitude to lefTen his fufpicion, which was not fo much the 
 effedt of indifference, as the mark of a confcience clear and irreproach- 
 able : it is not furprifing therefore, that the artifices of my enemies 
 had made fo deep an imprefTion on the mind of Henry. However, I 
 have ahvays, after this, laid it down for a maxim, that any fovereign 
 who imagines fuch a conduct neceffary to fupport his interefts and au- 
 thority, takes the diredl method to ruin both, by lefTening himlelf that 
 refpeâ: and deference which he ought to oblige his fubjefts to fliew 
 to thofe to whom he has confided thofe interefls, and by whom that 
 honour is maintained. 
 
 When
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 39f; 
 
 When the three men, whom the king had employed in the affair of 1605. 
 Grillon, had acquainted him with what I had faid, which had occa- 
 fioned thofe tranfports of rage againft me, Villeroi, Sillery, La Va- 
 renne, and father Cotton, came very feafonably for him to difcharge 
 this heavy burthen upon. I had no reafon to think, that this accidental 
 meeting was a favourable effcdtof the influence of my ftars ; for he re- 
 peated my words to tliem, and his own fentiments upon them, with the 
 moft violent emotions of rage. ♦' How !" faid he to them, perceiving 
 that they made him no anfv\ er, " you are filent, you fay not a word ; 
 •• but by heaven, purfued he, all this looks ill ; for fince fire and wa- 
 *' ter mingle fo well together (it was d'Epernon and me whom he 
 " meant) there muft be higher defigns, at leaft on one fide, than I 
 ♦' could ever have imagined ; but I fhall take care to prevent them." 
 It was abfolutely in the power of thofe four perfons, to whom the 
 king addreffed this difcourfe, to prevent thefe fufpicions from going fo 
 far ; one word only would have fufiiced : but they took care not to fay 
 that word, but, on the contrary, upon the king's faying, that while I 
 continued faithful in my allegiance, and the performance of my duty, 
 I was the moft ufeful fervant he had, and that he fliould never ceafe 
 to lament the lofs of me, they, to add fuel to the fire, under a feigned 
 folicitude to alleviate his majefty's difquiet, began to praife, with tîie 
 utmoft ardour, my great abilities in the management of affairs, the 
 unwearied application I was capable of, and the aftive turn of my 
 mind. From hence they inferred the great need which all the mem- 
 bers of the date had of me, and the dependence which that neceffa- 
 rily introduced; they exaggerated the high credit I had acquired 
 among foreigners, and with what eafe I could put every thing in mo- 
 tion, without flirring out of my clofet ; praifes which I neither merit- 
 ed in their good nor bad fenfe. Certainly envy can affume every dif- 
 guife, fince it can oblige men, not only to praife thofe whom they 
 moft abhor, but in their praifes outdo flattery itfelf. 
 
 The four confidants had reafon to applaud themfelves for this laft 
 flroke of policy, when they found they had not allayed the king's anger 
 againfl: me, but only to mix with it the firongeft emotions of jealoufy, 
 diftruft, and apprehenfion: that this was the fiate of his mind they 
 were well affured, when he told them, that, if I refigned myfelf up to 
 the ambitious defire of becoming head of a party, my credit was fo 
 great, and my friends fo numerous, that I was able to do the ftate 
 more harm, than admiral Coligny had ever been able to do. My ene- 
 mies
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX. 
 
 niies now thought there was nothing more neceffary to be done, but 
 to fiïffer thole black fufpicions to work in his mind, and wait the ef- 
 fe£t; accordingly they took leave of the prince, after having thus in- 
 ftilled the poifon into his heart. Henry, in this ftate of mind, was no 
 longer capable either of fecrecy or art ; he fpoke of me publicly as of 
 a rebel, and the whole court was immediately filled with the noife of 
 my difgrace, and the expedlation of my approaching ruin. 
 
 I HAD likewife many friends there, who had, a long time before 
 matters came to this point, informed me of all that was pra<5lifing 
 againft me by my enemies, and of what was faid by the king. I am 
 not fure, whether it would not have been more prudent to atft upon 
 this occafion as I had already done on many others of the fame nature, 
 in which Henry of himfelf returned from his fufpicions and difgufts, to 
 his ufual manner of thinking with regard to me. It is a mortifying 
 thing for innocence to be perpetually employed in fupporting itfelfby 
 proofs, and exaggerate its merit by praifes : a man who thinks he 
 ought to owe his elevation to virtue alone, feels an honefl: fliame at 
 being obliged to fecure that elevation by methods lefs worthy ; yet it is 
 evident, on many occafions, that if virtue is not afiifted by chance and 
 induftry, her own flrength is not fufficient to proteâ: her from the ha- 
 tred, and even from the contempt of the public. So many repeated 
 advices as I received, determined me at length to v. rite a letter to the 
 king. His majefty had not yet fixed, for any confiderable time, in any 
 of his palaces, but had coniumed the months of January and February 
 in journeys toSaint-Germain (where his children were) and Monceaux, 
 flaying but a fhort time at each place; and, on the 13th of March, 
 the day on which my letter was dated, was at Chantilly. I fhall not 
 tranfcribe this letter here, as I have no crime to efface, nor no parti- 
 cular action to juflify ; it contained only general afl'urances of inno- 
 cence, and arguments fimple indeed and unfludied, but which, on that 
 very account, ought to have had the more weight. 
 
 I OBSERVED to his majcfly, that, during twenty-two of the thirty- 
 three years which I had been in his fervice, the favours I had received 
 from him had been but very fmall, altho' I had been at confiderable 
 expences; yet fince that confideration, the lownefs of my fortunes, and 
 the profpeft of a decent eflablifliment elfewhere, which might have 
 given fome excufe for my abandoning him, could not prevail upon me 
 to do fo; it was not credible I Ihould do fo now, w^en I faw myfelf 
 fo generoully rewarded, when my fortune could only encreafe, and 
 
 when
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 when fo many favours, which I every year received from my king in 
 a manner wholly obliging, attached me no lefs to his perfon,than my 
 offices and employments. It was not probable therefore, I faid, that I 
 /hould hazard the being deprived of one half of thefe advantages, by 
 the hand which had heaped them on me, and of the refl: by the reverfes 
 of fortune: that I defied all my enemies to charge me with the aclual 
 commiffion of any crimes of which I could not clear mvfelf, in two' 
 words, whenever his majefty informed me of it; that all thofe accufa- 
 tions were no more than mere pofiibilities, upon which he was too 
 wife and too juft to condemn any perfon, under whatever colour of 
 fuppofition, probability, imputation, calumny, or even of praife, they 
 might be prefented to him : but fetting all this afide, I entreated him 
 riot to conclude me guilty, but upon folid proofs; that I fliould wait 
 without fear the efforts of my enemies, and fubmit, without repug- 
 nance, to all the rigour of the law, and all the effeds of his anger, if 
 the fmallefl crime could be proved againft me; being moft certain 
 that if, in the great number of employments with which I was in- 
 verted, he could charge me with the commiffion of any fault, it would 
 not be where my honour or duty was concerned, but an effedt of my 
 ignorance or incapacity ; in which cafe I was ready, at his leafl: com- 
 mand, to refign all my offices into his hands, chufing rather the ob- 
 fcurity of a private life with his favour, than the fplendor of the 
 highell dignities with his hatred. 
 
 I WAS convinced, by the anfwer which his majefty fent me, that 
 the informations I had received were not falfe ; he addrefîed me in it 
 with the title of coufin inftead of friend : though rtiort, it was not 
 written with his own hand; a kind of circumfpedion and refervâ, 
 which was not ufual with him, ran through it, and not one word of 
 confolation found a place : the king only obferved to me coldly, and 
 in few words, that it was my bufinefs to fuffer the world to talk of 
 me as it pleafed, and continue to ferve him well. I pretended, how- 
 ever, to be fatisfied with this letter, and, after having done all that 
 was neceflary upon this occafion, confcious of my own innocence, I 
 was perfuaded that eagernefs and precipitation did not become me ; I 
 therefore waited till his majefty was willing to enter into a difcuffion 
 of the affair with me, and continued to ad: as ufual. 
 
 The king, after flaying at Chantilly fix or feven days, quitted it to 
 return to Paris, where his prefcnce was neceflary : he began to have a 
 fondnefs for the former, from whence alio he wrote to me, that he was 
 
 Vox. II. Fff much
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX. 
 
 much better in health (as I fhouM perceive by his countenance as loon 
 as I iaw him) that he eat and ilept well there, never rifing before fe- 
 ven o'clock, tho' he went to bed at ten or eleven. I expedled, at leaft, 
 that he would mention my letter to me when he returned to Paris, 
 but I was miftaken ; he took not the rmalleft notice of it, although he 
 flayed there eight days, and four mornings fucceffively conferred with 
 me on many different affairs as we walked in the Tuilleries : Villeroi 
 and Sillery indeed were prefent. After giving, us all the neceflary or- 
 ders, hefet out for Fontainebleau, ftill keeping up the fame referve iu' 
 all the letters he wrote me from thence, during the remainder of this 
 month, as well upon general as private affairs.' 
 
 It was here, as I obferved a little before, that they fupplied all 
 which was yet wanting to make his majefty refolve my ruin ; and, as 
 he ftaid there during the whole months of April and May, they had 
 time futîîcient to effed their purpofe, and brought him to the point 
 we have already feen. Calumny is like fire, which, the fiercer it burns,, 
 is extinguifhed the fooner, if no more fuel be added to it ; and it is 
 not fo eafy to fupport it as fome have imagined, efpecially with princes 
 who aft on principle. If their imaginations be quick and lively, and 
 their temper precipitate like Henry's, the paflions once inflamed will, 
 at firft, carry them very far from their purpofe, but never fo far but 
 that they may be brought back by reafon : and from difpofitions like 
 thefe, one will have violent fits of anger to fuftain ; but to make 
 amends, there is neither obftinate prejudice, imperfedl reconciliations, 
 nor ftudied artifices to apprehend. It was this reafon which induced 
 me to wait, with more patience than I fhould otherways have done, 
 for the iffue of an affair fo complicated and perplexed ; and without 
 altering my behaviour, either while I was at Paris, or in thofe fliort 
 excurfions I made from time to time to Fontainebleau, I appeared al- 
 ways the fame. My friends were not able to comprehend how I 
 could enjoy a tranquillity which they were not capable of themfelves, 
 although fo fully perfuaded of my innocence, that all of them would 
 have willingly become fureties for my conduét : they expreffed great 
 furprife at his majefty's behaviour to me, and could not keep filence 
 at court, and probably in fecret taxed the prince with injuftice. All 
 the kind offices of fincere and affedlionate relations I received from 
 the family of Lorrain upon thisoccafion. 
 
 At length my wiflies and expeftations were anfwered : the king 
 finding that my enemies could brin» no proofs of what they had ad- 
 vanced
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY, 
 
 vanced againft me, he began to fear he had been a little too hafly j my 
 paft lervices role to his remembrance ; my prefent conduft, and the 
 purport of my letter, dwelt upon his thoughts : he was ftruck with 
 all this, and regretted that he had fuffered any expreffions of anger to 
 efcape him, being convinced that nothing was more juft and reafon- 
 able than the requeft I had made him, that he would not condemn 
 me without proofs of my guilt. One day when I was at Fontainebleau, 
 he fent La Varenne, D'Efcures, and Befinghen, to me, on pretence of 
 Ibme bufinefs, fuppofing I fhould tell them in confidence my difficul- 
 ties and perplexity : however, I confined myfelf wholly to the bufinefs 
 they came about, and avoided mentioning any other fubjedl. Villeroi 
 and Sillery were fent to me afterwards for the fame purpofe, which I 
 was convinced of as foon as I found that they had nothing to fay to 
 me, but on an affair of fo little confequence, that it was not worthy 
 the trouble they gave themfelves; this was about adifpatch fromAncel*, 
 who managed the affairs of France at Vienna. I behaved to thefegentle- 
 men as Ihad done to theothers : they had orders to make advances, and 
 draw from me, at any price whatever, a confeffion of my fentiments 
 upon the treatment I received from his majefly. The reader will 
 iudge if they acquitted themfelves faithfully of their commiffion, and 
 like true mediators : they turned the converfation, from bufinefs, to the 
 danger and difficulty of ferving princes, and the mortification minifters 
 are frequently expofed to, and the uneafinefs which flander mufl give 
 to a man of honour : they afterwards gave me to underftand morer 
 plainly, that a minifter was not defended from thefe inconvenienciey 
 under the reigning king. 
 
 I SAW clearly enough, that thefe two gentlemen, by talking in this 
 manner, executed indeed the orders they had received, but with fo 
 much additional art on their fide, as made it evident they were very 
 folicitous to find fome occafion of realifing my fuppofed crime, when 
 they made their report to his majeftiy. To adopt their fentiments had 
 been infolence, and filence might have been confiirued into obftinacy 
 and pride : I therefore replied, with great compofure, that I did not 
 doubt but that there were princes in the world fuch as they reprefented, 
 but that his majefty was too jufl: and too good, to treat, in that man- 
 ner, fuch fervants whofe behaviour had been irreproachable, as, for 
 example, I believed my own to be ; that I was fo well perfuaded of this 
 tyuth, that, although I fliould hear the contrary from his own mouth, 
 
 * William Anccl, mafter of the houfhold, refident at Vienna. 
 
 F f f 2 yet
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX, 
 
 yet I fliould ftill think his tongue but ill explained the meaning of his 
 heart. Thefe v/ords were iufficient to difconcert thefe malicious com- 
 miffioners ; but they had recourfe to other artifices to force fromme 
 fome expreffion of complaint or anger ; and finding that they were not 
 able to effe6t their purpofe, they returned to tell his majefty not what 
 I had faid, but that I had faid nothing at all; and that, contrary to my 
 ufual cuflom, I was fo wrapt up in referve, that I had not deigned to 
 utter a fingle word. From hence it was eafy to judge what thefe two 
 gentlemen would have faid, if I had given them the leaft opportu- 
 nity of entrapping me. During the remainder of this day, I faw only 
 fuch mefTengers as thofe ; but was fully determined not to open myfelf 
 on this fubjed:, to the king himfelf, unlefs he led to it firft : and that 
 he might fee no alteration in my conduâ:, I prepared to fet out the 
 next morning for Paris, as the evening before I had told him I would. 
 
 I WAITED on his majefty as ufual, to receive his orders before I 
 went away; I found him in his clofet, furrounded by the courtiers 
 who were come to his levee, and getting himfelf booted to go to the 
 chace. At my entrance, he arofe half up from his chair, one of his 
 boots being already on, and pulling off his hat to me, bid me good- 
 morrow, ceremonioufly calling me monfieur : all which difcovered a 
 mind either grieved or perplexed. His ufual ftyle to me was. My friend 
 Rofny, or Grand mafter : but that confufion of mind he appeared to 
 labour under, when, without feeming to know what he did, he ftruck 
 the little ivory cylinders which he had in his hand one againft the other, 
 convinced me that I was not miftaken, when I concluded there was 
 neither anger nordifguft in this behaviour. I had likewife made him 
 a much more profound bow than ufual, which, as he afterwards told 
 me, moved hini fo much, that it was with difficulty he could re- 
 flrain himfelf from falling that inftant upon my neck. He con- 
 tinued mufing fome moments longer, and then told Beringhen that it 
 was not a good day for the chace, and that he would be unbooted. 
 Beringhen, furprifed at this fudden change of his intentions, replied, a 
 little imprudently, that it was a very fine day. " It is not a fine day," 
 replied Henry, with fome emotion ; " I will not ride this morning, 
 " take off my boots." That done, the king entered into a converfation, 
 diredling himfelf fometimes to one, fometimes to another, and chufing 
 fuch fubjects as he thought would afford me an opportunity of fpeak- 
 ing : but obferving I was ftill filent, he took Bellegarde by the hand ; 
 " M. Le Grand, faid he, let us walk, I would talk with you a little, 
 ** that you may fet out to-day on your journey to Burgundy." They 
 
 had
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 had feme private bufmefs together, which related chiefly to fome idle 
 tales and quarrels of women. 
 
 When they came to the door of the little ftair-cafe which leads to 
 the queen's garden, the king called L'Oferai, and, as he afterwards told 
 me, bid him obferve whether I followed him ; and if I turned another 
 way, not to fail to inform him immediately of it. I ftaid in the fame 
 place during the whole time that his majefty was talking to M. Le 
 Grand, in the walk that leads to the gardenof theConciergerie; butlob- 
 ferved that he often turned his eyes upon me. After Bellegarde had ta- 
 ken leave of the king, I advanced, and delired to know if his majefty 
 had any orders for me. " And where are you going ?" faid he. " To 
 " Paris, fire, replied I, upon the bulinefs you fpoke to me of two davs 
 " lince." " Well, go then replied the king, I ftill recommend to 
 " you the care of my affairs, and defire that you fhould continue to 
 *' love me." I bowed low ; he embraced me as ufual, and I took the 
 road to my own houfe; but fcarce was I got to the diftance of three 
 hundred paces, when looking back I faw La-Varenne running after 
 me, crying, Monlieur, the king would fpeak with you. His majefty, 
 feeing me return, flruck into the road which leads to the Kennel, and 
 calling to me while I was yet at a diftance, " Come hither, faid he : 
 *' have you nothing to fay to me ?" " No, fire, I replied, not at pre- 
 " fent." " Well then, I have fomething to fay to you," anfwered he 
 with precipitation ; and taking my hand, led me into the grove of white 
 mulberry-trees, and ordered two Swifs centinels, who did not under- 
 ftand French, to be placed at the entrance of the canals which fur- 
 rounded the grove. 
 
 The king began by embracing me twice in a moft affedionate man- 
 ner, which the courtiers eafily perceived, for we were within view, and 
 they carefully Vv'atched all our geftures j then calling me friend, and re- 
 fuming his former familiarity with me, he told me with a look and 
 accent which went to my heart, that the coldnefs and referve with 
 which we had for a month paft behaved towards each other, muft 
 needs be very painful to two perfons who, for three and thirty years, 
 had been accuftomed to the moft unlimited confidence ; and that it was 
 time to deprive thofe who were the caufe of it of an occafion of 
 triumph, which flattered too much their hatred of me, and the envy 
 with which they beheld his and his kingdom's increafing profperity. 
 The heart of this good prince opening as he fpoke to me, he ad- 
 ded, that, earneftly defiring wc Ihould both forget what had happened, 
 he thought it neceflâry to leave mc ignorant of nothing that had pafied 
 
 on
 
 4o6 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XX. 
 
 1605. on his fide, either with refped to the informations which had been 
 <^. -v — .- ; given him againfl: me, the efFefts they had produced in his mind, and 
 îaflly, the words and adlions by which he had made thofe unfavour- 
 able imprefllons pubhc. He intreated, commanded, and made me 
 promife to follow the example he was going to give me, to difcover to 
 him all the different emotions with which I had been agitated, and 
 my fentiments both of the treatment I had received from him, and of 
 the affair itfelf, with the fame unreferved freedom he fhould ufe to- 
 wards me; " That before we leave this place, faid he, our minds may 
 " be wholly freed from doubts and fufpicion, and both perfeélly fa- 
 " tisfied with each other; therefore as I fhall open my whole heart 
 " freely to you, I muft intreat you will not difguife yours from me." 
 I gave him my word of honour that I would mofl: faithfully obey this 
 injunction. 
 
 The king then began firft, by naming all thofe perfons who had 
 endeavoured to injure me with him on that occafion, as well in effeéts 
 as words, among which there were fo me of all ranks and ages, and 
 many who had ferved his majefty as long as myfelf ; thefe I believe I 
 may divide into feven claffes ; in the firft I fliall place the princes of 
 the blood, and great officers of the crown ; in the fécond, the king's 
 miftrefles, with their children, and fuch as either through the ties of 
 blood or friendfliip fupported their interefts and ferved their paffions, 
 among thefe were Cœuvres, Frefnes, Forget, Puget, Placin, Vallon, and 
 many more; the marchionefs of Verneuil was at the head of all. The 
 rage which animated thefe two claffes againft me was excited by my 
 having retrenched their gratuities : the third was compofed of the par- 
 tifans of Spain, and the remains of the- old leaguers, whofe politics and 
 principles of government could not agree with the king's or with mine; 
 and this clafs was increafed by many members of the council, Villeroi, 
 Sillery, Frefnes, Forget, and others, who a£led in concert with the 
 jefuits : in the fourth I comprehend all the petit-maitres, court-fa- 
 vourites,' and idle infignificant perfons, who load Paris with an ufelefs 
 weight; thefe were aduated by their refentment againfl me, for pre- 
 venting his majefty from beftowing fuch favours on them astheyexpedl- 
 "ed, and for the oppofition ofmy manner of living and conduél to theirs; 
 the number of thefe is too great, and themfelves too contemptible, to 
 fully the paper with their names: the fifth was made up of the fedi- 
 tious and malecontents of France, whom the flourishing condition of 
 the kingdom, the wife oeconomy of Henry, and the preparations he 
 was making, which rendered him too powerful, incited to confpire my 
 
 ruin:
 
 Book XX, M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 407 
 
 ruin : the financiers and other men of bufincls made up the fixth, and 1605. 
 they indeed had no reafon to be much my friends. 
 
 The feventh and lafl clafs was compofed of another kind of court- 
 flatterers, fomewhat inferior to thofe I have already mentioned ; thefe 
 were ever ready to give advice, and fought to make their court to the 
 prince by continually furnilliinghim with newprojcdls for railing mo- 
 ney ; men for the mofl part formerly in place, and to whom nothing 
 moreof their once fliining fortune remained, than the deteftable fcience 
 of impoverifliing the people; which for their own intereft, and by an 
 elFedt of a long habitude in guilt, they endeavoured to teach his ma- 
 jefty J but finding that this trade was become much lefs profitable to 
 them, fince his majerty had confided to me the fole management of 
 his finances, they praélifed another art which difcovered difpofitions 
 nearly the fame ; this was, to invent flanders, drefs up detraction like 
 truth, and be the venal inftruments of thofe, who either durft not or 
 would not appear themfelves in the fatirical libels which filled the 
 court ; it was by them that thefe contemptible pieces were compofed, 
 fpread abroad, and the truth of them maintained and propagated ; the 
 dangerous talent of raillery, and lively fallies of wit, opened them a 
 way to the company and familiarity of Henry, who loved an eafy and 
 fpirited converfation. Although he was perhaps upon his guard 
 againfl: the malignant ftrokes at me, yet he could not at length avoid 
 being touched by them. Some of thofe whom at firll he had defpifed 
 or banilhed from his prefence, found means afterwards to make them- 
 felves be heard. In this lift would be found none but names fo ob- 
 fcure, that they do not deferve to be raked from the duft, fuch as Ju- 
 vigny, Parafis, Le Maine, Beaufort, Berfot, Longuet, Chalangc, Ver- 
 fenai, Santeny, &c. if Sancy, who merits the firft place among them, 
 had not completed his own diflionour by this vile trade, which helped 
 to retard his ruin, when his folly and exxefs had left him no other re- 
 fource. He was obliged to fell his jewels, and offered them to the 
 king, who, becaufe he was not willing they (liould go out of the-' 
 kingdom, ordered me to purchafe them *. 
 
 * M. dc Sancy has had the misfortune whimfies, &c. It would be doing him in- 
 to fee himfch" treated in the moft cruel jufticc, to read thefe accufations and in- 
 manner in all thewritingsof the Calvinifls jurious reflections, without having before ' 
 of that time, without having in any degree one, at the fame time, the apology of his 
 deferved it from them, otherwife than by conduii, written by himfclf; which may 
 having abjured their religion. Joieph Sea- be feen in Villeroi's IMemoirs, vol. III. 
 liger fpeaks of hib» as a fanadc, full of pag. 127. Hethercin, among other things , 
 
 The
 
 573 
 
 M E xM O I R S OF S U L' L Y. Book XX, 
 
 1605. The king, after recounting the names of the authors, gave me a 
 detail of their artifices. All that the wit of man could devife, when 
 animated hy an eager defire to deftroy, was praftifed by them ; where -^ 
 ever the king turned hisflepSjhe fawnothing but informations, letters, 
 libels, billets, and other papers of the fame kind ; not to mention the 
 political memorials with which they prefented him, under flievv of 
 zeal for the ftate, and ai^edion for his perfon : thefe papers he found 
 under his table, under thecarpet of his chamber, and under his pillow; 
 they caufed them to be prefented to him by perfons unknown, they 
 were given into his own hand in the form of petitions, and crammed 
 into his fleeves and pockets. I was there painted in the moft hateful 
 colours, and the moft injurious epithets were not fpared, except when 
 by the refinement of thofe treacherous praifes which I have already 
 mentioned, they exaggerated tohismajefty my unwearied induflry, my 
 great abilities, the depth of my judgment, my manners, once rude and 
 forbidding, now, as they faid, became gracious and obliging to all. 
 Henry, with great fincerity, owned to me, that he was fo impofed upoa 
 by thefe artifices, that he had almoft entirely loft the good opinion he 
 had once conceived of me j and that thefe wretches had contrived to 
 fill him with fuch a defire of knowing all their intentions, that at the 
 very time when he feemed fo weary of that infinite number of libels 
 and informations, as to throw them afide without taking any notice of 
 them ; yet afterwards he could not refift the inclination he felt to col- 
 ledt them together, and caufe them to be read to him. 
 
 It muft necefi'arily be, that this prince was prejudiced in a ftrange 
 manner, fince he could not perceive that thefe writings were often no 
 lefs injurious to himfelf than to me : as for example, when he read, 
 that I made him mercenary and unjuft to thofe that fervedhim faith- 
 fully, to whom, under pretended compenfation for old debts, he re* 
 fufed what they had a lawful claim to; they likewife imputed vveak- 
 nefs and timidity to him, in writing to me on all thefe occahons, which 
 certainly was not greatly to his honour, whether in him they made it 
 an excufe for his avarice, or a mark of his dépendance. It was by 
 thefe infinuations they began at firft ; and while they went no farther, 
 the king, who found only new occafions to praife my adminiftration, 
 was not prejudiced againft me ; but to put thefe critics to-filence, he 
 
 proves, in contradiction to what M. de Sully the king's fervice, he was obliged to fe'l his 
 charges him with in this place, that by rea- jewels to the value of an hundred and fifty 
 fon of the expences he had been put to in thoufand crowns. 
 
 only
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 only required fummariesof the ftate debts which I had difcharged, to 
 fliew them ; and as for me, when I had an opportunity I feverelv re- 
 proved thofe perfons for their too free cenfures, while under aValfe 
 pretence of being denied juflice, they fuffered expreflions to efcape 
 them in tlîeir rage, with which his majefty had good reafon to be of- 
 fended. But they foon left thefe flight accufations for others of 
 greater confequence. 
 
 Henry, to excufe the credulity with which he had believed thefe 
 flanders, w^ould have me judge myfelf of the libels in which they 
 ■were contained. But as it would have been a tedious task to' read 
 them all, he fixed upon one -{-which Juvigny had fliewn him tveJve 
 days before, and which had been made public, becaufe in this all the 
 different calumnies which were fcattered throughout many other libels 
 had been colledled, which made it as complete as a work of that kind 
 could be : there was indeed fome little intricacy in it, but it was writ, 
 however, with a fufficient force of flyle and judgment to perfuade his 
 majefty that it proceeded from fome other hand than Juvigny, whofe 
 powers it greatly exceeded. The king, taking this paper out of his 
 pocket, told me, that by reading it I might pofTibly help him to find 
 out the author, whofe name he would be glad to know. I received 
 it from his majefty's hands, and read it from beginning to end in his 
 prefence. The reader, if he pleafes, may here fee the fubflance of it, 
 for it is not my intent to conceal any part of it. 
 
 The author, whoever he was, began (and indeed no writing had 
 ever more need of fuch a precaution) by endeavouring to clear himfelf 
 of all fufpicion of envy or prejudice : the great qualities of Llenry, the 
 happinels which France enjoyed under his reign, the advantageous fi- 
 tuation of his affairs, made a fécond preamble, very proper to captivate 
 the good-will of this prince, and ftill more to lead naturally to the 
 accufation he was to make againft me, of having infolently boafttd, 
 that this happinefs was my fole work ; and from thence, with great 
 art, introduced this reflexion, that it was but too common for miniilers 
 of fuch abilities, and favourites with fo much power, to engage in de- 
 
 i This book was intituled, A political " and bold for thofe times, when all truths 
 
 difcourfc, (hewing the king in what refpects " were not allowed to be fpoke ; it never- 
 
 his majefty is ill ferved. " It was privately " thelefs did not contain any thing againft 
 
 " handed about at Paris, fays l'Etoile, in " the king or hisfervice, but many things 
 
 " MS. the ftylc of it was fomewhat free " againft M, de Rofny." 
 
 Vol. il G g g figns
 
 4IO -MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XX» 
 
 1 605. figns pernicious to the fovereign and the ftate. A crowd of examples 
 — ' eloquently diiplayed, finiûîed this part of the pidure. 
 
 From thence the author proceeded, not to examine my adions, 
 which alone could afford a juft proof of his affertions, but to criticife 
 my manners ; and in the gracious reception I had lately given to all. 
 perfons in general who came to my houfe, found an unanswerable proof 
 of thofe pernicious defigns ; and added, that the number of perlbns, 
 from the princes of the blood, down to the moftinconiiderable of the 
 people, which by this (tudied civility I had gained over to my interefts, 
 was almoft incredible. He attempted to enumerate this crowd of par- 
 tifans, which could not indeed but be very confiderable, iince all that 
 this accufation was founded upon, was that complaifance axid po- 
 litenefs of behaviour which in France it is the cuftom to treat every 
 one with: the prince of Conti and the duke of Montpenfier were at 
 the top of the lift; then the whole family of Lorrain ; feveral French 
 lords came next: my reconciliation with the duke of Epernon, be- 
 caufe followed by a lincere and reciprocal friendlhip, was mifrepre- 
 fented under the name of an union formed by a boundlefs ambition. 
 Meffieurs de Montbazon, de Ventadour, de Fervaques, d'Ornano, de 
 Saint-Geran, de Praflin, de Grammont, d'Aubeterre, de Montigny, 
 de Schomberg, and others, were likewife mentioned as perfons whom 
 I attached to my intereft by the diftindion with which I treated them, 
 the fervices I was perpetually doing them, and the diftribution I made 
 amongft them of partof hismajefty's treafurcs, which I was fo fparing 
 of to all others. 
 
 All this not being fufficient to give probability to thofe views the 
 author attributed to me, he added to it the correfpondences I carried 
 on without the kingdom. He mentioned an expreffion which fell 
 from the king of England, and which might well be confidered as a 
 mere compliment, " That the king of France was happy in having 
 •* me," and made it an argument to prove, that I had violated the 
 faith I owed to my prince ; that not only his Britarnic majefty, but 
 likewife the States-general of the United Provinces, the dukes of Wir- 
 temberg and Deux-Ponts, the landgrave of HefTe, the prince of An- 
 halt, the marquiffes of Anfpach, Dourlach, and Baden, were ready to 
 take my part blindly, and engage openly in my defence : the flighteft 
 fervice which any of them received from me, was conftrued into a 
 criminal intrigue. All the proteftant bodies, whether French or 
 foreigners, as well as the Helvetian fenate, being gained by the regu- 
 larity
 
 BûoK XX'. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 4H 
 
 larity of their payments, and by largefles from me, were fald to be 1605. 
 abfolutely devoted to my intérêts. 
 
 After having thus made the firft efTay with accufations which car- 
 ried in them fome little appearance of probabihty, the author became 
 more hardy, and impudently hazarded others, the falfity of which 
 appeared at the firft view. According to him, I did not content my- 
 felf any longer with my correfpondences in foreign countries alone, 
 but by fending his majefty's money into England, the Low Countries, 
 Germany, and Swiilerland, I was laying up for myfelf immenfe 
 funis, in order to retire there one day, and, as opportunities offered, 
 make levies ofSwifs, German horfe, and Lanfquenets, to fupport the 
 proteftant religion, and, after the example of admiral Coligny, give 
 up France to be preyed upon by thefe troops. The author, who doubt- 
 lefs was fenfible that a minute detail of circumftances was generally 
 confidered as a mark of truth and fincerity, particularifed this event 
 as if he was already a witnefs of it ; he alledged, that by purchafing 
 arms, iron, lead, brafs, bullets, and other warlike ftores, for his ma- 
 jefty's magazines, I had alfo private magazines of my own, in each of 
 the ftongeft proteftant cities, where I depofited thofe ftores in my own 
 name. Certainly thefe people would have had reafon to congratulate 
 themfelves upon the fuccefs of thefe arts, if by this accufation they 
 could have prevailed upon the king to difcontinue his preparations. 
 This admirable piece concluded with an exhortation to his majefty, 
 to confide no longer to one perfon the management of his revenue, 
 the ufe of his authority, and the adminiftration of his affairs; but to 
 aflbciate with me fome perfons who might keep a vigilant eye over 
 my condudt. 
 
 While I was reading this memorial Henry obferved me with great 
 attention, but finding that I read it as I would have done any indiffe- 
 rent paper in which I was not the leaft concerned, without faying a 
 fingle word, without betraying the leaft emotion, or even any change of 
 colour; " Well, what do you think of it ?" faid he. " What is your 
 " opinion of it, fire ? replied I, you that have read it more than once^ 
 *' and kept it fo long in your hands; for my part, I am not fo much 
 ** furprifed at thefe Ibrt of writings, which in eftect are nothing but 
 ** the trifîing production of foolifli and wicked men, as to find that fo 
 " great a king, polfelTed of fo much wifdom, courage, and goodnefs, 
 " and who has known me for fo many years, would have patience to 
 " read them himfelf, and hear ma read them throughout in iiis pre- 
 
 G g g 2 ♦' fence,
 
 412 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XX. 
 
 1605. " fence, without at leaft fliewing by his anger the violence he did 
 " himielf in hftening to fuch calumnies, and without ordering the 
 " authors to be fought for, to punifh them feverely." 
 
 After having thus fpoken, I confidered that the moft effeftual way 
 to reftore peace to the king's mind, and revive in him all his former 
 fentiments of me, was to give a diredl and particular anfwer to each of 
 the accuiations which my enemies brought againft me j and this I had 
 given him my word I would do, I confined myfelf therefore to Ju- 
 vigny's libel, which I had flill in my hands, that I might give a fepa- 
 rate anfwer to each article. The reft of my enemies, who durft not at- 
 tack me openly, for fear of being obliged to produce their proofs, 
 merited only contempt : and it was with this obfervation that I began 
 my anfwer. To the prefumptuous and injurious difcourfes of his ma- 
 iefty's government, which they attributed to me, loppofed thofe words 
 I had fo often in my mouth, in which I pointed out the king as a mo- 
 del for thofe princes who would be good and great to form themfelves 
 by. The examples they produced of minifters who became traitors, 
 and favourites ungrateful, could not affeâ: the fidelity of a man who, 
 like me, had laboured to perfed: thofe great and amiable qualities he had 
 derived from his illuftrious anceftors. I defied them to produce a fingle 
 perfon, whether a friend or kinfman, to whom I had given any gratuity 
 without a fufficient reafon, and a particular order from his majefty. 
 Againft the traitorous defigns they imputed to me, of fomenting the 
 civil wars, I appealed to Henry's knowledge of the afi-e(ftion I bore to 
 my country, the attachment I ever had to his perfon, ray folicitude for 
 my own honour and reputation, and the oppofition I had given on 
 every occafion to the ill defigns of the proteftants, which had drawn. 
 the whole weight of their refentment upon me. 
 
 Besides, what advantage could I promife myfelf from thefe chi-- 
 merical fchemes, which I did not at prefent pofi"efs in the greateft and ; 
 moft honourable ftation to which any fubjeél could afpire ? what could 
 be my aim ? To place the crown on my own head j my enemies them- 
 felves did not accufe me of fach a frantic ambition ; to carry it out of 
 the royal family, altho' it were in my power to difpofe of it, on whom 
 could I fix my choice, but the prince to whom I had, during thirty 
 years, confecrated all my labours and my fervices, and for whofe in- 
 tereft I had ftied my blood, and devoted my life ? Why, if I was the 
 traitor they infinuated, did I ftill bend my whole cares to the increafe 
 of his glory, by thofe noble defigns which if I did not fuggeft, I was 
 
 at
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 413 
 
 at leaft the fole confidant and promoter of? If I had views prejudicial 1605. 
 to his crown, or dangerous to his perfon, why did I fo earncftly feek 
 to engage him in all thofe alliances with England, and the other powers 
 of Europe ? Was not this afting direétly againft myfelf ? Is it by pur- 
 fuing fuch meafures as thefe, that ambitious and deligning fubje<Sts 
 have endeavoured to bring about revolutions, and to ruin the ftate ? 
 Was it not rather by enervating the mind of their mailer, foothing his 
 inclinations to luxury, indulging his paffions, prevailing on him to vio- 
 late the laws, to negleâ all order and government, and to throw every 
 part of the iliate into confuiion ? whereas I was continually laying be- 
 fore his majefty the ftate of his affairs, informing him of the ufe and 
 deftinationofhis money, and carrying my folicitude for order and eco- 
 nomy fo far, as to reproach him with even the fmalleft needlefs ex- 
 pence : I amaffed him treafure, filled his magazines and arfenals, point- 
 ed out to him the means of rendering himfelf formidable to all Europe. . 
 It is not thus that rebellious fubjedls adl, when they fecretly under- 
 mine the foundations of their fovereign's power. The conduct of mi- 
 nifters is always equivocal in fome part or other ; however, I may 
 truly fay, that mine might ftand the teft of the ftriâeft examination. 
 
 It was eafy for me to perceive that his majefty felt all the force 
 of thefe arguments i I concluded them with imploring him, in the 
 moft fervent manner, to believe that I had neither concealed nor dif- 
 guifed from him any of the thoughts of my heart; I confirmed thefe 
 aflurances by the moft facred oaths, which he knew I never uttered 
 raftily; I addreffed him by all thofe reverenced and tender epithets 
 which had, at all times, been the expreffions of my zeal and attach- 
 ment to his perfon. I would have embraced his knees, but he would 
 not fuffer it, left thofe who beheld this pofture might imagine I had 
 recourfe to it to obtain his pardon for a real crime : he told me, that- 
 he was fully convinced of my fidelity, that he fincerely repented of his 
 too eafy belief, and that he would never remember what was pafTed, 
 but to imprefs upon his mind the obligation he was under to love 
 me the better for it. This was the refuît of a conference which 
 had been fo neceflary to reftore quiet to us both. 
 
 Those who have any knowledge of a court, may cafily guefs the 
 emotions that agitated the hearts of the courtiers, during a conver- 
 fation which lafted more than four hours, and with what attention 
 our words and adions were obfervcd ; for tho' it was not poflîble for 
 them to hear what we faid, yet they could not be ignorant of the 
 
 fubjedc
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX. 
 
 fubjeâ: we were upon. The manner in whicli Henry had received 
 nie in the morning, his recalling me after I had left him, the precau- 
 tion he had ufed at the beginning of our converfation, the papers he 
 had taken with him, the earnell: manner in which we feemed to dif- 
 courfe, was fufficient to inform them of the reft ; each, according to 
 his fears or hopes, expeded the refult of fo important an explimation 
 between us. 
 
 Henry was willing to tell it them him.felf. After receiving the pa- 
 pers again from me, which he was refolved to throw into the fire, he 
 went out of the grove of mulberry-trees holding me by the hand, and 
 asked this crowd of courtiers who were got together, what it \^s 
 o'clock ; they anfwered it was one o'clock, and that he had been 
 walking a long time. " I have fo," faid the prince, in an accent 
 which fpread a palenefs on every cheek; " but there are fome prefcnt 
 " who are more weary than I am : however, to confole them, I here 
 *' declare before you all, that Rofny is dearer to me than ever, and 
 " that our friendfhip will continue till death ; and you, my friend," 
 purfued he, turning to me, " go home to dinner, and love me and 
 " ferveme, for I am fully fatisfied with you." Many others in the fame 
 fituation I was, would have * made ufe of their returning favour 
 and intereft, to exadl vengeance on thofe who had laboured thus to 
 procure their difgrace ; but I thank heaven that I have not the re- 
 proach to make myfelf, of having even entertained fuch a thought. 
 I carefully concealed their names from my fecretaries, nor will I men- 
 tion them here ; I likewife fupprefs part of what the king faid to me 
 to their difadvantage: though they have a6led in a quite contrary 
 manner, yet it cannot alter my opinion, that this fort of revenge is 
 unworthy of a generous mind. 
 
 That I might remove all caufe of uneafinefs from the king, con- 
 cerning the affair which has led me into fo particular an account of tnis 
 great difference between us, I managed Grillon with fuch art, that he 
 at length confented to take thirty thoufand crowns of Crequy for his 
 poil:, which, in refpc<fl to Lefdiguieres, his majefty had permitted that 
 nobleman to purchafe -f-. This drew many acknowledgments to me 
 
 * The fieur de Juvigny or Divigny, a guilty, condemned to death, and all his ef- 
 
 French gentleman, author of the above- f'efts to be confilcated, but haviiiç; made his 
 
 mentioned memorial, fuffered for all the cfcape, he was hanged in effigy at Paris, 
 
 reft: a profecution was carried on againft •)■ Henry IV. though extremely difi'atif- 
 
 him for high treafon, and he was found ficd with the duke of Epernon, who had 
 
 from
 
 Book XX. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. ^j ^ 
 
 from the father-in-law and the fon. Crequy came in perfon to make 1605. 
 me thefe compliments, and added to them repeated aflurances of grati- 
 tude and affeétion : Lefdiguieres wrote to me from Grenoble, and cx- 
 prefled himfelf in terms ftill ftronger than Crequy had done. As we were 
 before conneded by alliances between our families, this lafl fcrvice 
 they had received from me, made every one expedl to fee us for the fu- 
 ture intimate friends ; however, there was not any perfon by whom I 
 was fo eafily abandoned, or received fo many bad offices from, after the 
 death of Henry, as from thefe two men : gratitude is not a virtue to be 
 found amongft courtiers. 
 
 The heart of Henry being once tainted with fufpicions to my preju- 
 dice, it was not impoffible but that the wound might again be opened. 
 It was this hope that fupported my enemies amidft the mortifications 
 and grief they fuffered from the adventure at Fontainebleau. It was not 
 long before they again returned to the charge, and (it is with regret I fav 
 it) were almoft as fuccefsful as before*: the affair, however, did not 
 become as public as the former had been, becaufe it was fooner fol- 
 lowed by an explanation, and it is needlefs to repeat it here. If my 
 enemies from time to time enjoyed the pleafure of believing that I 
 fhould fink under their efforts, yet they were foon undeceived, and thofe 
 inefie>ftual attempts but increafed their fliame and rage; and had I been 
 of a difpofition to enjoy fuch victories, this laft, being not lefs complete 
 than the other, would have afforded me fufficient matter for triumph : 
 it was likewife at Fontainebleau, that the king and I came to an expla- 
 
 retired to Angouléme, and made gre.it " him to the hatred of many, againfl whom 
 
 complaiiits of the injuftice he pretended the " he was very able to protett him, in order 
 
 king had done him on this occafion, yet " to keep him under apprehenfions of what 
 
 infifted that M. de Crequy fhould wait on " might be the efFeits of his failing in his 
 
 him as his colonel, at the diftance of a " duty." This paiTage in our Memoirs 
 
 hundred leagues from Paris, to take the feems, at firft fight, to ofFer fomething in 
 
 oaths before him, get his conimiflion al- favour of this conjecture : the opinion of 
 
 lowed by him, and receive his orders for thofe neverthelefs, who think there was no 
 
 being invefted in his poft. The duke of artifice in the fufpicions Henry IV. con- 
 
 Epernon made him dance attendance after ccived againfl: the duke of Sully, appears to 
 
 him for fcvcral days, and fuffered him to me better founded ; but whether his fufpi- 
 
 ■wait a whole day at the door of his cham- cions wore feigned or real, I alfo think, as 
 
 ber. Hiftory of the duke of Epernon, many other perfons of fenfe do, that they 
 
 p. 212. ought to be reckoned among that prince's 
 
 * " The king," fays le Grain, b. vii. defects. According to the firft fuppofition, 
 
 «' advanced the duke of Sully in fuch a a low cunning unbecoming the charadter of 
 
 «« manner, that he always referved a fufH- fo great a king is apparent ; and acconling 
 
 «c cient authority over him; and who to the fécond, a piece of injuftice, for which 
 
 J knows but it might perhaps be a pruden- the firft movements of a hafly paffion 
 
 ^e tial mcalurc in the king thus to e.xpofe would be no c.xcufc, there being a kind of 
 
 nation
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX. 
 
 nation of this fécond difference ; and tiie morning afterwards the king 
 fent for me very early. As foon as I entered his chamber he took my 
 hand, and led me towards a crofs-barred v/indow which looked into 
 the queen's garden, having fomewhat to impart to me in private; but 
 as we paffed, he faid aloud, in the prefence of the whole court, " You 
 " cannot conceive, my friend, how eafily and happily I flept this 
 <' night, after having opened my heart to you, and had all my doubts 
 " cleared up." He then alked me, if I did not feel the fame calm fa- 
 tisfadtion -, I replied that I did, and that he fhould always find in me 
 the fame fidelity and affedion. 
 
 In the midft of a favour fo often interrupted by little jealoufies and 
 heats, what convinced me that the heart of Henry always leaned towards 
 me was, that however diflatisfied my enemies might fometimes by their 
 infinuations make him vvith me, yet it never interrupted the courfe of 
 thofe benefits with which it was his conftant cuftom to load me and my 
 family. I had proofs of his beneficence with refpe<51: to my eldeffc 
 daughter, amidll: thofe very ftorms I have mentioned *. I had en- 
 gaged my word to Fervaques, to give her to the young Laval, whom 
 his majerty, as I have formerly obferved, ordered me to prefer to the 
 duke of Rohan ; and the affair was upon the point of being concluded. 
 One day, about the beginning of this year, when I was walking with 
 the king upon the terrace belonging to the Capuchins, he again intro- 
 duced this fubjeft, and told me his reafons for defiring me to rejecft the 
 duke of Rohan, which were, that the marriage of this lord with my 
 
 agreement between this prince and his mi- " fays Amelot, who have feen Tancred 
 
 nifter, that the firft fliould overlook, in the " (the name of this pretended heir to the 
 
 charafter of the other, that firmnefs and " houfe of Rohan) have affured me, that 
 
 inflexibility of temper, incapable of a bafe " he had the topping of the Rohan family, 
 
 fubmiffion and flattery, in confideration of " which is a fmall tuft of hair on the fore- 
 
 a fidelity eftablifhed on fuch numberlefs " head, and that the features of his face 
 
 proofs. This is a fufficient evidence, that " were remarkably like thofe of his fup- 
 
 the performance of the moft important fer- " pofed father." To this anecdote we 
 
 vices will not difpenfe a man from a flexi- may add another, by which it is pretended 
 
 bility to, and compliance with, the humour that the duke of Rohan had a mind to pur- 
 
 of princes, even the moft perfect. chafe the kingdom of Cyprus of the Grand 
 
 * Margaret de Bethune. This lady, to Signior for this child : it was alfo faid, that 
 
 be revenged on her only daughter, who, his father and mother had kept him con- 
 
 againft her will, had married Henry de cealed only that they might marry their 
 
 Chabot, in the year 16451, fet up a boy daughter to the count of SoilTons, and af- 
 
 about fifteen years old, as being really her terwards to the duke of Weimar. See 
 
 fon by the duke of Rohan who died feven thefe curious fables in Amelot de La-Houf- 
 
 years before. " Many perfons of credit, fjye, article Bethune, &c. and art. Chypre. 
 
 daughter
 
 Book XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 417 
 
 daughter had been propofed by the princefs Catharine to the duchefsof 1605. 
 Rohan, and accepted by my wife, without acquainting him with it ; and 
 hkewife becaufe mcnfieur and madame de Fervaques had fo earneftly 
 ibhcited his intereft in favour of Laval, that he had promifed them to 
 give him to me for a fon-in-law, rather than the duke of Rohan, who 
 was not fo rich indeed, but had the honour to be fo nearly related to 
 him, that, if he died without children, as the princefs his filler had. 
 done, the duke of Rohan would fucceed to his kingdom of Navarre, 
 and the other eftates of the families of Albert Foix, and Armagnac : 
 he then added, that, for other reafons which he would acquaint me 
 with, he had again altered his opinion, and that it was his intention I 
 fhould break with the family of Fervaques as decently as I could. 
 Having already prepared them for this change of iny refolution, he 
 defired me to withdraw the contradls and articles which had been 
 agreed upon between us, in fuch a manner, that the breaking off the 
 match fliould appear entirely my own acft, and that they might not 
 have any room to fay they had refufed an alliance with me. He 
 added, that he would himfelf bring the duke of Rohan to pay his 
 compliments, with the duchefs his mother, and expeded that I would 
 receive him as one who was to be my fon-in-law within three days, 
 having already fettled every thing relating to the marriage himfelf; 
 that he would have the contradl drawn up in his prefence, and would 
 fign it as the kinfman of both parties. 
 
 I THANKED his majcfty for the intereft he took in my family, and 
 the honour he conferred upon me. The affair was managed as he had 
 direded ; the king gave the bridegroom ten thoufand crowns for the 
 wedding cloaths and expences, and the like fum to my daughter. The 
 year before, I had married mademoifelleDu-Marais, my wife's daughter 
 by her firflhufband, to La-Boulaye, the fon of him whom Henry had 
 loved fo much : flie had no reafon to expedt any other gratuity from his 
 majefty, than that which is generally given to all the queen's maids of 
 honour, under the title of a prefent for the nuptial robe, and had been 
 fettled at two thoufand crowns : the king raifed it to five thoufand in 
 favourof my daughter-in-law; but that it might not be made a pre- 
 cedent for others, he ordered me to carry it to account. 
 
 It was ufual with his majefty, after he had -cleared the accounts of 
 his expences in fortifications and buildings, to fay to me, in the pre- 
 fence of the officers employed in thoTe works, who attended to know 
 his pleafure concerning farther improvements in them, " Well, you 
 
 Vol. II. Hhh "fee
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XX: 
 
 " fee my fortifications and buildings are refolved upon, what have you 
 " done to your houfes ?" To which, when I replied, as I.feldom fail- 
 ed to do, that I could do nothing to them for want of money ; he 
 would anfwer, " Well, fliew me your plans, that I may know what 
 " you would do if you had money." And after examining them, and 
 telling me what he thought it would be necelTary to alter, he added, 
 that he would give me twenty thoufand livres to enable me to make 
 thofe alterations he pointed out to me. 
 
 However, I fometimes requeued favours of him which he refufed 
 to grant, and I fhall not have the vanity to conceal it : he would not 
 give the poil which had formerly been the baron de Lux's to my bro- 
 ther, or to La-Curée, for either of whom I requefted it ; telling me, 
 that for Bethune, he defigned a pofl in Brittany, which would fuit 
 him better ; and that as for La-Curée, he did not think that employ- 
 ment compatible with the pofl of lieutenant of a company of light- 
 horfe, and the government of Chinon, which he already pofTelfed.. 
 The truth was, he chofe to give it to Ragny, who could do him 
 greater fervice in the province. I afked two other favours of him in 
 the fame letter, the one for my nephew de Melun, and the other for 
 La-Boulaye : he told me, that La-Boulaye had not yet, by his fer- 
 vices, merited fuch an inflance of his bounty, but he granted the 
 other, which was the abbey of Moreilles in Poitou, lately become 
 vacant. I received another refufal from him, if it may be called fo, 
 in which my fon-in-law the duke of Rohan was concerned : the oc- 
 cafion of it was this. 
 
 The duke of Rohan wasgovernor of Saint- John d'Angely, of which 
 place Des Ageaux was the king's lieutenant: it was not the governor, 
 to whom in juflice it belonged, that named this lieutenant, but his 
 majefly, who thought it neceffary, for the good of his fervice, to de- 
 prive the governor of this privilege, that the lieutenant, who, in trou- 
 blefome times, had hitherto always played an important part in af- 
 fairs, might in fome degree be independent of the governor, and in a 
 condition to render his power ineffeâual, if he Ihould not ufe it to 
 the king's fatisfadlion, and for the advantage of the ftate. The lieu- 
 tenant therefore was, in reality, poflefled of the whole authority, and 
 the governor had only an empty title. The ^uke of Rohan, who 
 earncftly wiflied to have this prerogative rellored to the governor, en- 
 treated me to folicit the king for that purpofe, a favourable opportu- 
 nity offering itfelf by the ficknefs of Des Ageaux, who, it was thought, 
 
 v/ould
 
 ^BooK XX. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 would never recover. Whatever inclination I had to do my fon-in- 
 law this fervice, I durft not make the propofal to the king diredlly, 
 the requcft having too much conformity with that ftatc of depen- 
 dence into which my enemies had inlinuated I fought to place all the 
 * proteflant cities : nothing more would have been wanting to renew 
 all his fufpicions. I refolved therefore to found him firft upon the 
 fuhjeft, which I did very artfully, taking occafion, upon the news of 
 Des Ageaux's ficknefs, to ask his majefty whom he had thought of to 
 fupply his place if he died : it was by letters that I made this at- 
 tempt ; but I would go no further till I had received his majefty 's 
 anfwer. The king, in his anfwer, told me, that he did not intend to 
 renounce his right of naming the lieutenant of Saint- John, becaufeit 
 would not always be the duke of Rohan, nor my fon-in-law, who 
 would be governor of that place. I mentioned Poufou, the mayor of 
 that city, to him, whom he continued in that office upon the charac- 
 ter I gave of him. Des Ageaux recovering of his ficknefs, no farther 
 fteps were taken in the affair. 
 
 Before I quit this article of marriage, I fliall take notice of what 
 happened at court, with regard to mademoifelle de Melun my niece, 
 whom they thought likewife of marrying at that time, as her fortune 
 was extremely large, the marchionefs de Roubais my aunt having 
 made her her fole heir. The family of D'Eflreés caft their eyes on 
 her for a wife to De Cœuvres -f ; they thought themfelves fure of the 
 king's intereft; and the affair was propofed to him by M. de Vendôme 
 himlelf, to whom the king promifed that he would fpeak to me of 
 it before he left Chantilly. He recolledled the affair when he was at 
 Louvre-en-Parifis, where they went to dine, and wrote to me con- 
 cerning it in terms which fhewed how earneflly he defired the mar- 
 riage might be concluded. 
 
 I WROTE to the young lady's relations, who were all Flemings ; 
 but the anfwer they gave me being fuch as I neither ought nor 
 could repeat to my fovereign, I fent him none at all j and when at his 
 
 * It is faid in the Hift. de la mere & du one doubt of the t^uih of this hSt, befides 
 
 fils, vol. I. p. 15, that Henry IV. refufed M. de Sully's filence in relation to it, the 
 
 the duke of Sully the government of Saint- facility with which that prince granted him 
 
 iViaixant, which the queen herfelf, at the the government of the whole province 
 
 duke's requeft, defired of the king for him, muft he fufficient. 
 
 faying, Prudence would not permit the f Francis-Hannibal D'Eftrées, marquis 
 
 making a Calvinift mafler of that place, of Cœuvres, duke and peer and maréchal 
 
 fmall as it was. If any thing could make of France. 
 
 H h h 2 return
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLV. Book XX. 
 
 return he afked me the reafon, I only told him, that mademoifelle de 
 Melun's relations did not approve of the propofed alliance. The king 
 fuppofing that it was mylelf who anfwered for them, and that I had 
 not wrote to them about the affair, I was obliged to fhew him the let- 
 ters Ï had received from the marchionefs de Roubais, the prince and 
 princefs de Ligne, the princefs d'Epinoy, the countefs de Barlemonti 
 and the counts de Fontenay» and de Buquoy, who had all written to 
 me upon the fame fubjedt. Henry, in thefe letters, finding, what I 
 would not tell him, that notwithftanding the honours he had conferred 
 on the houfe of D'Eftrées, they thought it beneath their alliance *i 
 " I fee," faid this prince with fome refentment, " that fince we have 
 *' to do with all thefe proud Flemifh fools, we muft think no more of 
 " it." Accordingly the affair went no farther, his majefly being re- 
 folved not to meddle in it any more. 
 
 * The houfe of D'Eftrées is undoubtedly one of the moft ancient noble families of 
 Picardy. Confult our genealogifts. 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XXI. 
 
 TH E uneafinefs I fuffered from the king's relapfe into doubts 
 and fufpicions of my conduct, encroached upon part of that 
 time I ufed to devote entirely to the adminiftration of the fi- 
 nances ; but it never lelTened my attention to the duties of my feveral 
 employments. I laboured this year to prove the alienations and ufur- 
 pations that had been made upon the crown lands, and to clear ex- 
 actly all the penfions upon the tailles, gabelles, décimes, aides, and 
 other parts of the revenue ; as well as all the debts contrafted either 
 by the king, or by the cities, counties, and communities. Upon cal- 
 culating thefe fums, I found that the alienations, penfions, and debts, 
 from the time they were firft fettled and contradled to the prefent 
 year, had coft the kingdom above an hundred and fifty millions *. 
 
 * " Nothing lefs than the infurmount- " crown, &c. He always feconded the 
 
 *' able courage of the duke of Sully was " king in the glorious defigns of cafing his 
 
 *' fufficient to retrieve the diforders of the " people." Political Effay on Commerce, 
 
 *' revenue, by dilincumbering the mort- ch. lo. M. Claudius de L'Ifle fpeaks of 
 
 " gaged crown lands from a charge of an him in the fame manner, and with the 
 
 " hundred millions, by paying off fomc, greatefl: encomiums, in the Abridgment of 
 
 *' and IcfTening others of the debts of the his Univerfal Hiitory, vol. V. p. 50X. 
 
 It
 
 "MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXI. 
 
 It is ftill more extraordinary, that all the money ariiing from thofe 
 taxes with which the ftate was overburdened, and in appearance no 
 advantages gained by them, had for the moft part been either ufurped 
 by thofe perfons who were at firft employed in the verification of them, 
 or divided, fold, and alienated by them to others. The king would 
 not believe this ; but I made it plain, by means of two papers which 
 fell into my hands ; the firft was, a lift of thofe perfons who had been 
 concerned in the farm of the fait, during the leafe of Champigny and 
 Noel de Here : the number amounted to twenty, from Paris, the court, 
 and even the council, and each had from fifty thoufand livres to one 
 hundred and fifty thoufand crowns a-piece, the whole amounting to 
 nine millions feven hundred thirty-eight thoufand livres : the other pa- 
 per, dated Odlober 27, 1585, is an agreement between the fuperin- 
 tendant D'O and thofe who farmed the fait, for a fifth part : D'O pre- 
 vailed upon Antony Fafchon, a notary, to be fecurity far that whole 
 fum to the farmers before mentioned. 
 
 By the fame pradices his majefty was defrauded of almoft all the 
 revenue arifing from the aids and parties cafuelles. Gondy had prevailed 
 with Incarville, and the other members of the council with whom he 
 ihared, to have that money afllgned to him, for the payment of fome 
 debts which he pretended were due to him from the king. Difticult 
 as it was to find out thefe frauds and connivances, I made fuch ftridt 
 enquiries, that I difcovered three millions that were to come to the trea- 
 fury. As it was merely with a view to relieve the people, that I thus 
 from time to time ftripped the ufurpers of money that did not belong 
 to them, in proportion to my difcoveries, I made very confiderable 
 abatements in the king's name upon the taille, that perpetual fource of 
 abufes and vexations of all kinds, as well in the affeflment as coUeftion : 
 it is greatly to be wifhed, though hardly to be hoped for, that one day 
 or other the fund of this part of the king's revenue may be wholly 
 changed *. 
 
 * Thefe abufes and vexations are fo fla- our days, which feemed to promife a more 
 grant and apparent, that our kings and happy fuccefs, though hitherto its progrefs 
 their minifters have frequently attempted has not been very rapid : I will take the li- 
 te find fome remedy for them by entirely berty of explaining the nature of it here, 
 changing the form of this branch of the re- An unhappy prejudice prevails in this 
 renue of France ; but the difficulties the kingdom, and I believe in all monarchical 
 author fpeaks of have always intervened, governments, which we cannot be too fo- 
 and rendered their endeavours fruitlefs. licitous to deftroy; for the minds ot the 
 However, one attempt has been made in people being thereby kept in a perpetual 
 
 I PLACE
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 423 
 
 I PLACE the gabelle after the taille. I never thought anything 1605-. 
 
 more capricious and tyrannical, than to oblige a private man to buy u— v — 
 up more fait than he is willing or able to ufe, and then hinder him 
 to fell the overplus. I once exprefied my fentiments of this praftice 
 
 {late ofdiftruft of every thing undertaken by 
 their fovereign, from this diffidence alone 
 great part of the fame mifchievous efFedts 
 arife, which an abfolute difobedieace could 
 produce. The prejudice I mean is, that the 
 good of the people is never the motive of 
 the adtions of Icings ; but that, on the con- 
 trary, no changes arc made in their fitua- 
 tion, but fuch as tend to render them more 
 miferable. 
 
 It is impoflible but fo confiderable a 
 change as is propofed to be made in the 
 taille, muft, from its own nature, be fubjeft 
 toereat difficulties. Now I apprehend it will 
 no"t be fufficient that thefe difficulties have 
 been overcome in the minds of the few who 
 have formed and perfeâed this fcheme, but 
 they muft alfo be cleared up to thofe whom 
 it is necefl'ary to employ in the execution 
 of it ; for the manner of" executing a work 
 of this nature is in no degree analagous to 
 that in which a building may be eredted : 
 the latter being effected by the mere me- 
 chanical co-operation of the hands of the 
 workmen with the defign of thearchitedl ; 
 whereas, to carry on and complete the for- 
 mer, it is abfolutely neceiTary that the na- 
 ture of it {hould be as clearly conceived by 
 thofe who are to put it in execution, as by 
 thofe who formed the plan. But two things 
 ftand in oppofition to this, which it will 
 become neceflary to remove, the one by 
 the means of information, the other by 
 punifhment ; thefe arc, the want of know- 
 ledge, and the want of diligence in the iub- 
 altern officers; the latter making them dif- 
 obcy the orders of their fuperiors, and the 
 former, though their intention be ever fo 
 good, occafioning them to execute every 
 thing wrong. 
 
 This reafon alone would be fufficient to 
 prove, that what relates to the general re- 
 ceipt of the taille proportionelle, ought not 
 to be entrufted to the alVellbrs and other 
 
 officers of the intendants of the finances ; 
 I dare not fay to the intendants themfelves, 
 and thofe adling in immediate fubordination 
 to them, who are generally taken by them 
 at random, out of the offices of the police, 
 or the revenue ; and who having other bu- 
 finefs of their own, cannot fpare the time 
 neceffary for the other : but as artificers 
 are fent for from the metropolis, when any 
 work is to be performed exceeding the ca- 
 pacity of common workmen ; fo the coun- 
 cil ought to chufe and appoint, for the ma- 
 nagement of the general receipts, commif- 
 fioners of integrity and capacity, fufficient- 
 !v authorifed, and perfedtly inftrudled in 
 the nature of their bufinefs, and who fliould 
 be allowed all the time and expences that 
 arc rcquifite. If they are too much hur- 
 ried, part of the remarks neceflary for them 
 to make on the different particulars of the 
 bufinefs of the provinces will efcape their 
 obfervation ; and if their falaries are ill paid, 
 or not to be received by them without dif- 
 ficulties, neceffity may induce them to be- 
 tray their truft. This important work cer- 
 tainly demands all poffible attention. 
 
 When one confiders how powerful an 
 influence the bonds of parentage, friend- 
 {hip, fociety, or even mere neighbourhood, 
 have on mankind ; how ftrongly they are 
 afFedted by different interefts, as well per- 
 fonal as focial ; the fear of difpleafing, the 
 defire of obliging, the ambition of being 
 honoured and careiTed by their countrymen, 
 the dépendance on a fiiperior, who, accord- 
 ing to his caprice, can make his dependant 
 fenfible of his fuperiority, by depriving him 
 of his office, or by unjult reprimands ; and 
 the innumerable other motives which tic 
 up a man's hands in the midil of his family 
 and countrymen ; a thoufand reafons will 
 appear againfl: employing the ordinary offi- 
 cers in the bufinefs of the new taille. This^ 
 aflertion is tonfiimcd bv the icftimony of 
 
 freely
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 freely to the king, who defired me to give him a circumftantial me- 
 moir upon it ; as for example, the prime coft of the fait at the 
 falt-pits, of the expences till it was fold, of its diftribution into gra- 
 naries, and other queftions relating to it : his majefty did not tell mc 
 what ufe he intended to make of this memoir. I drew it up with the 
 utmoft expedition, and as near the truth as I was able ; for on account 
 of the reafons I there gave, it was hardly poffible to fix the true value 
 of things. However, this memorial produced no confequences, every 
 thing remained in the fame ftate as before ; which fliews how difficult 
 it is to reform abufes, which the ignorance, precipitancy, and fhort- 
 .fightednefs of thofe antients who are propofed to us as infallible guides, 
 have introduced into the firft regulations, even when other imports, 
 far more reafonable, fuch as the tithes and entries, feem both to point 
 out the way, and make it eafy.* 
 
 federal perfons, who having with great ap- 
 plication confidered what were the defigns 
 of the council, in conftituting this kind of 
 operation, and afterwards kept a watchful 
 eye on the manner in which it daily appears 
 to be executed by the officers in their fe- 
 veral diftricls, have with great concern 
 found, that, out of fifty of thefe officers, 
 there is perhaps not one whofe manner of 
 executing his bufinefs does not render the 
 new method more odious than the old. 
 
 Thefe motives and thefe difficulties, a 
 perfed knowledge of M. de Vauban's plan, 
 the frriall difficulty there was in eftablifhing 
 it when trial was made of it, the happinefs 
 thofe few parifhes flill continue to enjoy 
 which have found the means of preferving 
 it amongft them, the experience every day 
 furnifhes that the dixième (which in its 
 own nature is but a fpecies of the dixme) 
 has every poffible advantage over the taille 
 and other impofitions ; all thefe, I fay, muft 
 convince every judicious man, that it will 
 be found abfolutely neceflary to recur to 
 the eflablifhment of the royal dixme, as 
 being of all methods the moft fmiple, the 
 lead expenfive, and the leaft burdenfome 
 to the people ; and that when it was pro- 
 pofed by this able and virtuous patiiot, it 
 was not received with all the regard it 
 merited. The maxim, that enabling the 
 .people to live at their eafe will endanger 
 their revolting, is as falfe as it is cruel. It 
 
 mofl: certainly is alfo the intereft of the 
 people, if well underftood, that the king 
 (hould be perfeftly acquainted with the true 
 value of what they poirefs, and confequent- 
 ly the real flrength of his kingdom ; that, 
 without regard to exemptions or any un- 
 juft privileges, all his majefty 's fubjeflrs 
 fhould be equally taxed ; and that com- 
 merce and induftry fliould meet with all 
 poffible encouragement. As to any further 
 reflexions which may be made on this mat- 
 ter, we will refer to that excellent work 
 itfelf, compofed by M. Vauban, and inti- 
 tuled, Dixme Royale, &c. 
 
 * It is well known what is the net pro- 
 duce to the king of the gabelle, or fait du- 
 ty, after all expences paid ; and it is not, 
 confequently, difficult to difcover, to what 
 thofe expences amount on each minot of 
 fait. Why fhould not the king at once take 
 the price of each minot of fait on the firft 
 fale, and at the fait pits themfelves ? Why 
 fhould not the fame be done in the cafe of 
 the aids ? This queftion, fimple as it is, 
 has been asked long ago. The cardinal of 
 Richelieu, in this refpeft, following the 
 opinion of his predeceflbr in the miniflry, 
 Teft. Politique, part II. ch. ix. § 7. Pere- 
 fixe, the author of the EfTay on Commerce, 
 ch. V. and many other able politicians after 
 him, unanimoufly pronounce fentence a- 
 gainft an import like this, not only bur- 
 denfome from the manner in which it is 
 
 The
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 425 
 
 The debts contraded by the provinces, town-houfes, and corpo- T605.. 
 rations, were not lels troublcibme to the king than his own : I was 
 continually foliciting him to call on me to review and fettle them, in 
 the fame manner as I had done the others ; I prevailed at lafl, and 
 his majefty left me the choice of what meafures I thought mofl likely 
 to attain this end. The commiffioners I named for this purpofe were 
 feledled from among thofe perfons, whom I knew to be moft faithful, 
 and capable of the greateft application to bufmefs, in the fovereign 
 courts, among the mafters of requefts, the treafurers of France, and 
 other officers ; but as this work could not go on fo expeditioufly as the 
 former, I fhall defer giving an account of it till I come to relate the 
 elFeéts it produced. 
 
 And here a reflexion occurs to me, not more common than juft, 
 which is, that regularity and oeconomy muft certainly have infinite re- 
 fources ; for notwithflanding the ordinary expences of the ftate, and 
 the extraordinary ones his majefty was at in his kingdom ; notwith- 
 ftanding that three or four millions were fent every year out of the 
 kingdom to be diftributed in foreign countries ; notwithftanding the ru- 
 inous and exhaufted condition in which the king at his acceffion to 
 the throne, found France, his finances, and his treafury, and many 
 more ditficulties almoft infurmountable ; yet the government had al- 
 ready an appearance of opulence and ftrength, which baniihed all re- 
 membrance of its former indigence. Could it be poffible for any perfon 
 to imagine ten years before, that in 1605, the king would find himfelf 
 as rich as he really was ; if they refledted, that the fums which were 
 demanded of him when he was acknowledged peaceable pofTeflbr of 
 the crown, and thofe that were owing from his exchequer, with all 
 the intereft and arrears, did not amount to lefs than three hundred and 
 thirty millions ; and that all v^'hich could be paid of this enormous fum, 
 fuch as the mere debts, fhould really be done ; and fuch meafures taken 
 with regard to the penfions and affignments, that they {l:iould be regu- 
 
 levied, but becoming ftill moreunjuft, from thus fpeaks of it, adds, that he had found, 
 
 the unequal manner in which it is aflefl'ed. from the moft knowing amongft the fuper- 
 
 It is true, they perceive great difficulties in intendants of the finances, that the produce 
 
 altering it ; but this alteration being once of the duty on fait, if levied at the pits, 
 
 made, one of the principal fources of the would be equal to what the king of Spain 
 
 cafe, and at the fame time of the opu- receives from the Indies. See alfo on this 
 
 lence of the nation would be opened fubjedt the Dixime Royale of M, de V'su- 
 
 thereby. The cardinal de Richelieu, who ban. 
 
 Vol. II. Hi larly
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXI. 
 
 larly paid, without exhaufting the treafury or incurring the leafl: in- 
 convenience ? Yet all this was adlually efFeded. And probably the 
 reader has not yet found any thing in thefe Memoirs fo interefting as 
 the following account in grofs, of the particular fums which made up 
 the whole. 
 
 There was due to queen Elizabeth at the time of herdemife, for 
 ready money lent to Henry in his neceffities, advanced by her to the 
 German troops and the armyfent into Bretagne, as well as for all the other 
 fums, to which the maintenance of thofe fupplies that Henry was fur- 
 nifhed with by the Englifli, amounted ; confifting of men, veffels, and 
 provifions, for the ficge of Dieppe, and that of Rouen, and during the 
 war with the league ; the fum of kven millions three hundred and fe- 
 venty-eight thouland and eight hundred livres : To the Swifs Cantons, 
 for their fervices and their penfions, comprehendingtheintereftdueupon 
 them; thirty-five millions eight hundred twenty-three thoufand four 
 hundred and feventy-fevenlivres and fix fols: To the States-General, for 
 money lent, for pay due to their troops, and for the furnifliing veffels, 
 powder, provifion, ammunition, &c. during the league likewife; nine 
 millions two hundred feventy-five thoufand four hundred livres : To 
 feveral French noblemen, colonels, and other officers, for fervice, pay, 
 penfions, falaries, &c. during the civil wars ; fix millions five hundred 
 and forty- feven thoufand livres : To the farmers of every part of the 
 revenue ; to princes, cities, corporations, and private perfons ; compre- 
 hending the falaries, appointments, and penfions of the officers of the 
 king's houfhold, of thepolice, andthefinances,.and the civil magiftrates, 
 by fettled accounts, twenty-eight millions four hundred and fifty thou- 
 fand three hundred and fixty livres : To feveral private perfons, accord- 
 ing to their bills, refcriptions, receipts of the treafury, warrants, acquit- 
 tals, patents, &c. almoft all in the reign of Henry III. twelve millions 
 two hundred and thirty-fix thoufand livres : Mortgages of the crown 
 lands, compofitions of penfions, where the principal being exorbitant 
 was moderated by the creditors themfelves, or deduéted by his majefi:y ; 
 one hundred and fifty millions : Treaties made at the abolition of the 
 league, which have been calculated already, thirty-three millions one 
 hundred and fifty thoufand nine hundred and twenty-four livres *. 
 
 * There is a mifcomputation of about as in ths fum total 5 but this is of fmall 
 - million, in the old Memoirs, as well in moment, 
 the account of the contrats of the league, 
 
 It
 
 Book XXI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 4?.; 
 
 It is certain, as I have already obferved, that upon the examination 1605. 
 of thefe diffent demands upon the exchequer, many that were found 
 to be unjuft were totally annulled ; others were compounded for with 
 the creditors, and others were got clear of by feveral expedients, fuch 
 as thofe upon the taxes, and the crown lands ; but it may be eafily 
 imagined, that there remained a very conliderable number of debts to 
 be difcharged : and here I mufl anticipate my ftory, for the fake of ob- 
 ferving that good examples are not always efficacious. After Henry's 
 death, thofe that were placed at the head of affairs, began their admi- 
 niftration by deftroying part of that oeconomy, and abolirtiing many of 
 thofe regulations, which he had ellablifhed: this condu<fl, while it wore 
 an appearance, and only an appearance of lenity and compaffion, gave 
 me reafon to apprehend, that under the new reign, the national debt 
 would be increafed rather than leffened. But to quit this fubjedl for the 
 prefent, I fliall content myfelf with barely mentioning here, as an eternal 
 monument of Henry's glory, the flourifliing condition into which the 
 wifdom of his government had already brought France ; both foreign 
 and domeftic payments were regularly made, and no hardfhip was 
 fuftained by any of his fubjedts, either from thofe payments, or the 
 expences of the current year, tho' the king ftill continued to lay out 
 very large fums in rebuilding, furnifliing, and adorning his palaces ; 
 repairing the old fortifications, and railing new ones ; erefting public 
 buildings * j re-edifying churches, hofpitals, and convents ; in funds 
 for repairing pavements, moles, and bridges; in building a great num- 
 ber of gallies upon the Mediterranean; in filling his magazines and 
 
 * Henry the Great caufed the chapel of of beauty, with the works of the Romans ; 
 
 Fontainebleau to be painted and gilt, cut but which, for want of being kept in order 
 
 avenues through the forefl:, and in many for a hundred and thirty years paft, are at 
 
 other refpects decorated this royal palace : prefent in a very indifferent ftate : that, by 
 
 he finilhed the Pontneuf, built the fquare his order, elms and other trees were planted 
 
 and ftreet Dauphin, repaired many ftreets along the fides of thefe roads, feme of 
 
 in Paris, built wharfs, &c. Befides what which are ftill growing in different places, 
 
 is faid in thefe Memoirs, fee the detail of all where they are called Rofnys : there are 
 
 thofe buildings, in the Mercure François, many ordinances made by this king on this 
 
 anno 1610, p. 4C4, Le Grain's Decade, fubjecl, and fome others, by which the con- 
 
 b. viii. Morizot. chap. 46, and others who verting arable land into paffure is forbid- 
 
 have written defcriptions, or the hiftory, of den, and vineyards are ordered to be llub- 
 
 the antiquities of Paris, &c. No one is bed up. Thefe buildings and works, and 
 
 ignorant that this great prince, through the this application to render his kingdom flou- 
 
 reprefentations of the duke of Sully, re- rifhing, contributed, perhaps, as much as his 
 
 paired the highways in almoft every quarter military exploits, to procure Henry IV. the 
 
 of the kingdom ; built many caufeways and title of Great, which was conferred on him 
 
 bridges in places before impaflable, ef- in his lifetime, and, as it appears, about the 
 
 pecially in Perry, which might vie, in point year 1602. 
 
 I i i 2 arfenals ;
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 arfenals ; redeeming the jewels of the crown, and purchafing more ; 
 and after all this, there ftill remained, at the end of the year, a con- 
 fiderable fum to depofit in the Baftile *. 
 
 But what is ftill more valuable than all thefe treafures, Henry ac- 
 quired them not only without increafing the people's paverty, but 
 even lightened the weight of their former burthen, as has been fliewn 
 in thefe Memoirs. He always regretted that the prefent fituation 
 of affairs would not permit him to carry this tendernefs for his 
 fubjeéts farther; if the enemies of his government will not confefs 
 this truth, if in their writings they have alTerted the contrary, yet it is 
 abfolutely certain, that plenty and affluence began now to be felt 
 over the whole kingdom ; the nobility and foldiery were delivered 
 from their tyrants in the revenue ; the peafant fowed and reaped in 
 full fecurity-f-j the artift enriched himfelf by his profefTion; the 
 meaneft tradefman rejoiced in his profits ; and the nobleman him- 
 felf improved his efîates. Some examples of feverity, which his 
 majefty had been obliged to make, were fo far from difturbing the 
 tranquility of the kingdom, that it was never more fully eftablifhed, 
 nor never more fmcerely enjoyed ; the licentioufnefs which had been 
 correded in the army, procured the people a real advantage, without 
 doing any prejudice to the officer and foldier, who were paid with the 
 utmoft exaélnefs, rewarded in proportion to their fervices, and efteem- 
 ed, honoured, and careiTed, as their merits and valour deferved. The 
 medals which I prefented as ufual to his majefly, had a lilly {hooting 
 out a bud on each fide, pointing to two ftars which reprefented the 
 polar flars, with thefe words, " Hi fines." It is by actions like thefe 
 that a king may afpire to the glory of having accompliflied this motto. 
 
 I SHALL not repeat here what I have faid before, concerning the let- 
 ters I received from Henry ; I had fo many this year, and on all forts 
 of fubjedts, the finances, trade, policy, that I fhall not attempt to 
 produce them : feveral of them contained orders for prefents to dif- 
 
 * The {hare the duke of Sully had in all " though he could not efcape the caFumny 
 thefe things gave him a juft claim to the " of thofe who envied him, it mufl; never- 
 following fmgular elogium in the Mercure " thelefs be allowed, that he was the Jo- 
 Francois, anno 1606, p. loi. " As he " feph both of our king and of France." 
 " executed thefe offices and employments f The afFedlion this good prince bore to 
 " in a manner more for the benefit and his people, appears from this faying of his, 
 " emolument of the crown of France than which has been preferved as a kind of tra- 
 " any of his predeceflbrs, all true French- dition, That he would make the pooreft 
 " men readily acknowledged his merit in peafant in his dominions able to eat flefh 
 " this refpedl, as well in the lifetime of all the week long, and to put a fowl in his 
 " his majefty, as fince his death : and pot befides on Sundays. 
 
 ferent
 
 Book XXI, MEMOIRS OF SULLY, 
 
 ferent perfons; thirty thoufand livres to the queen for her new-year's 
 gift ; nine thoufand livres to the countefs of Moret *; fifteen hundred 
 livres to the queen's bed-chamber women; and a like fum to be dif- 
 tributed by madame de Montglat, among the nurfes of the king's 
 children upon different occafions; four thoufand to the family of the 
 commandeur de Chartes ; twelve hundred livres to Praflin ; a like fum 
 to Merens; three thoufand livres to" the count de Saint- Aignan, to 
 indemnify him for the money he had expended on his father in-law 
 Montigny's company ; two thoufand four hundred livres to feveral 
 penfioners in Burgundy, paid them by Hedlor Le-Breton his com- 
 mifTioner in that province ; a penfion of four thoufand livres, to -j- 
 Lognac, a proteftant captain, in reward for his fervicesj forty thou- 
 fand livres, which his majelly thought a jult reftitution to Villars, 
 faying, that this family had loft above fix thoufand livres of interelf, 
 fince this fum became due to them ; five hundred livres to the duke 
 of Ventadour, who had advanced them for fmall expences, to fhow, 
 faid Henry, that no one lofes any thing by ferving me; the fieur de 
 Canify received a like reimburfement ; feventeen thoufand one hun- 
 dred and thirty-eight livres to La-Livre his apothecary : his majefly 
 had been indebted to this man ever fince the year 1592, and was 
 partly the caufe of his ruin ; for his creditors arrefled him, and threw 
 him into prifon, but the king indemnified him for all; nine thoufand 
 five hundred and forty-one livres to John Sellier, a merchant of the 
 city of Troyes, who made this demand upon his majefty for a certain 
 public building. 
 
 In this fummary of expences, I do not include the hundred and fifty 
 thoufand livres given to the count o[ Soiffons, of the edidl of Greffes, 
 
 * Jacqueline Du-Beuil. The king, to- fprightlinefs, which qualifications Henry 
 wards the end of the preceding year, had IV. greatly admired. The queen did not 
 created her countefs of Moret, fhe having appear to take the fame umbrage at this 
 revived the pailion of love in his heart, lady, or to have that averfion to her, as fhe 
 which had, in a manner, died with his mar- fhewed agair;{l themarchionefs deVerneuil. 
 chionefs : he had alfo married her to a gen- f This is not the perfon whom Henry 
 tieman called Chanvalon. In L'Etoile's III. employed to fl:ab the duke of Guife, at 
 journal there arefome anecdotes relating to the holding of the ftates at Blois. Having 
 this matter, but they are too licentious for requefted that prince to beftow a govern- 
 us to repeat, anno 1604. Mademoifelle ment on him as a recompence for the fervice 
 Du-Beuil or De Beuil, is reprefentcd in the he had done him, and his requeft being re- 
 writings of that time, as a lady who was fufed, he retired in difcontent to Guienne, 
 not on an equal footing with mademoifelle where very foon after he was piftoled by a 
 d'Entragues in point of beauty; but in re- gentleman in his neighbourhood, witli 
 compence for this defedl, her look exprefTed whom he had a quarrel. Cayet's chronol. 
 wit and penetration, her temper was ex- Noveiin. vol. I. b. i. pag. 133. 
 
 tremely gay, and her convcrfation full of 
 
 and
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXI. 
 
 and of another edidl, creating a fmail tax upon fait in favour of the 
 duke of Maïenne, nor of many other gratuities and juft payments: 
 Zamet obtained of his majefty, the two offices of receivers at Rouen 
 for two thoufand crowns each ; Henry caufed the forefl of L'Aigle to 
 be divided bylaw, between him and the conftable ; but to prevent any 
 difpute, he purchafed the other part, and fettled himfelf the time for 
 cutting down the trees ; he referred to his council, the offer that had 
 been made him of twelve hundred thoufand livres for the grant of an 
 edidl concerning the four deniers; he fent Nargonne, with his com- 
 pany, to guard the tower of Bouc, which he thought a place of great 
 importance ; but the duke of Mercceur, to whom this fortrefs belong- 
 ed, raifed fome difficulties, which determined his majefty to treat with 
 him for it, either byway of exchange, or by purchafing it. 
 
 Great part of the letters I received from this prince, turned upon 
 his buildings, thofe of his new filk manufactures -f-efpecially, which he 
 ûill carried on with the fame ardour; his green-houfe in theTuilleries, 
 was the place he fet apart for breeding the filk worms, the eggs having 
 been fent him from Spain, and he haflened the building of it for that 
 purpofe. I laid, by his order, the foundations of the new edifices 
 for his tapeflry weavers, in the horfe-market, which, requiring a 
 larger extent of ground than could be procured, without encroach- 
 ing a little upon a garden belonging to Montmagny, who oppofed it 
 flrongly, the king ordered that he fiiould be paid the fum he demand- 
 ed for his ground, reprefenting to him, however, that when the pub- 
 lic utility was in queflion, an individual ought, on fuch occafions, to 
 wave the conlideration of his own particular intereft. His majeftyfent 
 for Comans and La Planche, from other countries, and gave them the 
 care and fuperintendance of thefe manufadures : the new direiftors 
 were not long before they made complaints, and difliked their fitua- 
 tion, either becaufe they did not find the profits equal to their hopes 
 and expectations, or, that having advanced confiderable lums them- 
 felves, they faw no great probability of getting them in again. The 
 king got rid of their importunity by referring them to me, command- 
 ing me to adt in fuch a manner by them that they fhould fuffer no 
 lofs, but likewife that their gains fhould not be too confiderable. 
 
 t It appears alfo from the writings of glafs plates, and exaft imitations of pearls, 
 that time, that a manufa6liircr of Provence and many other manufaélures, which the 
 called Serran, attempted to make fluffs of celebrated M. Colbert has fmce carried to 
 the finefl: parts of the bark of mulberry- fo great perftiStion, were then fet on foot, 
 trees : that the making of glafs, looking- 
 
 The
 
 Book XXI. M E M O I R S • F S U L L Y. 43J 
 
 The attention of this prince in conciliating the good will of the 1 605. 
 neighbouring powers who might poflibly engage in his great defigns, ^— — v— — 
 appeared likewile in his letters, as well as in his whole conduiSl. Whe- 
 ther we confider his extreme folicitude to fulfil all the laws of civility, 
 and all the forms of ceremony, the obliging manner in which he 
 treated their ambaifadors and envoys, the feafonable prefents he made 
 them, or what is a benefit flill more confiderable, the care he took to 
 reconcile them amongll: themfelves, by determining their differences ; 
 and thus beginning, with refpedl to them, to exercife the office of the 
 arbitrator of Europe. His majeffy fent me a letter of compliment un- 
 fealed, which he thought himfelf obliged to write to the duchefs des 
 Deux-Ponts, commanding me to fend it to her by one of my gentle- 
 men, and with it a prefent of twelve or fifteen hundred crowns, at leaft; 
 a favour which that princefs acknowledged with great gratitude and 
 refpeft, in the letter fhe wrote to him in return. The duke of Bar 
 having confulted Henry about his defigned marriage with the princefs 
 of Mantua, which had been kept fecret a long time, this prince took 
 upon himfelf to give the duke of Mantua notice of it, and difpatched 
 immediately a courier extraordinary to that court ; tho' upon this ar- 
 ticle, he carried his ceconomy fo far, as to reproach his ambaffador at 
 Rome, for fending him couriers too frequently, and wrote to him to 
 do fo no more. The Venetian ambaffador took leave of his majeffy in 
 November, and received from my hands a very confiderable prefent: I 
 likewife gave another to his fecretary; nor did Guinterot the duke of 
 Holftein's ambaffador return lefs fatisfied to his mafter; I fhewed him 
 the arfenal, and all the king's magazines ; and that he might have a 
 token to remember them by, I gave him, by his majefly's orders, one 
 of his fineft coats of arms to prefent to his mafter. 
 
 Clement the eighth, died -{- on the third or fourth of March this 
 year. The news of his death was brought to France by a courier, 
 
 t L'Etoile, who cannot be fufpefted of " grant them paflpofts to go and come 
 
 partiality when he fpeaks well of the pope " freely to ajid from Rome, which was 
 
 and the catholics, confirms whatever M. " never done before by any pope. When 
 
 dc Sully has faid in different parts of thefe " he died, and long before his death, he 
 
 Memoirs in praifc of Clement VIII. " A " was nothing but a mafs of corruption, 
 
 " pacific pope, fays he, and a good " having totally loft the ufe both of his 
 
 " Frenchman: even the proteftants did " limbs and undcrftanding; even his hands 
 
 *' not hate him, he having always treated " being putrefied and burft, infomuch that 
 
 " them with great gentlenefs, beyond any " when any one came to kifs his feet, 
 
 " of his prcdeceflbrs, even fo far as to " which flunk as much as the reft of his 
 
 whom
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 whom my brother difpatched to the king then at Chantilly, and by 
 letters from the French cardinals whom Henry had fent to Rome the 
 year before, and who were followed by cardinal Du-Perron, the end 
 of the fame year. 
 
 There having always been a great intimacy between this cardinal 
 and myfelf, we correfponded by letters regularly, during the whole 
 time that he continued on the other fide of the Alps : he gave me no- 
 tice of his arrival at Rome, in a letter dated the 28 th of December, 1604, 
 and wrote me another the 6th of February following. If he is to be 
 believed, I had gained the friendfhip of the whole Roman confiftory, 
 who could not help praifing my condudl towards the clergy, and in 
 every thing that concerned the affairs of the church. In cardinal Bufalo 
 particularly, ever fince the treaty we had managed together, I had a 
 zealous panegyrift at Rome ; after his departure from Paris, I had 
 •written him a long letter, which he (hewed to every body, as valuing 
 himfelf upon the fentiments he knew I entertained of him : I /liall not 
 repeat here thofe praifes, too flattering to my vanity, with which this 
 letter of Du-Perron's was filled ; thofe I have mentioned were intro- 
 duced with no other defign, but to fhew (what I thank heaven for) that 
 I was never tainted with that bitter and furious zeal, which the dif- 
 ference of religion infpires. The change of mine was the fubjedl of 
 frequent converfations between the cardinals and Du-Perron, who all 
 vvifhed for it with equal ardour; cardinal Aldobrandin, often declared 
 that he never faid mafs without remembering me ; the pope exprefled 
 himfelf almofl: in the fame terms to Du-Perron, when he was con- 
 dueled to audience, by my brother: he had a long converfation with 
 him concerning me, and particularly upon the means of working 
 (what, in the language of Rome,was called) my converfion : it is indeed 
 an extraordinary thing, that a minifter cannot, from his own country- 
 men obtain the fame juftice, which foreigners, who furely have no 
 lefs reafon to hate him, are capable of rendering to the difintereflednefs 
 
 " body, they were obliged to hold up his VIII. was a good man, a good prelate, and 
 
 " hands, to enable him to give the bene- a good prince ; in oppofition to his three 
 
 " didion." Journal of the reign of Hen- predeceflbrs, Pius V. Sixtus V. and Gre- 
 
 ry IV. gory XIII. the firft of whom was faid to 
 
 Peter Matthieu fpeaks of him with the be only a good prelate, the fécond only a 
 
 hi^heft praifc, vol. II. b. iii. p. 328, and good prince, and the third a good prelate 
 
 book iii. p. 696, as all the reft of our beft and a good prince. Amelot de La Houf- 
 
 writers alio do, who find no fault with him, faye, note 3, on the 311th of cardinal 
 
 but for his being a little too much attached D'Oflat's letters, 
 to his family. It was faid of him, Clement 
 
 of
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 of his condudV, and the reditude of his intentions. Du-Perron con- 
 cluded his letter vvith telling me, that he, no lefs earneftly than the other 
 cardinals, wiflied to fee me completely united to perfons whoefteemed 
 and loved me fo much, fince I had not (thefe f.re his words) " more 
 " friends at Geneva, than at Rome." 
 
 Mv gratitude was equally engaged by the teftimony he bore in fa- 
 vour of my brother, afluring me, that he had gained fo ftrongly upon 
 the affcd:ions of the Italians, that no Frenchman had, for an hundred 
 years pad, acquired an equal reputation in Italy * : he acknowledged 
 himfelf highly obliged to my brother, for his politenefs, in coming 
 with an honourable train of the French and Roman nobility, to meet 
 him nine leagues from Rome. 
 
 The king had, in an efpecial manner, recommended it to the French 
 cardinals, to have fhriâ: attention to the intereft of the nation, in the 
 approaching eledlion of a Pope -f ; and this injundlion was again re- 
 peated to them, when he v/as informed by the arrival of another courier 
 from Rome, on the 28th of March, that, according to all appearances, 
 there would be high debates in the conclave, on account of the great 
 number of candidates, each of whom indeed was worthy the pon- 
 tificate. However, thefe difficulties were fo foon removed, that, on Fri- 
 day the I ft of April, which was two days after the arrival of this cou- 
 rier, the holy fee was filled by the cardinal de Médicis, otherwife called 
 the cardinal of Florence, who took the name of Leo the eleventh. 
 The choice falling upon a man related to the queen, and of the fame: 
 name with her, was a certain teftimony that his moft chriftian ma- 
 jefty was well ferved by the Italian nation '^. 
 
 The king, when the news came to Paris, gave public demonftra- 
 tions of his joy, which he was defirous fhould be as general as it was 
 fincere. He wrote to me not to fpare his ordnance, and to fend orders to 
 my government, and to every other part of the kingdom, to follow the 
 example I fliould fet them in Paris, Meffieurs the bifliop and governor 
 
 * This commendation feems not at all ex- f See the particulars of the two fubfe- 
 
 travagant. P. Matthieu, fpeaking of the quent conclaves in Matthieu, iliid. 698, and 
 
 fervices the count of Bethuiie did the king other hiftorians. 
 
 at Ron-.e, calls him a man of great abilities + " The making Leo XI. Pope." fays 
 
 for that court, vol. II. b. iii. p. 681. Siri Du-Pleflis-Mornay, fpightfullv, "coftthe 
 
 every where fpeaks of him in the fame man- " king 300,000 crowns." Life of M. 
 
 «er. Du-Pleflis-Moriiay, b. ii. p- 305. 
 
 ■ Vol. II. . K k k of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 of Paris, the prefident Belliévre, and the king's counfellors of parha- 
 ment, the other birtiops, and all perfons in a public chara<5ler, received 
 orders to have Te Deum fung, and fireworks played off, in every- 
 place under their juriidiiflion. It may be truly faid, that never had 
 the advancement of any perfon to the papal dignity been celebrated 
 with greater magnificence : however, this could not prolong a moment 
 the duration of Leo XI's pontificate, who lived but a few days after- 
 wards, and probably was dead at the very time when thefe honours 
 were paying him in France *. 
 
 His majefty was in fome degree comforted for the lofs of this Pope, 
 by the perfon whom the conclave chofe for his fucceffor; this was 
 Paul V. formerly cardinal Borgefe : two things concurred to his elec- 
 tion, which made it highly agreeable to his majefty, the favour the 
 French nation fhewed him by her cardinals, and his own perfonal 
 merit, which rendered him worthy of that diftincftion, and which 
 they hoped to fee rewarded by a happy pontificate. Two cardinals 
 thus fuccefllvely placed by his moft Chriftian majefty on the pa- 
 pal throne, left Europe no room to doubt of the high efteem he 
 was in with the Italians : the king was fenfible of it himfelf, and 
 the extreme fatisfaâion it gave him was fufficiently feen by the orders 
 he iftued immediately after receiving the news of the new pontiff's 
 advancement (which was on the 25th of May) to celebrate it with 
 the fame rejoicings as Leo the XI's had been, except only, that 
 no fireworks were played offj the reafon his majefty gave for this 
 omiflîon, to thofe who might poflibly be offended at it, was, that this 
 piece of refpeâ had been paid to the cardinal of Florence as an ally of 
 the royal family : as to the reft, all was performed with the fame fplen- 
 dor, and the king himfelf was prefent at the Te Deum, which he or- 
 dered to be fung at Fontainebleau. I received on this occafion three 
 letters from his majefty of the fame date, which were merely cere- 
 monial upon my different ofiices, and as a perfon in a public chara<fter ; 
 he likewife addreffed to the chancellor, Sillery, and to me, a difcourfe, 
 in which he gave a relation in form of what had juft paffed in the 
 conclave. 
 
 Paul V. did not difappoint the hopes that were conceived of 
 his pontificate : the Roman council feemed to purfue exadly the fame 
 
 * He was taken ill on the 17th of April, Pope's taking pofTeflionof his dignity, and 
 on his return from the proceflion toS. John died the 27th. 
 dc Lateran, which is made on the new 
 
 meafures
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 meafures they had done under Clement VIII. Nothing was prc- 
 fcribed to Barberini, who was fent into France in the quahty of nun- 
 cio, beyond ^^ hat had been done to cardinal Bufalo ; and hew as or- 
 dered by cardinal Aldobrandini, and by his holinefs likewife, to ad- 
 drefs himfelf only tome, in whatever affair he had to folicit. I know 
 not what cardinal Bufalo (from whom this advice certainly came) 
 could have faid to my advantage, in preference to fo many other per- 
 fons, who carried, even to fervility, their refpeft and attachment to 
 the holy fee. My brother, in a letter he wrote to me at that time, 
 told me, I could not too highly acknowledge the obligations I was 
 under to this cardinal, or repay with too much warmth of friendfhip, 
 the regard and efteem he expreffed for me. 
 
 This letter of Bethune's is dated November I2th ; for he was flill 
 at Rome, although he had depended upon returning to France im- 
 mediately after the pope's inftallation ; but fomc new orders which he 
 liad received detained him, and he did not return till feveral days after 
 the date of this letter. His holinefs fo much regretted his being re- 
 called, that he would have wrote to the king, to entreat he would con- 
 tinue him his ambalTador at Rome, if my brother had not prevented 
 him. He had entirely got rid of that appearance of timidity, referve, 
 and perhaps coolnefs, which he had fhewn at the beginning of his 
 negotiation; and as foon as he was accuflomed to the bufinefs tranf- 
 adled at the Roman court, had changed it into a wife and prudent 
 confidence, from whence he drew all the fuccefs he could hope for, 
 in thofe affairs which were intrufted to him. The pope continued to 
 pay him the higheft honours, and gave orders, that he fhould be re- 
 ceived, and treated with the moff diftinguifiiing marks of refpedl, in 
 all the cities of his dominions through which he palled. All this I 
 advance with fo much the more freedom and fecurity, although upon 
 the faith of cardinal Dn-Perron my friend, who thought himfelf oblig- 
 ed to write to me upon my brother's departure, as this cardinal gave 
 the fame account to the king, and reprefented to him that no one was 
 better qualified than Bethune, for a place in the council for foreign 
 affairs, in what regarded Italy ; as he had a full and perfedl knowledge 
 of all that related to that country *. 
 
 * Cardinal D'Oflat himfelf, though, ac- tageous terms of that amban'ador, in his 
 
 cording to all appearances, far from being letter to the king, of the loth December, 
 
 fatished with M. de Sully's behaviour in 1601. in that to M. de Villeroi, of the 
 
 regard to him, fpcaks in the mod advan- 2d December, 1602. and fomc others. 
 
 K k k 2 In
 
 436. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 1605. In this letter Dtt-Perron thanked me, for having fupported him 
 
 with his majefty, againft thofe who had endeavoured to difappoint 
 him in his expectations of the poll: of great almoner, which had lately 
 been promifed to him ; as alfo tor fome trifling fervices his brother had 
 received from me: he added an article relating to La- Fin. This man, 
 who has been mentioned in maréchal Biron's procefs, had, by an eflfe<5l 
 of his natural levity of temper, left France, and embraced the proteftant 
 religion. The king, who obferved him heedfully, as he did all who had 
 once given room for fufpicion, caufed him to be flopped in Italy, and 
 imprifoned in the tower of Nonne. La-Fin applied to cardinal Du- 
 Perron, who had formerly been his friend, to procure him the favour 
 of being carried into France and tried there, if it appeared that there 
 was any juft grounds for complaint againfl him, or if not, that he 
 fhould be fet at liberty ; and Du-Perron intreated my intereft with 
 the king, in favour of La-Fin's requeft. 
 
 The letter which, of all that I received from the other fide of the 
 Alps, deferves moft notice, is that the pope took the trouble to write 
 to me, and of which, being very long, I fhall only give the fubftance 
 here. As in appearance the pope wrote to me on the fubjed; of my 
 brother, he began with praifing, in the higheft terms, his conduél, 
 his piety, and his behaviour, full of refpedt and deference for all the 
 cardinals, and himfelf, before he was advanced to the pontificate. 
 From this his holineis pafi!ed to the regret he felt that the obfcacles I 
 raifed to my converfion, hindered him from refigning himfelf as open- 
 ly as he would otherwife have done to the friendfhip he had for me. 
 His piety and his zeal furniflied him with a thoufand motives to per- 
 fuade me to change my religion ; he afiured me, that if hs was not 
 with-held by the ftation he filled, he would, without hefitation, come 
 into France, and labour himfelf to convert me : he propofed to my 
 imitation the examples of the antientcounts of Flanders, my ancefiors, 
 particularly that of Saint- Alpin de Bethune, for whom he had been 
 told I had a great veneration : to thefe he added the examples of the 
 firfl faints, and moft illuftrious kings of France ; which naturally 
 introduced the eulogium of the prefent king, and afterwards that of 
 Clement VIII, on account of the fervices I had rendered this pope, 
 for which he thanked me with great warmth of affedlion, as well as 
 for all the good offices which the apoftolical legates and nuncios of his 
 predeceffors and his own had received from me. This brief, which 
 
 was
 
 Book XXL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 was every where filled with pathetic exhortations to change my reli- 
 gion, concluded with the mofl ardent prayers for that event. 
 
 I ANSWERED this obliging letter with all the refpeél and deference 
 it deferved, without faying any thing upon the article of my change 
 of religion : I was fatisfied with praifiiig the virtues and great quali- 
 ties of his holinefs, with alTuring him of my profound refpeifl for his 
 perfon, my readinefb to ierve him, and ardent deiire to be ufeful to 
 him : my whole letter was filled with the moft grateful acknow- 
 ledgements for the fentiments he profefied for me, and the moft 
 earneft wiflies for his profperityj and, without affedting my religion, 
 I forgot no inftance of reipeâ: due to the character of a fovereigii 
 prince, and to that in particular which a whole church gives to the 
 pope ; and therefore did not fcruple to make ufe of the exprefllon of 
 kiffing his feet ; which doubtlefs would have difpleafed my brethren 
 the proteftants. Paul V. upon his receiving this letter, faid publicly, 
 that it gave him more pleaiure than any thing which had happened 
 during his pontificate : he read it twice over fucceffively, faying each 
 time, that I had done him too much honour : he laviflied many en- 
 comiums upon the flyle and turn of exprefllon, and faid, that my 
 praifes of him had robbed him of fome of thofe he had defigned to 
 give me. He was eager to thank me by a fécond brief, if Du-Per- 
 ron himfelf had not oppofed an excefs of kindnefs, which might have 
 produced fome inconvenience to me. This cardinal was witnefs of 
 the pope's exclamations in favour of me ; for my letter being written 
 in French, he was fent for by his holinefs to interpret it. Du-Perron 
 flill continued to refide in Rome, vv'hich drew him into very confider- 
 able expences : he obferved to me, that, in the fpace of one year only, 
 he had laid out above twent}' thouland crowns, in the expences of his 
 journies, his entry, the conclave, furniture, and habits for himfelf and 
 his houflioldj all which had reduced him to fuch neceflity, that he 
 intreated me to oblige the farmers of his abbey of Lire to pay him, 
 they having refufed to make their ufual remittances, under pretence of 
 an arret of council relating to the claims he had upon certain woods. 
 
 All the reft of Italy began to entertain the fame favourable difpg|i- 
 tions for France as the holy fee, except the duke of Savoy, who was 
 ftill influenced by the Spanifli policy, as may be conceived by the new 
 intrigues, carried on this year for the duke's interell by a man named 
 Chevalier. With regard to Spain, France ftill continued upon its 
 
 former
 
 438 M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XXI. 
 
 1605. former footing with her ; they were at peace indeed, but that peace 
 <— — V— — ' clouded with difgufts, and embittered by reciprocal complaints. 
 
 The negotiations which had commenced between the Spanifh court 
 and the States of the United Provinces not fucceeding, hortilities were 
 renewed as foon as the feafon permitted them to take the field. The 
 king of Spain fent to the Swif^ Cantons, to demand a paffage through 
 their territories for the troops he fent into Flanders, that they might 
 avoid taking their route by Pont de Gréfin, which would have greatly 
 retarded their march. To obtain the grant of this requeft, he told 
 them, that his troops fliould pafs thro' their States by twenty at a time, 
 and that their number fliould not exceed two thoufand. He added, 
 however, another thoufand afterwards. The king, when he received 
 this advice from Caumartin, believing that Spinola, who was to com- 
 mand their troops, would take the fame rout, thought it would not be 
 impoffiblc for prince Maurice, at the head of a party of French fcouts, 
 to feize upon this general's perfon, " which, faid Henry, will be 
 " worth one vidory." He wrote to me to communicate this hint to 
 Aerfens, and through him to the prince of Orange; but I was inform- 
 ed almoft immediately afterwards, by a Spanifli courier, who pafled 
 thro' Paris in his way to Flanders, that Spinola had altered his rout, 
 and would arrive in Paris in three or four days : which produced fuch 
 a change of meafures, that his majefty thought himfelf obliged to ren- 
 der his paflage as fecure to him as if he had palTed thro' the French 
 territories. Spinola requefting the honour of an audience of his ma- 
 jefty, this prince believed that he had orders to make him fome new 
 propofals. This, however, was an inference not made by me; and 
 when Henry mentioned it to me, I replied, that Spinola, thinking the 
 road through Paris the fhorteft as well as the fecureft, he conceived it 
 his duty at the fame time to pay his refpedls to his majefty ; and that 
 I was perfaaded he would talk to him only of general things, though 
 perhaps he wiflied to have it otherwife believed in Flanders : accord- 
 ingly it fell out jufl as 1 had imagined. 
 
 Charles de SpiNOLA divided his army into two bodies ; he gave the command 
 
 Longueval, of one to count de Biiquay, with orders to pafs the Rhine with it 
 
 count of Jiu- betYveen Cologne and Bonne, where he afterwards threw up intrench- 
 
 ments to hinder other troops from attempting this pafs. Whatever 
 
 was the defign of the Spaniards by this work, it ought to haveroufed 
 
 the German princes from their lethargy. The other body Spinola had 
 
 ' led towards Friefland, where the allied army followed him a long time. 
 
 The
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 439 
 
 The report which was fpread in July of this general's death, was no 160-. 
 better founded than that of his being beaten, which prevailed fome 
 time afterwards. It was forefeen that he had a defign upon Linghen, 
 altho* this was a very ftrong place ; and accordingly he marched thi- 
 ther and inverted it. By means of a mole which was cut by prince 
 Maurice, Spinola was himfelf befieged in his quarters, and his trenches 
 laid under water; fo that it was believed he would be obliged to aban- 
 don his enterprize ; in which cafe it might be expeded, that the princ- 
 would befiege and carry the fort Patience. Yet, notwithllanding this, 
 Linghen furrendercd in September, which was all that was done this 
 campaign. Spinola was, on the 24th of September, ftill before the 
 place he had taken, and had carried his views no farther than to put 
 himfelf out of a condition to be attacked. The troops of both parties 
 were greatly diminiflied ; prince Maurice, on his fide, threw fuccours 
 into Covocrden and Breton, which covered and fecured Friefland. Du- 
 Terrail, in the mean time, at the head of fome fupplies fent him by 
 Spinola, attacked and furprifed Bergen-op-zoom, but he was repulfed 
 with fome lofs. 
 
 This man was a French officer, and one of the feditious cabal ; he 
 thought proper to retire to Antwerp, and offered his fervice to the 
 arch-dukes. His majefty was not fo much offended with this proce- 
 dure, although he had promifed him, in a letter he wrote exprefly for 
 that purpofe, that he would do nothing contrary to his duty, as he was 
 for his having corrupted Dunnes, the younger Nangis, and Chef-bou- 
 tonne, who it was reported were preparing to go thither with a whole 
 company. A footman belonging to Du-Terrail was arreted in Au- 
 vergne, whither he had brought fome packets, but all of little confe- 
 quence. He endeavoured to prevail upon his wife to come to him in 
 Antwerp,, by highly extolling the friendfliip and civility he received 
 there. The fame example had been fet by Saint-Denis-Mailloc, and 
 fome other gentlemen, who had offered their fervice to the arch- 
 dukes ; in which they certainly neither aded like good politicians, 
 nor dutiful fubjedls. 
 
 This was but one of the leaft caufes of complaint which Henry 
 had againfl Spain. The fupport which that crown gave to the French 
 mutineers ; the part fhc had in their meetings at Limofin and Pcrigord ; 
 the enterprizes which, in concert with them, (he meditated upon the 
 towns and coafls of Provence ; were grievances of a higher nature : 
 and, all well weighed together, his majefty was of opinion, that he 
 ought to fparc himfelf the trouble of making them ufelefs reproaches, 
 
 orr
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXI. 
 
 or of doing himfelf juftice by fuch means as would have given the 
 Spaniards reafon to reproach him in their turn : he was even more fo- 
 licitous about the ftridi obfervation of the lafl: agreements he had made 
 with them on trade, than, after fuch a conduél, they could have ex- 
 peifted. Captain Y von Baudelonis brought a Spaniili veffel into Ro- 
 chelle, which the commander alledged was Dutch, and belonged to 
 the prince of Orange : the Rochellers thought it their duty to acquaint 
 the king with it, who, in his anfwer, praifed th'eir condu(fl, quoted to 
 them the article of the treaty on that fubjeâ:, which was in exprefs 
 words, and caufed the fame fatisfaâion to be given to Spain which 
 her ambaffadors could have demanded. 
 
 The council of Madrid, flruggling between their natural haughtl- 
 nefs on one iide, and a confcioufnefs of their own weaknefs and the 
 need they had of our afTiftance on the other, knewnot in what man- 
 ner to behave to us : the fiime fpirit afbuated them in all their pro- 
 ceedings, and made them, atone time, endeavour to difunite us from 
 the States ; at another, complain vehemently, that under pacific ap- 
 pearance, with refpedt to them, we ailed as their real enemies. They 
 afterwards affedled a ftricft correfpondence with England : but none 
 of their artifices fucceedcd. The king, fecure in the fecret know- 
 ledge of his own ftrength, defpifed their threats; and myfelf in parti- 
 cular was too well acquainted with the difpofition of the king of Eng- 
 land, to believe that he would ever do more for them than he could 
 be prevailed upon to do for us. 
 
 They were, befides, upon fuch ill terms with his Britannic majefly, 
 that it was not pofllble for them long to fave thefe appearances ; for 
 as they never ftaid a confiderable time in any country,* without giving 
 proofs of that fpirit of cabal which they exercifed throughout all Europe, 
 James had noticeoffomeof their fecret praftices in hisdominions, which 
 inflamed him with rage agqinft them. Indeed there needed no lefs than 
 fuch a difcovery to recal this prince to his firft engagements with me, 
 which had fufiered fome injury during the following years, by that 
 fatal prejudice in favourof pacific meafures which I have already men- 
 tioned, or rather by a real timidity. Beaumont, whofe em.bafly was 
 at its clofe, was furprifed to find James refume this fubjevfl himfelf, and 
 talk to him in terms very difi"erent from thofe he commonly made ufe 
 of. He gave him letters for Henry and for me, and likewife a verbal 
 charge, that when he rendered an account of his negotiation to the 
 king of France, he fhould infirt particularly upon that article which 
 regarded the fucceffion to the empire, which was what he dwelt upon 
 
 moll:
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 moft in his letter to Henry : he exhorted him to join from that mo- 
 ment with him in endeavours to reftore to the eleâors, before the death 
 of the prefent Emperor, the freedom of election, with all their other 
 rights ; and effedlually to exclude the fon, brother, or moft diftant kinf- 
 man of his Imperial majefty, from a poflibility of gaining the empire, 
 by preventing any one of them from being named king of the Ro- 
 mans. And, laftly, to have it decreed, that the perfon, whoever he 
 might be, that was to' fucceed the Emperor, fhould renounce all pre- 
 tenfions to the kingdom of Bohemia. 
 
 Beaumont, when at his return to Paris he executed the commif- 
 fion given him by his Britannic majefty, told the king that he had ji 
 letter from this prince for me, which, as I was then at Châtelleraut. 
 his majefty opened. He was defirous of trying if this new policy would 
 find any favourers at court; and for that purpofe he communicated 
 this fcheme of king James with regard to the Empire to two or three 
 of his minifters, but with fome referve, and by way of confulting them 
 upon it, taking care not to give them any hint of his great defigns. 
 On this occafion Henry found no flatterers : there was not one of them 
 who did not give a proof that he was capable of oppofing a fcheme 
 which appeared to him unreafonable and unjuft. Henry ftopped 
 there, and waited for my return, to examine it more clofely with me. 
 But as this converfation turned upon many particulars, which ap- 
 peared of fuch confequence to his majefty, that he made çne fwear not 
 to difcover it to any perfon whatever, that oath obliges me now to 
 fdence *. 
 
 * I do not know whether the uncertainty 
 wherein this prince for fome time remained, 
 was not at leaft a part of this fecret : whe- 
 ther he ought not to get himfelf declared 
 emperor : he even thought it necefl'ary to 
 fubmit this dcfign to the examination of his 
 three minifters, whom he called together to 
 give their opinions on it ; as appears from 
 the 8474th vol. of the MSS. in the king's li- 
 brary, where their deliberations on this mat- 
 ter are related at large. It is remarkable, 
 that thofe three, fcarcely in any one in- 
 ftance, happened to be of the fame fenti- 
 ments : in the prefent cafe, one advifed 
 him to get himfelf eledled Emperor ; the 
 fécond dilTuaded him from it ; and the 
 third (more favourable to the houfe of Au- 
 
 ftria) would have perfuaded him to adl in 
 
 favour of the arch-duke Matthias. " The 
 
 ' king, adds the author, who had atten- 
 
 ' tively liftcned to this laft, rofe up, and 
 
 ' opening the window to let in the frefh 
 
 ' air, railed his eyes and hands towards hea- 
 
 ' ven, and faid aloud, May it pleafe God 
 
 ' to form and create in my heart the re- 
 
 ' folves I ought to take on what you have 
 
 ' faid, and men fliall execute them ; A- 
 
 ' dieu, gentlemen, I muft take a walk. 
 
 ' Thus ended this conference." Though 
 
 his project did not abfolutely clafh with his 
 
 grand defign, there is nevcrthelefs a rcafon- 
 
 able foundation for doubting whether he 
 
 actually ever formed it ; it is highly probable 
 
 the whole was only a feint, concerted be- 
 
 Vol. H. 
 
 Lll 
 
 Henry
 
 442 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXÎ. 
 
 ii^o-, Henry, when he gave-me my letter from king James, read it to 
 
 me himfelf: his Britannic majefty there informed me of the propofal 
 which he had enjoined Beaumont to make to the king, and repre- 
 fented to me the intercft I had in fupporting it, in a manner which 
 tho' general, had neverthelefs fo direct a view to the refleâiions I had 
 made to him on this fubjedt, that 1 could not doubt but he would, 
 from time to time, be more convinced of the reafonablenefs and utility 
 of that plan of policy I had fketched out to him. I fhall not repeat 
 the affiirances of friendfhip and efteem with which this letter was filled. 
 Beaumont was commiffioned to make me many more in his n-ame : 
 neither was he forgot. King jam.es beftowed fo many praifes upon his 
 perfonal merit, and his fkill in bufinefs, as raifed him highly in Henry's 
 efteem. If this prince had been ftill ignorant of the confidence his 
 Britannic majefty placed in me, his letter was fufiicient to convince 
 him of it : he indeed appeared much pleafed with it, and commanded 
 me to cultivate his friendfliip carefully j a command which I received 
 with great chearfulnefs. 
 
 We have now feen the political ftate of almoft all Europe except 
 Germany ; there are perhaps fome obfervations ftill to be made upon 
 the feveral Germanic cantons; hut that little which is neceftary to be 
 known with refpedt to our aftairs, will mix itfelf imperceptibly with 
 what I have to fay of the feditious cabal in France. This article will 
 lead us into fufiicient length, as it was the occafion.of m,y journey into 
 Poitou this year, and of his majefty's to Limofin ; which took up four 
 of the fineft months of the feafon. 
 
 The reader has doubtlefs, ere this, refledled upon the extravagance 
 of an aflbciation, compofed indifferently of Roman catholics and pro- 
 teftants; the Roman catholics, Spaniards, and the proteftants, French. 
 A party acting upon interefts fo oppofite, that nothing but continual 
 violence could conciliate them ; a body of which the duke of Bouillon 
 was the head, and Spain the foul. In this llight view it appears fo 
 fingular and monftrous, that the reader cannot apprehend any dan- 
 gerous confequences from a confederacy fo ill forted. I indeed had al- 
 ways the fame opinion of it : but as all fadlions which include repeated 
 afts of difobedience againft the fovereign cannot but be very prejudicial 
 
 tween him and the duke of Sully, to put count of Beaumont, his ambaflador at Lon- 
 his council on a wrong fcent in regard to don, according to Siri, Ibid. i66, endea- 
 the great armaments he was making : the voured to infpire him with this notion. 
 
 to
 
 :Book XXÎ. m E m O I R s O F s U L L y. 443 
 
 to the ftate, even fuppofing that they are difappointed in their principal 1 605. 
 aim, yet it mufi: be acknowledged, that good policy requires we fliould 
 make ulb of every method to hinder them from forming, or when 
 formed to ruin them : the rebels were in this cafe ; they had neither 
 prudence in their refolutions, nor much .appearance that they would 
 ever produce any worthy to be feared. However, as it was not fit to 
 fufFer fuch attempts to be made with impunity, his majefty negleéled 
 none of the informations he received, and which this year were more 
 numerous than ever. Murat, lieutenant-general of Riom, wrote to 
 me the beginning of March, that he had very lately been informed of 
 fome important particulars ; for the truth of which, although he could 
 not anfwer, yet he thought himfelf obliged to communicate them to 
 me ; and that I might be better able to Judge of them, the fame per- 
 lon from whom he received them was the bearer of his letter. 
 
 As foon as I began to examine this man, I perceived, from the firft 
 queftions I afked him, that his depofition would involve fo many per- 
 fons of the highefl quality at court, that without going any farther, 
 I judged it of conlequence enough to require that his majefty fliould 
 be prefent at his examination. The king was then at Saint-Germain ; 
 I wrote to him, and, in cyphers which he only underftood, marked the 
 names of thefe perfons. The king came to Paris immediately, to exa- 
 mine this informer himfelf, who aflured him, that all thofe perfons (and 
 he named them) held correfpondences in the chief cities on the coafls 
 of Provence and Languedoc ; all which he fpecified, namely, Toulon, 
 Marfeilles, Narbonne, Bayonne, Blaye, and fome others; that the count 
 of Auvergne was upon the point of making an attempt upon Saint-Flour 
 when he was arrefted j that all thefe fecret pradices were favoured by 
 Spain, and the money diftributed for that purpofe, furniflied by this 
 crown. According to this man, the confpirators had already received 
 feveral thoufandpilloles from the catholic king, expetled ftill more, 
 and even depended upon fome fupplies of troops ; which however, he 
 faid, would not be lent, until they had openly declared themfelves ene- 
 mies of the ftate, by the invalion of thofe places before mentioned, and 
 of many other maritime forts. 
 
 The truth of thefe accuiutions appeared very doubtful, from a cir- 
 cumftance which it is apparent did not efcape Murat ; and this was, 
 that the informer had been a domeftic of Calvairac *, în whofe houfe 
 
 * John de Sudrie, baron of Calvairac, a gentlemaH of the province of Querci. 
 
 L 1 1 2 he
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 hemight indeed haveheard fomeconverfation on thefe fubjefbs : butwhy 
 advance as certain, what had been there propofed as merely poflîble? He 
 had received fome bad ufage from his maftej, and doubtlels the délire of 
 revenge ftimulated him to this proceeding : what cannot that motive do, 
 joined to the hope of gain ? which it was well known was fo much the 
 greater, as the depofitions which were made, appeared of more confe- 
 quence to his majefty. There needed not fo many confiderations to 
 induce him to aggravate matters beyond the truth. 
 
 I CAN, with much more certainty, relate what pafled in the fy- 
 nods and other particular affemblies, which were held by the prote- 
 flants in Poitou, Saintonge, Angoumois, and the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces. In thefe affemblies, a fpirit of revolt and mutiny always pre- 
 vailed : among other very bold propofals, it paffed by a plurality of 
 voices, that his majefty's permiffion fhould be afked to call a general af- 
 fembly of the proteftants, without explaining to him the motive of this 
 requeft, or the fubjedt to be treated in the aflembly. The king, to whom 
 their petition was aâ:uallyprefented,didnot refufe to comply with it, but 
 declared (as he had a right to do) that he would prefcribe to them the 
 place, the matter, and form of this afTembly, and fend thither a per— 
 fon to reprefent himfelf : Chatelleraut was the place he appointed, 
 Pleffis-Mor'- ^'^^ myfelf the perfon who was to appear there, with a commiffion, to 
 nay, b. II. take care of his majefly's interefl:. The proteftants, thofe I mean who 
 fomented the feditions in this body, would rather, I believe, have had 
 their requeft denied, than granted upon fuch conditions; they alledged, 
 that, if I joined the title of the king's reprefentative to the quality of 
 governor of the province in which this affembly was to be held, no- 
 thing could Ihield them againft the authority I fhould not fail to arro- 
 gate to myfelf. It may be imagined that, at this time, my brethren 
 expeded lefs favour from me than the moft abhorred papift. 
 
 The method which the rebels had recourfe to, was to prefent 
 another petition to his majefty, figned by two or three hundred 
 perfons atleaft; in which they declared, that, upon more mature 
 deliberation, they found it neceftary to entreat he would defer call- 
 ing this aflembly. As foon as Henry was informed of this difpofition 
 of the proteftants, he had expedled to receive another petition, from 
 them, and, in a letter which he wrote to me from Fontainebleau, 
 dated March the 30th, he defired I would advife him what to do upon 
 this occafion : I had received the fame information as his majefty, and 
 ufed my utmoft endeavours to difcover the true ftate of things ; for 
 ^which purpofe, the journey I had taken the preceding year into Poitou 
 
 was 
 
 Life of Du-
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 445 
 
 was of great fervice to me : however, nothing appeared to me very 1605. 
 pofitive, except that three or four of the moft feditious amongfl them 
 had endeavoured to raife fome difturbance, but with fo Httle fuccefs, 
 that the fires they had kindled evaporated in fmoke. I may venture to 
 affirm, that my letters and difcourfe to the leaft prejudiced perfons in 
 the party, with my folicitude in other refpeâs, had greatly contributed 
 to reduce matters to this point. This it was, upon which the advice 
 and the anfwer the kin? demanded of me turned. 
 
 'to 
 
 It is certain at leaft that his majefty never heard more of this fécond 
 petition which had made lb much noife, and by that he was able to 
 guefs the nature of all thofe other reports : but he ftill continued to 
 receive, in the beginning of April, fomany new informations, and thofe 
 of fuch confequence, and in appearance fo well founded, that he fuf- 
 fered himfelf to be driven along with the torrent. It was reported, 
 and that even by the firft prefident of Touloufe, and many other per- 
 fons in Guienne, that the proteftants, both in that province and in 
 Languedoc, had uttered many difrefpedtful fpeeches againfl: his ma- 
 jeity : they added, that thefe people had refolved to fend a deputa- 
 tion, to prevail upon him to recal his grant for holding the affembly at 
 Chatelleraut. In another letter, dated April 7, Henry ordered me to 
 come to him the day after Eafler, to affift him in taking a refolution 
 upon thefe new letters, and to be prefent at the reception of the pro- 
 teftant deputies ; and laftly, to explain to them his intentions in fuch à 
 manner, as became his majefty toufewith fubjeds who, in fome mea- 
 fure, prefumed to give laws to their fovereign. It is certain, that altho' 
 this prince had been willing to take the trouble of doing this himfelf, 
 he was not in a condition j for, during this whole month, he was afflidl- 
 ed with frequent returns of the gout, which had obliged him to have 
 recourfe to a remedy that never failed : this was a proper regimen, 
 which he obferved with great flridlnefs during part of the month of 
 May. Of all his council, he had no one about his perfon but Sillery, 
 and him his majefty did not think fit for fuch a commiflion. 
 
 All thefe circumftances I relate from Henry's letter, which he con- 
 cluded with telling me, that he would permit me to return to Paris as 
 foon as this affair was terminated. In my anfwer, which I wrote to this 
 prince while I attended his orders for my departure, I reprefented to 
 him two things, to which, in my opinion, no reply could be made ; and 
 thefe were, that if his majertiy would not believe, what however was 
 abfolutely certain, that all thofe informations which were given him, 
 
 either
 
 446 M E M O î R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXL 
 
 1605. either with great myftery or great noife, were nothing but the niur'» 
 murs of fome perfons hired exprefsly for that purpofe in the provinces, 
 he was then much to blame to fuffer his peace to be thus difturbed, 
 when it was in his own power to reduce thefe rebels to filence. It was 
 upon thefe tranfaélions, that my enemies fuggefted thofe fufpicions of 
 me to his majefty, which produced that difguft I have given an ac- 
 count of in the former book : and it may be eallly imagined, that while 
 that difguft continued, he had no inclination to chufe me either for his 
 confidant or his agent with the proteftants. My return to favour hap- 
 pened in the manner 1 have already related : he told me, that he could 
 not give a more convincing prcot of his being perfedlly cured of all 
 his fufpicions, than by confirming me in the employment he had at 
 firft defined for me. I intreatcd this prince to fend any other perfon 
 rather than me to Châtelleraut, inverted with his authority, becaufe I 
 was apprehenfive of affording, without defigning it, fome new matter 
 for calumny : but Henry realbned in a quite different manner; he be- 
 lieved, that, after what had paffed, he owed to himfelf, to me, and to 
 my accufers, fuch an inconteftable proof of his good opinion of me, as 
 the fliewing me to the public in a port, wherein the facrifice he ex- 
 pelled I fliould make him of my neareft interefls, would fet my inno- 
 cence in the cleareft point of view, arid filence all malice and detradlion ; 
 and added gracioully, that my enemies '.hemfelves had juft put him 
 upon his guard againft their inlinuations, therefore I had nothing to 
 fear. Then, after twice embracing me, with all his ufual expreffions of 
 tendernefs, he ordered me to return to Paris, to put all afr'airs in fuch 
 order, that they might receive no prejudice from my abfence; to draw 
 up memorials of all thofe which related to my commifhon ; and to 
 compofe mylelf the inflrudions which I was to receive in writing from 
 his hand, and with the confent of his council. 
 
 The king, in the mean time, went to pafs part of June at Saint-Ger- 
 main. In the beginning of this month, a defluxion of humours fell 
 upon his foot*, which he hoped to difperfe by theexercife of hunting, 
 taking the precaution to have his boot cut open upon the part affedled : 
 while this fit lafted, he was not able to apply to any bufinefs, although. 
 
 * ' I went to the arfenal,' fays Henry 
 
 IV. ipeaking of one of his fits of the gout, 
 
 with my wife ; M. de Sully faid to me, 
 
 ' Sire, you have money and never fee it :" 
 
 which really is true enough ; for 1 am 
 
 fatisfied with knowing 1 have money, 
 
 ' of looking at it. We went together to 
 
 ' the Baflile, and he fhewed us what was 
 
 ' doing there : I afiure you, at that in- 
 
 ' ftant I was attacked by the gout, which 
 
 ' brought to my mind the proverb, Thofe 
 
 ' who have the i^out, have riches.' Mat- 
 
 without amufing myfelfwith thepleafure thieu, vol. II. b. iii. p. 613. 
 
 as
 
 Book XXI, M E M O^ I R S OF SULLY. 
 
 as he wrote meword, the prefervation of one half of his kingdom 
 ihould depend upon it. When his diforder was abated he returned 
 to Paris, where he prepared for his journey to Monceaux, after giving 
 all the necelfary orders for my departure. 
 
 I PUT down on pnpcr, all the queftions I defired to be rcfoived, 
 with regard to the feveral parts of my funâiion as reprefentative of 
 the king ; the anfwers to which were to make up the ground of the 
 inftrudions upon which I had jult agreed with his majefty. This 
 paper I fent to Villeroi and Frefne, who returned it with anfwers to 
 each queftion, adding, that if I found them fatisfadtory, I might re- 
 duce them to fuch a form as I judged proper. I was refolved to have 
 two of thefe papers, one more general, and the other in the form of 
 a particular memorial, joined to the former : thefe two papers regu- 
 lated the manner in which Lwas to fpeak and aâ: with the proteftants, 
 as I am going to {l:iew. 
 
 Upon the firft view, the occafion of the aflembly at Chatellcraut, 
 did not appear of fuch importance as it really was, either with refpedl' 
 to the king or the proteftant body, being granted for no other purpofe 
 but to examine the deputies fent by this body to his majefty, the term 
 of whofe offices was expired, and to appoint others to fucceed them, 
 an affair which did not require fo folemn an aflembly as this was likely 
 to be. But, upon a clofer examination, we fliall find, that the real 
 aim of fome of the chief heads of the proteflant party, was to take 
 advantage of this affembly, to extend their rights, and to procure the 
 grant of new favours and privileges ; a defign which his majefl:y could 
 not better return, than by feizing likewife this opportunity to recal 
 them, with more folemnity, to the obfervation of the old regulations, 
 the wifdom and utility of which were fufficiently evinced by the eiîedts 
 they had produced; and, inffead of fufïering them to be infringed, 
 to give them new force, and exadt a more ftrid: obedience to them ; 
 fo that after this, the proteftant body in France, being perfuaded of 
 the redlitude of the king's intentions, and of his firm refolution to 
 maintain his rights, mufl either refolve openly to defpife his autho- 
 rity, or return with fmcerity to their dutyj this was the principal 
 point of my commifîîon. 
 
 To attain this end, I was enjoined to fix their view principally upon 
 the edidl of pacification iffued at Nantes, as a fundamental piece, 
 which might ferve them equally for a rule to judge of their conduift 
 
 towards
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXT. 
 
 towards the king, and of his towards them. I was to fhew them, that 
 this ediâ:, which had fufFered fo many mifinterpretations, being the 
 bafis of their liberty, the proof of their fidelity to their king, of their 
 attachment to the public good, and of thofe fentiments which their 
 religion itfelf ought to infpire them with ; if they obferved it exadly, 
 they would neither fwerve on one fide or the other, any more than 
 Henry had done, who had religioufly fulfilled all the obligations it had 
 laid upon him. The free exercife of their religion, the peaceable en- 
 ioyment of their eftates and employments, the gentlenefs of the go- 
 vernment, the tranquil but folid fituation of affairs, daily confirmed 
 and ftrengthened the fecurity of thofe promifes made by the prince, 
 well known by a long train of effefts ; and laftly, by the fatisfadlory 
 anfwers he had given to every thing of importance exprefled in their 
 memorials ; all thefe were fo many pledges of faith in him, which the 
 proteftants ought to return by fuch inftances of fubmiffion and grati- 
 tude, as a good and indulgent prince has a right to exaft from his fub- 
 iefts : their own interefi: likewife made it neceifary for them to follow 
 this plan of condu(fl, fince, if they juftly confidered the true ftate of 
 things, it was they only who run any rifques by an infradion. 
 
 The inference to be drawn from all thefe confiderations, and which 
 I was ordered to reprefent to the affembly, was, that they ought to 
 appear far from having a defign of demanding that any alteration 
 fliould be made in the edid of Nantes ; fuch as that of being empow- 
 ered to chufe themfelves a head, either within or without the king- 
 dom, any other than the king himfelf, who merited that title from 
 them on many accounts. As it could not be forefeen what other de- 
 mands the proteftants would bethink themfelves of making, they left 
 it to me to chufe proper arguments either for denying, or eluding 
 them : I was only ordered to fignify to them in plain terms, that for 
 the future they muft not exped: fuch general aifemblies would be per- 
 mitted ; and that this, which his majefty had confented fliould be 
 held, to inftruâ: them altogether in their duty, and to exhort th» m to 
 fulfil it, fliould be in the place of that which they had refolved, in the 
 laft fynod of Gap, to entreat his Hiajefty to grant them. 
 
 The reafons for this ceflation of extraordinary aflemblies were fuffi- 
 ciently plain ; for they were convened, either on account of fome affairs 
 relating to the difcipline of the church, fome matters of law and po- 
 lice, or laftly for fome favour they wanted to obtain of the king : for 
 the hrft, the proteftants have their provincial fynods, which his ma- 
 
 jefty.
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 jefiy, by aboliOiing the extraordinary affcmblies, made no encroach- 
 ment upon. All he demanded with rcfpecfl to them, and certainly 
 nothing could be more juft, was, that they fhould confine their deli- 
 berations to religious affairs ; whereas, under this pretence, they often 
 treated of fuch as related merely to the civil government. If the 
 defign be to fettle fomething relating to the adminiftration of juftice 
 and the police, there is no reafon for excepting them from the gene- 
 ral rule, by which all controverted matters of thofe two kinds, are 
 referred to the tribunals of the judges, and the ordinary magiftrates ; 
 and lartly, thofe which are matters of favour, and depend merely up- 
 on the king's indulgence, are to be treated by way of petition and 
 fupplication : nothing is more ufelefs than thoi'e great expences and 
 commotions, which an extraordinary aflembly occafions, for an affair 
 in itfelf of little importance. 
 
 There was another reafon for fupprcfiîng thefe affemblies, which, 
 altho' I cannot difguife, I may foften à little, by barely faying, that 
 tiiey often gave occafion for judgments not very favourable for the pro- 
 teftant party ; for the public are willing enough to fl:iut their eyes up- 
 cn' wife and prudent determinations, tho' not to the intrigues of the 
 difaffedted, who, in thefe tumultuous affemblies, remain confounded 
 with pcrfons more equitable, but whofe proceedings are lefs taken 
 notice of. If it happened that any of thefe articles, or others of the 
 fame nature, (hould be contefled at Châtelleraut, it was left to me 
 to put an end to them in whatever manner I judged beft j and I was 
 even permitted to take thofe advantages which the profeffion of 
 one common faith afforded me, to merit their confidence and engage 
 their votes; it was only in cafes ofobftinacy and declared difobedience, 
 that I was obliged to inform his majefty, and fufpend all relblutions, 
 till I had received his orders; as like wife not to fuffer the affembly to 
 break up without his leave. 
 
 With refped to the article of the deputies, it is neceffary to inform 
 the reader, that the proteftants always kept two men of their party at 
 court, one for the ecclefiaftic order, the other for the fecular ; they 
 were to treat with his majefty's minifters, or with the prince himfelf, 
 upon all affairs neceffary to be communicated to him, and to receive 
 his orders concerning them. Thefe deputies entered upon this office 
 byeledtion, which was renewed every three years, when others fuc- 
 ceeded to their place. If we go back to the fource of this inftitution, 
 we fliall not find that the protcftants had any legal title to this pretend- 
 
 VoL. II. M m m ed
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 ed right of refidence and nomination of the deputies, which they af- 
 ferted fo ftrenuoufly ; it was not mentioned in the edicts, nor even in the 
 writings that contained thefe private articles, which were fometimes 
 feparate from the treaties : it was only a cuflom merely tolerated, and 
 firft introduced on account of the refiftance fome fovereign courts 
 made to regiftering the ediâ: of Nantes, and only to be continued till 
 that was done. However, his majefty had no inclination to deprive 
 the proteflants of this privilege : all he required, and this was one of 
 the principal points of my commiffion, was that, for the nomination of 
 thefe deputies, they fhould adhere to one of thofe two methods pre- 
 fcribcd by him to their own deputies, when they defired leave to hold 
 the aflembly, and if poihble to the fécond, by which his majefty ex- 
 pelled that the proteftants fliould prefent to him the names of fix per- 
 fons chofen from their body, out of which he {hould name two who 
 were mofl agreeable to him. 
 
 It might poffibly happen, that the heads of the party would endea- 
 vour to elude thofe regulations which his majelly propcfed to get re- 
 ceived in the alîembly, and for that purpole atFeil to confine îhem- 
 fclves to this fingle queftion ; an artifice I was likewife to prevent. As 
 to the aflFair of Orange, which it was certainly expedled would be 
 brought upon the carpet (as indeed it was) I had orders to repi-efent to 
 them, that Henry had laboured in vain to manage it fo as that this city, 
 which he could not refufe to reftore to the prince of Orange, might by 
 him be left to the French proteftants. All therefore that could be 
 done upon this occafion, was to prevail upon Maurice, that in the 
 room of Blaccons who commanded there, and who himfelf defired 
 permiffion to leave it, he v/ould place a proteftant officer as his lieute- 
 nant, whom they might oblige to take the oath of obedience to his 
 majefty. I fhall refume this affair in the fequcl. Such were my gene- 
 ral inftruftions, dated July 3d 1605, and figned Henry and Forget. 
 
 All the difference between thefe general inftrudlions, and the par- 
 ticular memorial joined to them, confided in this, that the latter 
 made no mention of the declared fubjedl of the afiembly, but was 
 confined to fome other queftions which might probably be difcuffed 
 there, and tended to prevent thofe defigns from being effeded, which 
 it was fufpedled the heads of the cabal would endeavour to get the 
 multitude's approbation of. This detail, which was not inferted in 
 the nrft writing, becaufe there was a probability of its being needlefs, 
 
 was
 
 Book XXI. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 451 
 
 was however of great ufe tome; and it was upon that account, that I 160: 
 made a feparate memorial of thefe inftruâ:ions. 
 
 They imported, that I (hould not fufFer the affembly either in their 
 debates or in writing, to advance any thing injurious to the pope, or 
 to rtir up again that trifling dodrine of Antichrift, worthy of the fy nod 
 of Gap, where it had taken birth ; that no perfon (hould have a feat 
 in the aifembly in the quahty of a deputy, from any individual what- 
 ever, not even from Lefdiguieres himielf ; that they fliould not, as 
 they had done in that fynod, receive letters from foreign princes, par- 
 ticularly from the duke of Bouillon. It feemed of importance to his 
 majefty, that an ungrateful fubjedl, fuch as Bouillon, fliould be pub- 
 licly known to have rendered himfelf unworthy of any favour from 
 his fovereign. The manner in which others, who might be ranked 
 in this clafs fliould behave in the allembly, was to regulate the treat- 
 ment they were to receive from me. 
 
 If the quality of prefiuent of the afTcmblv, which his majefty ear- 
 neflly wiflied they would confer upon me, and which, on thisocca- 
 fion, he would not have been offended with me for accepting, fliould 
 not be fufficient to give weight to what I faid to them, I was to join to 
 it the authority of governor of the province; and, as opportunities 
 offered, and thedifpofition of their minds required, I might give them 
 to underftand, that the king was not ignorant of the defigns of the fe- 
 ditious proteftants ; provided that from thence they did not conclude, 
 he was informed of the places where they were carried on. 
 
 There was fo .much the more appearance that the article of the 
 cautionary towns given to the proteftants would be difcufled, as the 
 term, to which the poffeflions of thefe places was prolonged by his 
 majefl:y, was now near expired ; and if this fliould happen, I was to 
 hint, either to the aflembly in general, or the deputies in particular, 
 that, provided his maiefly found in them that readinefs to comply 
 with his meafures as he required, he would willingly agree to a far- 
 ther prolongation. I had orders not to give them any abfolute aflur- 
 ances of this favour, but to mention it as what might be granted, and 
 to promife I would obtain it of his majefly : although I had then in 
 my polTefilon the letter of grant for that prolongation, I only obliged 
 mylelf to keep it fecret, 'till I received the king's commands to make 
 ufe of it. 
 
 As to thofe fortified towns which had been given to the duke of 
 Bouillon, and which from thence forward were to have no fliare of 
 
 M m m 2 the
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL 
 
 the funds deftined by the king for their maintainance, they were to be 
 declared for ever exckided from tliat advantage, as likewife from all 
 hope of ever being paid the fum promifed by the edift of Nantes for 
 the fupport of the garrifons. This fum, at that time, amounted to 
 five hundred feventy-three thoufand four hundred and thirty-two 
 livres, of which ninety thouland livres had been already cut off. Nor 
 were they to expecb a new appropriation for thofe funds which had 
 been affigned them. I had already received fome petitions upon thefe 
 ieveral fupprefllons ; to which I always anfwered, that I thought this 
 proceeding of his majefty abfolutely jufl:. Laftly, by this writing I 
 obliged myfelf to do nothing without Henry's advice ; with whom, 
 from that moment, I began a regular intercourfe of letters, moft of 
 them very long, and feveral in cyphers. This memorial is dated July 
 4, figned by his majefty, and counterfigned by Villeroi. Two days 
 afterwards I fet out on my journey. 
 
 Queen Margaret's refidence at the caftle of UlTon, gave her frequent 
 opportunities of hearing news of the rebels ; and as foon as (he was in- 
 formed that J was upon the road to Poitou, fhe thought herfelf oblig- 
 ed to acquaint me with all the particulars which had come to her 
 knowledge : flie had likewife fome affairs of her own to impart to me, 
 which I fliall take notice of after I have related thofe which concern- 
 ed my journey. For this purpofe fhe came from UfTon to Toury, 
 from whence ihe wrote to his majefty, telling him the motive which 
 had induced her to take this ffep, and the earneft délire flie had to 
 confer with me. I had left Paris, taking my rout through Rofny and 
 Lavinville, two hours before the meffenger who brought this letter for 
 his majefty, and another for me, arrived. The king feeing by his 
 own letter, and by mine, what this princefs defired of him, i'ent La- 
 Varenne after me on the 9th of July, to deliver me a letter from him, 
 in which he told me, that he fhould be glad if I would vifit queen 
 Margaret, although I fliould be obliged to leave the road to Chatelle- 
 raut, and go back as far as Orleans. La-Varenne gave me the letter 
 queen Margaret had wrote, dated from Toury, July 7, by which I 
 learned that this princefs waited for me between Paris and Orleans ; 
 and that I might not fail to meet her, (he fent Rodelle her mafter of 
 the horfe, to defire I would come as far as Orleans, if I did not meet 
 her before on the road : but flie fpared me the trouble of going fo far ; 
 for, upon my arrival at Cercote, I was informed that fhe was there 
 likewife. My wife having accompanied me to Rofny and Lavinville, 
 I brought her to Cercote with me, that fhe might take advantage of 
 this opportunity to pay her refpedts to this princefs 
 
 It
 
 Book XXL MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 453 
 
 It was ftill fo early in the morning when I arrived at Cercote, that 1605. 
 queen Margaret was not up; however, flie ordered nie to be admitted ^ 
 into her chamber, where I had the honour to confer with her a full 
 hour before fhe arofe. We refumed our converfation after flie was 
 drefled, and fpent the whole day in the fame manner. I fliall not re- 
 peat the polite and obliging things this princefs faid to me : but what I 
 had been told in general by Murat, concerning thecivil fadions, was mi- 
 nutely particularifed to me by her and Rodelle. They named a great 
 number of perfons of the firll: quality in Provence and Languedoc, and 
 even fomeof the relations of the duke de Montpenfier and cardinal Joy- 
 eule, who were engaged in the confpiracy : fome of thefe perfons had 
 been in the fecret of maréchal Biron's defigns, and had afterwards joined 
 themfelves to thofe whom they found determined to purfue them. 
 The revenge of this maréchal was not one of their leafl motives ; and 
 they made ufe of the fame methods he had done to excite a rebellion 
 among the people. Befides thofe towns which, as we have feen, the 
 confpirators endeavoured to furprife, they had views likewife upon Be- 
 ziers, Narbonne, and Leucate. All thefe informations queen Marga- 
 ret and Rodelle offered to fupport with evidences fo clear, as would not, 
 they faid, leave me the leafl: room to doubt of their certainty. I gave 
 his majefty an exaft account of what I had heard, in a letter I vv rote to 
 him from Cercote, dated July 14. I likewife fent him a lift of the con- 
 fpirators names, as I had received it from queen Margaret and Rodelle, 
 but I flill perfifled in my former opinion ; nor, in all they had faid to 
 me, did I find occafion to alter it. 
 
 It is certain, however, that thefe informations were too circum- 
 flantial and well fupported not to merit fome belief ; for Rodelle 
 had been himfelf of the cabal, and had left it, only through a re- 
 flexion upon the raflinefs of all their meafures. He told me, that La- 
 Chapelle-Biron, and above thirty gentlemen more of his acquaintance, 
 had taken the fam^e refolution to leave the cabal, and inform his ma- 
 jefi:y of all they knew, provided they could be fure of obtaining the 
 pardon they would implore of him : that they had applied to him to 
 take this ftep in their favour; and this he proved by the letters they had 
 written to him for that purpofe. He added, that they had violent fuf- 
 picions that my journey to Poitou concealed a fecret defign of feizing 
 them : that they had prevailed upon queen Margaret to declare their in- 
 tentions to me, and the earned defire they had to efface the remem- 
 brance of their error, by their future fidelity and fervices to hismajefty. 
 
 All
 
 454 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXI. 
 
 1605. All this was fufficiently clear, and I had no doubt of it remaining: 
 but they endeavoured in vain to perfuade me that the whole kingdom 
 was in a flame, while I faw only an inconfiderable number of rafli 
 zealots, whom it was eafy for his majefty to crurti, whenever he would 
 condefcend to treat as a ferious matter, a defign which deferved only 
 derilion and contempt. For what remained, as often as I attempted to 
 examine ftritTtly into thefe informations, in appearance of fiich weight, 
 and fupported with fuch proofs, J always found that the falle greatly 
 exceeded the true. 
 
 In this, however, Henry was of an opinion contrary to mine : he 
 thought the flighteft difturbance within his kingdom merited all his at- 
 tention, " becaufe, fiid he, the French were ever fond of novelties, 
 " and eagerly admit every change." He often complained, in his an- 
 fwers to my letters, that fome of his other minifters had as (light a no- 
 tion of the prefent evil as myfelf : he was more confirmed in his ap- 
 prehenfions, when a memorial from Vivant fell into his hands, which 
 exaftly agreed with all that had been told me by queen Margaret and 
 Rodelle. He difpatched orders immediately to Vivant, to fend him the 
 perfon from whom he received thofe informations ; and to me, to make, 
 in concert with Vivant, as foon as I arrived at Châtelleraut, theflrifteft 
 inquiries into every thing that concerned this cabal. Vivant being one 
 of the proteflant deputies to the affembly, this quality might poffibly 
 render me fufpedted by him : the king, however, had taken care to 
 obviate this difficulty, by writing to him that he might place an entire 
 confidence in me. The letter paffed through my hands, with a pre- 
 caution that Vivant fl:ioald not be named in the affair, left, by lofing 
 his credit with the proteftants, he fliould not have it in his power to 
 ferve his majefty effeftually with them. As to Rodelle, and the other 
 gentlemen before m.entioned, Henry approved of the refolution I had 
 taken with queen Margaret to fend them to him : he heard what they 
 had to fay, gave them his orders, and fent them back to perform the 
 promifes they made him, to labour there for his fervice. This prince 
 never regretted any expence which thefe emilfaries and informers put 
 him to. 
 
 Some of them had intercepted the copy of a 'letter written to the 
 duke of Bouillon, by one of his confidants, whem they fufpefted to be 
 Saint-Germain-de-Clan, and brought it to the king: this perhaps was 
 the caufe of his increafed vigilance. I fhall give an account of this 
 letter here, that the reader may be able to judge whether the inferences 
 
 that
 
 Book XXï. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 that were drawn from it at Monceaux were altogether juft. It made part 
 of the packet which Henry fent me from this place. Saint-Germain, 
 or whoever this correfpondent of Bouillon's was, by this letter endea- 
 voured principally to perfuade him, that it was neceffary he fliould fend 
 fome perfon in his name to the affembly at Chiltelleraut, vvho might 
 fupport his interefts there ; or write at leaft a letter, whicli his friends 
 might produce. The very considerable part the duke adted among 
 the proteftants, thenecelTity of proving his innocence, and the advan- 
 tage to be acquired from (liewing how much he fuffered for the com- 
 mon caufe, the general intereft of the whole party, his own credit to 
 be maintained with foreigners, the folemnity of this affembly, and the 
 example of that of Gap,vvere fo many motives which in the beginning 
 of this letter were urged with the utmoft earneftnefs to move him. 
 
 The refl: was a confufed mafs of conjeclures, inferences, and pre- 
 cautions, on the fubjedl of this affembly ; all intended to prove, that 
 the proteftant church had nothing to hope or expe(fl but from his ef- 
 forts alone. The author of this letter fuppofes, that Henry had totally 
 forgot all his former promifes; and that he openly facrificed the pro- 
 teftants to their moft cruel enemies : as proofs of which, he alledged 
 the connexion between the king's council and that of Rome, the im- 
 menfe fums which he faid were expended to make a pope, the re- 
 joicings for his elefcion, and the favour the Jefuits enjoyed, fuffici- 
 ently fliewn by the demolition of the pyramid. He afterwards conli- 
 dered what, in the prefent circumftances, might be the refult of the 
 affembly; and prefaged nothing but misfortunes, as well on account 
 of the timidity of the party, as the artifices the king would make ufe 
 of to obtain his ends. 
 
 Here I began to appear upon the fcene, and it may be eafiiy 
 gueffed what fort of figure I made. According to the author of this 
 letter, I had propofals to make, which could not fail of removing all 
 difficulties } among others, that of prolonging the time for the pof- 
 feffion of the cautionary towns. Saint-Germain hoped contrary to 
 his firft hopes, or rather, to reaffure Bouillon, depended upon my ar- 
 tifices with refpecfl to the choice of the deputies all failing, and rea- 
 foning his own way upon the ffruggles he fuppofed I fiiould have in 
 my mind between my confcience, which could not yield to adopt the 
 policy of the council, and my ambition, which would not fuffer me 
 to make the pope and the papifls my enemies, he fometimes faw no 
 probability that I would take upon myfelf a commiffion which I could 
 
 not
 
 M E M -G 1RS OF SULLY. Book XXI 
 
 not execute to the king's fatisfadtion, without betraying my religion; 
 nor ferve my religion,, without expofmg myfelf to unavoidable diigrace. 
 He likewife faw nothing but obftacles and difficulties in fuch a rom- 
 miffion, which I fliould never be able to furmount. As he did not 
 know that his majefty, befides leaving the general places of fecurity to 
 the proteflants, would confent alfo that the individuals of that body 
 fhould keep thofe they were at prefent in pofleffion of; and believing 
 that this circumftance alone was fufficient to alienate their afi'edlions, 
 he triumphed in my perplexity and confufion : he alledged, that the 
 king had faid, the perfon whom he fhould fend in his name to the 
 aflembly, would have nothing to do but to declare his will there. 
 Upon thefe words, he affirmed boldly, that rather than go to any place 
 in my government where the people would not pay me the honours 
 I thought due to me, nor even allow me to be prefent at their confulta- 
 tions, I would find reafons to get myfelf difpenfed with from taking 
 that journey; or at the worft, if I fhould go, Saint-Germain engaged 
 to the duke of Bouillon, that all my authority ffiould not hinder the 
 aflembly from giving his letter a refpeâful reading, or his deputy an 
 honourable reception. 
 
 The misfortune was, that the weaknefs of this duke's partizans was 
 a point fo generally known, that, notwithllanding all this ihew of 
 confidence, and oftentation of power, his friend was obliged to con- 
 fefs, that the coldnefs of the provinces, and the negleét of the party, 
 with refped; to him, was very great. And having thus fpared the 
 duke's confufion by thefe foftened expreflions, he approved of the 
 caution which Bouillon had been the firft to advife fhould be ufed 
 when he was mentioned, which was, not to make any demand for 
 him in his name, which was the leaft liable to oppofition ; but confine 
 themfelves to remonftrances from the proteftant body in general, upon 
 the depriving him of his places, refufing himjuftice, his banifhment, 
 and the perlecution he was expofed to on account of his zeal for his 
 religion. He confidered what danger might be apprehended from a 
 letter written in this form to the afiembly, and finding none, although 
 they fhould even pay no regard to it, and, fuppofing the worft, facri- 
 fice it to the king ; he exhorted the duke of Bouillon to write fuch 
 a one, giving it as his opinion, that it fhould not be made public at firfl ; 
 but, being read on a fudden to the afi^embly, derive fome advantage 
 from thofe firft emotions of compaffion which it was likely to excite. 
 He added, that the party would look upon it as a ftroke of great con- 
 fequence for the duke, if the letter, inftead of being prefented to the 
 
 afiembly
 
 Book XXT. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 affembly by one fingle perfon, (hould be brought thither by the depu- 
 ties from the upper and lower Guienne, where his fortrefles were 
 fituated ; or that they fliould appear to have undertaken the commii- 
 fion of themfeh'es, or, what was flill better, by the orders of their pro- 
 vincials. 
 
 This was the letter which made fo much noife at court. To the 
 packet his majefty fent me, Sillery thought proper to add a letter from 
 himfelf upon this fubjedl alone. Sillery was the perfon whom Henry 
 kept near him, and who was then employed, as well in reconciling 
 the prince of Conti and the count of Soiflbns, at that time at variance 
 with each other, as in the affair of Orangé, which, according to the 
 advices his majefty received from Lefdiguieres and others, was taking 
 an unfavourable turn. When I read the copy of this letter to the 
 duke of Bouillon, I was convinced that the court would take a falfe 
 alarm at it. I faw nothing in the contents which did not confirm me 
 in my opinion that the feditious party was very inconfiderable, care- 
 lefs, unfieady, delHtute of all refources, and far from any intention to 
 undertake any enterprife of importance ; and that Bouillon, who had 
 more experience than the refl, would not engage in fuch extravagant 
 fchemes as were propofed to him one after the other, fchemes with- 
 out order or connexion, and leading to no fixed end, fmce there was 
 nothing but confufion to be expeded from them. In a word, amidll: 
 that falfe courage which is infpired by great prefumption, and not- 
 withftanding that affectation of fine policy, I thought I could plainly 
 perceive difunion among the members of this body, and defpair in its 
 leader. I therefore perfifted in my former opinion, and declared my 
 fentiments freely in the anfwer I fent to Monceaux j although pro- 
 bably, by doing fo, I rendered my Sincerity a little doubtful ; but I 
 comforted myfelf by the refledlion that thole fufpicions would lafl at 
 moft, but till the difcovery of this myftery, which would be effeâed 
 by the affembly at Chatelleraut. 
 
 As for the other affertions in this letter, I can affure the reader, 
 that I never felt thofe ffruggles and perturbations of mind, which the 
 writer of it, and many other perfons, attributed to me upon the choice 
 I was to make, between ferving my prince, and my religion ; fince 
 in reality, in this affair, I faw no foundation for making fuch an alter- 
 native. A common prejudice prevails among allfedts of religion j a man 
 is never fuppofed to be a fincere profeffor of the one he has embraced, 
 iinlefs he fupports it obftinately, even in fuch points where it is moil 
 
 Vol. II. Nnn vifibly
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXI- 
 
 vifibly wrong. Upon this footing, I confefs, the method I was deter- 
 mined to purfue might, by the author of that letter, and thofe who 
 judged Hke him, draw upon me the epithets of falfe brother, deferter, 
 and if they pleafe, traitor : however, it was not the approbation of fuch 
 as thofe that I propofed to obtain, but of perfons who, of whatever 
 party or religion they were, would, in their judgment of my condudl, 
 preferve the ballance of equity and difintereftednefs. If ever religion 
 admits of the affiftance of policy, it ought to be of a policy pure, 
 fimple, and upright as itfelf; any other may indeed appear to ferve it, 
 but does not in reality, and fooner or later never fails to ruin it. 
 
 Having determined to be guided by no other principle in my tranf- 
 aftions with the alfembly, I thought I could not too carefully avoid 
 all appearances of afFed:ation or difguife in my conduâ ; that thofe 
 who were influenced by an imprudent zeal, or aduated by a fpirit of 
 cabal, might have no hopes of gaining or feducingmci therefore, from 
 the beginning, I fliewed myfelf folicitous to fupport, on thisoccafion, 
 that charaifler by which all France was to know how I would ad: on 
 every other j that is, of a man as fmcerely attached to the true prin- 
 ciples of the proteftant religion, as incapable of drawing the falfe con- 
 fequences which many of the proteftants did, or of approving their 
 irregular proceedings. The fpeeeh I made at the opening of the af- 
 fembly, which lafted half an hour, was wholly calculated to produce 
 this effed, without troubling myfelf to confider whether it would give 
 pleafure or offence to the greatefl number. 
 
 I BEGAN by reprefenting to them, that, among fo many perfons 
 blindly devoted to the will of the prince, his majefty would not have 
 fixed upon a perfon to treat with them whofe undiaken conflancy to 
 his religion was fo well known, if he was more folicitous to fupport 
 or increafe his rights, than to perfuade their judgments and gain their 
 hearts : that this reafon was fufficient to make them place an abfolute 
 confidence in all that I rtiould fay or do, fince I certainly had not waited 
 for this moment bafely to betray my religion. But I declared to them, 
 at the fame time, that they muft exped to fee me as zealous for the 
 intereft of my prince, when it did not injure what I owed to my re- 
 ligion and the general good, fmce it was incumbent upon me to juftify, 
 to his majefty himfelf, the choice he had made of me ; and to fup- 
 port, in the view of the whole kingdom, the reputation of a prudent 
 and upright minifter; which I flattered myfelf I now enjoyed. I in- 
 vited them to {hare this honour with me^ obferving, that here honour 
 
 and
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 and good policy were the fame. This point indeed I found mofl: diffi- 
 culty to perfua'de them of; and when they heard me aflert, that their 
 cautionary cities had no fence but their own good inclinations, they, 
 inftead of taking my words literally, looked upon them as a paradox, 
 or a figure in oratory. 
 
 Nothing, however, was more certain: and to fhew the proteflants, 
 that the firfl: foundation of their policy was falfe, I entered upon the 
 difcuffion of this principal point ; that is, the keeping of their tov/ns, 
 in which they fancied their greatell ftrength confided, and concerning 
 which, as I was informed, they were incited to make very earnefl and 
 very bold reprefentations to his majefty. I fliewed them, that the great 
 number of little paltry places which they held under this title, was fo 
 far from being advantageous to them, that they would haften their ru- 
 in, if ever they had an attempt made upon them by a king of France, 
 the prefent king efpecially, to whom many of their officers were at- 
 tached ; becaufe that not having any fortrefs fo mean, or governor fo 
 inconfiderable, who would not pretend to the honour of making fome 
 refinance, it muft neceffarily happen, that their tolerable cities, which 
 were about ten or twelve in number, muft fuffer greatly from this 
 ufelefs difperfion of their foldiers and ammunition, and from time to 
 time fall into the hands of their enemies ; I did not even except Lef- 
 diguieres*, their Achilles, provided that he waited for this extremity, 
 to feparate himfelf from them : in reality, without judging too rafhly 
 of this officer, it might be confidently afferted, that the only religion 
 capable of fixing him, was that which could fecure him in the pof- 
 fcffion of his riches, and the authority he had always exercifed 
 throughout his province. Some other proofs of his being but flightly 
 attached to the dodlrine of the proteftant church, might be produced. 
 I am obliged to difcover in this manner the real principles of Lefdi- 
 
 * The Calvinift writers have treated the " he did not a<^iially become a catholic, 
 conftable de Lefdiguieres in the lame man- " he muft not expect to be conftable, tho' 
 ner we fee them treat all thofe who abjure " that office had been promifed him. Bul- 
 their religion. Le Vafibr is the moft cruel, " Ion, who had long been a ftaunch Hu- 
 and the duke of Sully one of the mofl: mo- " guenot, going to the maréchal, afked 
 derate of his enemies ; he is not,- the on- " him aloud, Sir, do you believe the tran- 
 ly cne v/ho believed that his defire to be " fubftantiation ? 1 do, anfwered the 
 made conftable, was a fmall inducement " maréchal, who had gucfTcd at the mean- 
 to his converfion. " After the death of " ing of the queftion. Since vou aflurc 
 " the conflable, de Luynes, fays Amelot " me of that, fays Bulion, I inform you 
 " de La-HoufiTaye, Lewis XI1Î. !cnt the " that you will be made co;i({abIe." Art. 
 ♦' fieur Claude de Eullon to the maréchal Bonne, &c. 
 " Je Lefdiguieres, to acquaint him, tliat if 
 
 N n n 2 guicres.
 
 46o MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XXT. 
 
 1605. guleres, becaufe it was one part of my commiffion, to (hew that the 
 moil fecret dilpofitions of the party were not unknown. 
 
 The conduâ: of Du-PIefils was very different, but ftill more to be 
 pitied : this man, in whom an ardent zeal for his party held the place 
 of experience and military virtue, had taken it into his head to fortify 
 his caftle of Saumur, and did it in fuch a manner, that to defend it 
 would require a garrifon of eight thoufand men, with ammunition in 
 proportion. I defired to know where Du-Plefîis would procure all this, 
 fliould he be attacked unexpectedly ; and added, that what I faid to 
 them was not by way of information, fince I was not ignorant that 
 they were condemned to know this truth, by the refult of the delibera- 
 tions in their provinces, as well as by their own lofTes ; but only ta 
 {hew them, that the king's council reafonedjuftly upon their fituation: 
 and that if, notwithflanding this knowledge, they were left in peace, 
 that confideration ought to increafe their gratitude and afFedion for the 
 prince their benefaétor. 
 
 T THEN proceeded to acquaint the deputies with his majefly's inten- 
 tions, in a manner that would admit of no doubt or equivocation :- 
 that they were for the future not to receive in their fynods, or even 
 in their houfes, any deputies or letters from foreign princes, cities,, 
 communities, or French lords ; namely, mefiieurs de Rohan, de Bou- 
 illon, de Lefdiguieres, de La-Force, de Châtillon, and Du-Pleffis, be- 
 caufe the king would not fuffer any afïiùrs of importance to be treated" 
 of in his kingdom, without his participation : that upon no pretence or 
 reafoa whatever, they were ever more permitted to hold an afTembly 
 like thofe they had formerly held ; but if they had any requeft to make 
 to his majefty, they were to apply to the deputies, who were allowed 
 to flay at court for this purpofe, and that it fhould be expreffed in the 
 cahier of their province. I declared to them, that if they pretended, 
 in this afl'embly, to take refolutions contrary to thefe orders, beiides 
 the other inconveniences to which they would expofe themfelves, they 
 muft expedl to fee me make ufe of all the power annexed to my com- 
 miffion, and all the authority granted to a governor in his province, to 
 bring them back to their duty. This was the fubftance of my fpeech 
 to the aiTembly ; leaving it to them to fettle at leifure the affairs of the 
 deputies, and the cautionary towns. 
 
 This fpeech, and particularly the declaration with which I concluded 
 it, gave great offence to many deputies of the affembly ; it occafioned 
 
 feveral
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 fcveral warm difputes in their private confultations, and four or five 
 deputations to me : thofe vvhofe intereft it was that the affembly fliould 
 not proceed to more effential affairs, defired no better than to wafte 
 the time in this kind of preliminary queftions, and protradlcd them 
 on purpofe. But with a httle induftry, and ibme addrefs, I put an 
 end to this ufelefs prelude. The king highly refented their not chu- 
 fing me prefident of the affembly ; though afterwards, altering his 
 opinion on that head, he had advifed me not to accept of it : he 
 thought that, upon feveral confiderations, I merited this honour from 
 them ; and faid publicly with great refentment, that on this occafion 
 the proteftants had given an equal proof of their dilregard to the pub- 
 lic good, as jealoufy of me,- but it is certain, that I was the firfl:, and 
 even the only one, who made any objeftion to it *, and this for rea- 
 fons which I wrote his majefty word I would tell him myfelf, and 
 with which he would be fatisfied. 
 
 * The author of Du-PleflTs-Mornay's he could, to get Himfelf chofen prefident, 
 life, on the contrary, maintains, that the but that he had only two votes for him. . 
 duke of Sully endeavoured, by all the means Book ii. p. 309. 
 
 MEMOIRS
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK XXIL 
 
 1605. fTI"^ H E general a/Tembly of the proteflants at Châtelleraut was 
 " '•f-'^ H already opened, when the king received a letter from the duke 
 -*■ of Bouillon, which was brought by a man named Rully. In 
 this letter Bouillon acquainted his majefty, that a league was aâually 
 forming among the German princes againft the houfe of Auftria ; and 
 that thefe princes, being defirousof ftrengthening themfelves with the 
 power and affiflance of his majefly, had fixed upon him to be a me- 
 diator between the king and them. On their part, he promifed a full 
 fecurity to the king and kingdom ; and on his own, he offered, with 
 an effufion of the noblefl fentiments, to affift this defign with his per- 
 fon and forces, expreffing great joy at his having found an opportunity 
 fo often hinted at by Montluet, when, in writing to him by the king's 
 orders, he told him, that it was by real and effedlual fervices, and not 
 by words only, that for the future he could perfuade thisprince of the 
 purity of his intentions. 
 
 Henry, at the receipt of this letter, was neither much moved in 
 favour of the duke of Bouillon, nor greatly pleafed with the pretended 
 fcheme : far from accepting an offer in appearance fo favourable to his 
 
 defigns.
 
 Book XXI. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 defigns, he was apprehenfive of railing an unfurmountable obftacle to 
 the execution of them by too great precipitation ; befides, the fnare 
 which Bouillon laid for him, was too thinly difguifed to produce the 
 effeâ it was defigned for. Nothing could be more improbable, than 
 that the German princes fhould chufe Bouillon to a6l the part of a me- 
 diator and reconciler, he who was himfelf confidered by the council of 
 France as a criminal. Henry therefore contented himfelf with telling 
 Rufly, in anfwer to this letter, that the duke's informations were too in- 
 determinate, and came too late. Bouillon would certainly have expeâed 
 very httle fuccefs from this artifice, if he had known that a letter, 
 which he had written to the proteftants afTembled- at Châtelleraut, 
 fell at the fame time into his majefty's hands. This letter was a kind 
 of anfwer to that which, as we have obferved, had been lately fent to 
 Bouillon by Saint-Germain-de-CIan, and it was well known was de- 
 figned for him; though, in one part of it, he mentions Saint-Germain 
 as a third perfon. By the contents, it was plain, that the letter he 
 wrote his maiefty from Germany, was done with no other view but to 
 induce the king to treat him more favourably in the affembly, and to 
 hinder him from fufpedling the true motives of his conduit. 
 
 The duke of Bouillon, in his letter to Saint-Germain, did not lofe 
 fight of his quality of chief of the party, iince it was written with an 
 intention to regulate the proceedings of the affembly. The nomina- 
 tion of the deputies was the article firil and principally confidered in it: 
 he gave his opinion of each of thofe perfons who might pretend to this 
 office, fuch as La-Nouë, Du-Pleffis, Bellujon, and Saint-Germain 
 himfelf, in whofe favour he gave his vote for continuing him in his 
 employment, from which he was now difcharged, and interefted him- 
 felf fo much in it as to exhort the proteftants to unite their endeavours 
 to make the eleâion fall upon him : he beftowed great praifes upon 
 La-Nouë, but recommended it to them to give the preference to Saint- 
 Germain, the office which the firft cxercifed at Geneva fo ufefully 
 for the party, affording a plaufible pretence for excluding him froin 
 the deputation, without which it was probable he might be offended. 
 He fpoke of Du-Pleffis, as of a man too obftinately attached to his 
 own opinions, and able likewife to make himfelf be liftened to and 
 refpedted by Lefdiguieres ; which to the duke feemed fo important a 
 point, that he confidered the want of that power in Bellujon almoft as 
 a crime. Bellujon, he allowed, had underftanding, prudence and ad- 
 drefs, and, next to Saint -Germain, had the beft claim to the deputa- 
 tion. The perfed: agreement between thofe two might indeed pro- 
 duce
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. BookXXIL 
 
 duce miracles ; but Bellujon's attachment to Lefdiguieres was, in the 
 opinion of Bouillon, a ftain in his charadter which could not be ef- 
 faced : he would have done better to have owned freely, that he was 
 jealous of the reputation Lefdiguieres had acquired in the party. An- 
 other fault which Bouillon attributed, equally and without exception, 
 to all the candidates for the office of deputy, was that attention they 
 difcovered to their own intereft, which however he confidered as no 
 objedion, becaufe of its being fo general. 
 
 Bouillon next proceeded to fpeak. of himfelf j and here vanity dic- 
 tated every word. He informed Saint-Germain, that it was reported 
 in Germany, the king was defirous of being reconciled to him, and 
 that Parabere or Montluet would be foon fent to him for that pur- 
 pofe ; and, to remove all fufpicions of the truth of this affertion, he 
 lent him a letter which he faid Montluet had written to him, in which 
 he defired him to apply to fome perfons who might be able to effecft a 
 reconciliation between Henry and him. From all this Bouillon drew 
 a thoufand confequences, upon the confideration they had for him in 
 Germany, the great advantages which the proteftant party received 
 from him, and the fears with which he infpired the king and his 
 council : he was not willing to leave his brethren ïti doubt, that he 
 would not hear all the proportions his majefly made to him, through 
 an apprehenfion that they were only fnares which were laid for him, 
 to deprive him of the authority he had acquired among the people. 
 He lightly pafled over the article offending fome perfon in his name 
 to the aflembly, and fpoke of it as a thing fubjeét to difficulties ; and 
 upon which it was neceifary to confult Lefdiguieres, Du-Pleffis, and 
 Saint-Germain. 
 
 But he dwelt with a peculiar fatisfadion upon the folemn affemblies 
 which were held at his houfe, compofed of all the mofi: dillinguiffied 
 perfons in Germany, alTerting that the proteftant religion muft necef- 
 farily receive the highefl: benefit from them. By the refentment he 
 here difcovered againft Lefdiguieres, it was judged that the latter had 
 declared his fentiments of thefe fo much boailed affemblies a little too 
 freely ; but the duke of Bouillon, to give a juft idea of their extreme 
 utility, aflured his party, that the fole apprehenfion of what might be 
 refolved upon there was fufficient to difturb Henry's repofe, and make 
 him ufe every method to gain him. He added, that he had been of- 
 ten reproached by the perfons who compofed thcfe affemblies, with not 
 having made the court of France fufficiently fenfibleof the advantages 
 
 he
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 he poffefled, and had received offers from them to take this trouble 
 upon themfelves ; but that he had oppofed this effeâ: of their zeal, by 
 reprefenting to them (with wonderful modefty) that the jealoufy which 
 Henry entertained of him being the true caufe of the difference between 
 them, their interceffion would have no other confequence but to aug- 
 ment that jealoufy, and prejudice themfelves, without ferving him. The 
 only method by which Henry could be brought to reafon (which he 
 infmuated was the opinion of this whole affembly of friends, as well 
 as his own) was to reduce him, through fear of what he might un- 
 dertake, to a neceffity of granting them all they defired. 
 
 All the notice this very fingular letter deferved (if it be granted 
 that it deferved any) was to make ufe of it to prevent fome demands 
 which it was probable might be made in the affembly ; for, as to the 
 reft, whom could Bouillon exped: to impofe upon by his arrogant 
 boafts ? There is no neceffity for feeking any other proof than what 
 thefe ridiculous rodomantados afford, that the feditious party had 
 made no preparations, either within or without the kingdom, for a 
 revolt ; that they did not yet underftand each others fchemes, or had 
 come to any explanation concerning their common and general in- 
 tereft. With regard to this new pretended league in favour of the 
 proteftants ; there was good reafon for thinking of it as Lefdiguieres 
 did : in one word, that it was the mere invention of Bouillon. Cau- 
 martin never mentioned it in his letters to the king, although he had 
 a conference with the landgrave of Heffe concerning every thing that 
 related to the duke of Bouillon ; and all the landgrave defired to know 
 of him was, if the king had really employed Monluet in the expreffes 
 his majefty had fent to Sedan. The reafon which induced the land- 
 grave of Heffe to afk this queftion, was a report which had been fpread 
 in Germany, that his moft chriftian maiefty was endeavouring to get 
 poffcffion of Sedan by furprife, and to abolifli the reformed religion 
 there. It was plain that this report was raifed by Bouillon himfelf, 
 who, taking occafion from that to gratify his hatred of the king, in- 
 fmuated at the fame time, that his city was fo ftong, Henry could 
 have no hopes of taking it but by a ftratagem : this was, indeed, 
 to poffefs the art of uniting together prefumption, malice, and fallhood. 
 All the duke of Bouillon's talents might be reduced to a great fertility 
 of invention, and confummate dexterity in fpreading reports difadvan- 
 tageous to his enemies. Of the fame kind was that which prevailed 
 concerning the refolution taken by the Sw.iffes affembled at Baden, 
 contrary to the interefts of France, and proceeded from the fame per- 
 fon : it occafioned, for a ihort time, fome apprehcnfions in the king- 
 VoL. II. O oo dom,
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIF. 
 
 dom, as the bufmefs mentioned in the former year, in which the 
 leagues of the Grifons were employed, ftill remained uofiniflied ; but 
 when it was found that Caumartin, who would not have failed to 
 have informed the king of it immediately if it had been true, was 
 wholly filent concerning it, there was fufficient room to believe, that 
 it was only ah invention of thofe whofe intereft it was, that affairs 
 Ihould not go well in thofe cantons. 
 
 to^ 
 
 I COULD have wifhed, that his majefly had fliewn the fame con- 
 tempt for the informations of thofe mercenary fpies, whofe numbers 
 began to increafe to fuch a degree, that they became chargeable to the 
 government ; and I freely own, that I regretted thofe large fums which 
 were disburfed, to pay this kind of fervice, which on account of the 
 intereft: thofe from whom it was received were governed by, either 
 with regard to themfelves, to augment the garrifons of a city, or to 
 procure a confiderable gratuity, was greatly fufpedled by me. A cer- 
 tain man gave information of an affembly which was to be held at 
 Puy-laurens in the Upper Languedoc ; he gave in a memorial of 
 what paiTed there, and likewife alTured us, that he himfelf had been 
 prefent. Another officer or foldier of Quercy prevailed upon Vivant 
 to fend him to the king, becaufe he faid he had been folicited by a 
 In Perio^ord. friend of his at Sarlat to feize Domme ; and declared the names of 
 thofe who had fpoken to them both upon this fubjedt : this determin- 
 ed Henry to fend Themmes thither to feize the perfons accufed. AH 
 thefe informations were afterwards found to be either falle, or ex- 
 ceffively exaggerated. It was not my opinion that all precaution fhould 
 be neglected ; on the contrary, I was the firft to advice the king to 
 fend fome trufty perfons to refide in Perigord and Quercy. The king, 
 to whom I was not accuftomed to fpeak in this manner, conceived 
 great appreheniîons from it, and I was obliged to afTure him that I 
 had received no bad news from either of thefe provinces. 
 
 But the method I would have preferred to all thefe little enquiries, 
 as being both the fhortefl and moil fecure, was to give, from time to 
 time, and as occafions offered, examples of fevere punifhment, fuch as 
 the arret againfl the two Luqiiifîes, Provincial gentlemen. It was re- 
 folved at the arfenal, that, before I went away, an attempt fhould be 
 made to feize them ; for which purpofe, the king made ufe of Ran- 
 chin, phyfician to the conflable, who amufed thefe mutineers fo art- 
 fully, that the chevalier Montmorency feized nine or ten of the fadion 
 altogether, with their two leaders, and confined them in the prifoa 
 of Aiguefmortes : they were fo indifcreet, that, amidfl the confufion 
 
 caufed
 
 Bx)OK XXir. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 caufed by their firfl: furprize, they confefled themfelves guilty of car- 
 rying on criminal correfpondences with Spain. Henry, fully refolved 
 to punirti them, fent the chevalier de Montmorency and Ranchin, at 
 their return from this expedition, to Chantilly, to tell the conflable 
 that he muft come the next day and prepare matters for their trials. 
 It was this plot which made his majefty renew his defign of taking 
 a journey this year towards Provence. The report of an armament 
 of galleys being fitted out by the Spaniards at Naples, was a fécond 
 ind^jcement. However, I faw no greater reafon for taking umbrage 
 at this armament now than before, the Spaniards making almoft 
 the fune preparations every year, on account of their trade to the 
 Levant. 
 
 The king was likewife informed, that fome of the leading men in 
 the aflembly, fought only to prolong the time in ufelefs debates, to 
 the end that I might quit it through wearinefs, or that affairs of 
 another kind might fuffer by my abfence : and to efFedt this, had re- 
 folved to make ufe of feveral pretences, fuch as fending the deputies 
 diredly to the king to propofe their demands, or to bear their gene- 
 ral thanks, as if the afiembly was looked upon as ufelefs. Henry 
 ordered Parabere, who was going to his government, to confer with 
 me concerning this report, relying wholly upon my diligence to dif- 
 patch the bufinefs of the aflembly with fpeed, but at the fame time 
 completely. For which purpofe, I refolved to take meafures, fo 
 much the more likely to fucceed, as they flattered the vanity of the 
 deputies. His majeity alfo commanded Parabere to aflift; me in my 
 endeavours to difcover the authors of thefe intrigues, but he would 
 not venture to trufl him with the fecrets of moft confequence ; and 
 even when he fent him to me to a(5l in concert upon a certain memo- 
 rial, he thought it neceflary to lend me this memorial by another 
 hand, that I might have time to examine it, and take fuch meafures 
 as I thought proper, before the arrival of Parabere. Henry did not 
 S.&. in this manner through an apprehenflon of his failing in his duty, 
 but Parabere had one fault, which is only fo with refpeâ to politics, 
 he could never believe ill of any one ; and another, which is generally 
 joined to the former, a readinefs to contrail friendfliips with all forts 
 of men, whether ill or well aflxdled to the government: he was 
 never moved with any thing that was faid concerning the French fac- 
 tion ; and as often as the king mentioned the duke of Bouillon in his 
 prefence, he never failed to juftify his innocence, and attributed all 
 the crimes that were alledged againil: him to the malice of his ene- 
 mies. It was this prepoflfeflîon that made his majefl:y, though he 
 
 O o o 2 dif-
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. BookXXIL 
 
 difcovered all his difpleafure againft the duke to Parabere, affign his- 
 former praftices againft him as the caule, without giving any hint to 
 him of the more recent proofs he had of his difobedience ; it was my 
 part alfo, to regulate my conduifl with Parabere upon this knowledge. 
 
 But fetting afide all that was reported to the king, let us fee what 
 really pafled in the affembly. The firft meetings were as tumultuous 
 and dilbrderly as I had expedled they would be : the difaftedled party 
 afliduoufly applied themfelves to imbitter the minds of others, and 
 prepare them for fedition, becaufe they thought it would be more 
 difficult to inflame them afterwards, if they fuftered the aflembly to 
 take a peaceable turn. They therefore had recourfe to their accuf- 
 tomed arts, and induftriouily confirmed the falfe reports they had 
 raifed, that the king was going to abolifh their privileges, cancel their 
 fynods, to take advantage of the prefent affembly, to declare all the 
 penlions he was accuftomed to give to the minifters of the proteftant 
 religion ftruck off from the accounts of his revenues. Henry, when 
 he complained of the averfion of the proteftants for him, and for thofe 
 whom he employed in affairs of ftate, ufed fometimes to fay, that they 
 deferved to be deprived of their penfions, offices, and governments. 
 Thefe words were reported to the affembly, as proceeding from a fixed. 
 refolution, and were conftrued into a pofitive declaration. 
 
 As I was not ignorant from what fource thofe envenomed allesfa- 
 tions proceeded, after having reprefented the falfhood of them, I re- 
 folutely oppofed their making any demands in this affembly, in the 
 name, or on the part of Bouillon, Lefdiguieres, and Du-Pleffis ; nor 
 would I fuffer any perfon to fpeak there, but thofe that had a claim 
 to that privilege, by their quality of deputies from the provinces. I 
 caufed it to be privately intimated to Du-Pleffis, that I left it to his 
 choice, either to flay voluntarily from the affembly at Châtelleraut, or 
 to come there as a mere fpedtator, and as a private man. This morti- 
 fied him extremely; but he took the firft part, either that, defpairing 
 of fuccefs, he was willing to avoid the blame of any relblutions taken, 
 in his abfence, although contrary to all his fchemes, or that he pro- 
 mifed himfclf fome refource, or perhaps vengeance, by procuring an 
 infurrecSlion in the affembly in his favour. In effedt, he fo fixed the 
 deputies from Dauphiny in his intereft, that they cried out, nothing 
 could be done without him. But I took my meafures fo well, that 
 I made the prefence of Du-Pleffis as unneceffary as that of Bouillon. 
 From him I expedted nolefs than fuch an inflance of refentment; but 
 
 that
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 that Lefdiguieres fliould debafe himfelf fo far, as to adl, by his emif- 
 faries, the part of a clamourer, in favour of a man fo juftly in difgrace 
 with his majefty ; he who lately had received a diftlnguilliing favour 
 for Créquy, his fon-in-law ; this was an inftance of meannefs and in- 
 gratitude that I could with difficulty pardon in him. On all thefe 
 occafions I faw the utility of having taken proper fleps, long before 
 the meeting of the aflemhly, to fecure to myfelf the beft part of the 
 votes. 
 
 In proportion as I faw my party increafe in ftrength, I exerted my 
 authority ; I cut fliort all trifling and fubtil queftions ; I infifted upon 
 their proceeding to bufinefs, and, above all things, to look upon every 
 thing which related to the royal authority as facred: the violation of 
 that was what Henry mod apprehended, and indeed his fears were not 
 wholly groundlefs. It will be an eternal ftain upon the reputations of 
 Bouillon, Du-Pleflls, D'Aubigné, Confiant, Saint-Germain, and fome 
 others, more efpecially Lefdiguieres, that they fet their hands to a 
 paper, the certainty of which has been but too well proved, wherein 
 they lay the foundation of a Calvinifl republic, free and abiblutely in- 
 dependent of the fovereign, in the heart of France. Thefe terms, in- 
 deed, are not ufed in the writing, they feem to have induftrioufly avoid- 
 ed them ; but terms are of no confequence where the thing is plainly 
 meant : and I ask thofe very perfons, what was to be underflood by 
 the eftablilhment of a body, the leaders of which were as clofely con- 
 nedted with each other, as feparated from every one elfe, and from the 
 provincial councils, to which the fupreme general council gives laws ? 
 What was meant by the affiftance they there endeavoured to procure 
 from foreign powers, the obligation they impofed upon all governors 
 and men in public offices, to take certain oaths which were prefcribed 
 to them .'' and, laftly, by their excluding the Roman catholics, and of- 
 ficers particularly attached to the king, from, any port, dignity, or em- 
 ployment in the new party ? Du-Pleffis, vA-\o had apparently fonie 
 reaibn to be apprehenfive of my declaring to his majefty the part he 
 had in this writing, thought it neceflary, when the refult of the af- 
 fembly rendered the fcheme ineffedlual, not to incur the danger of be- 
 ing filent upon it j therefore, when he fent an apology to the king for 
 not being prefent at the aflembly, he added a formal difavowal of 
 every thing contained in that paper. 
 
 This fcheme was among the number of thofe whofe execution it 
 is neceiTary to hinder v/ith as much caution as poffible ; I was willing 
 
 therefore
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIL 
 
 therefore, to know whether a great part of the proteftant body were 
 made acquainted with it, and continued to adhere to it : I mentioned 
 it to the deputies, but in general terms, under the title of an alTociation, 
 and complained of referve and diftrufl:, which, however, I made them 
 fenfible was not wholly free from blame. Their anfwer was, that if 
 Henry could live for ever, the proteftants, fatisfied with his word, 
 would, from that moment renounce all precaution, refign their cautio- 
 nary towns, refufe all offers of affiftance from foreigners, and confider 
 all particular regulations for the prefervation of their community as 
 ufelefs; but that their fears of finding very different fentiments in his 
 fucceffors, obliged them to take meafures for their own fecurity. This 
 bold confeffion gave me more pleafure than an artful anfwer would 
 have done; for if the affembly had been concerned in the projedl:, 
 they would not have confined themfelves to anfwer only the literal 
 meaning of my words, but, flruck with the fecret reproach contain- 
 ed in them, would have endeavoured to juftify themfelves by repeated 
 proteftations, and an abfolute denial. 
 
 I WAS convinced therefore, that hitherto the contagion of feditious 
 difcourfe and wicked examples had fpread no farther than thofe fix or 
 feven perfons whom I have named : but it was not fo eafy to make 
 Henry believe it, or to remove his apprehenfions that the evil would 
 foon become general -, he fuffered himfelf to be greatly affecfted with 
 that blind facility with which the populace received every impreflîon, 
 given them by thofe whom they looked upon as their leaders and de- 
 fenders, and the fatal confequence which might enfue from it, if, un- 
 fortunately for France, he lliould die while the Daupliin was yet a 
 child : he fometimes told me, that, on this occafion, my particular 
 interefl: was fi:rongly conned:ed with that of the public, as being one 
 of the chief officers of the crown, and appointed lieutenant to the 
 company of his fécond fon, if God fliould give him one, as it foon 
 after happened. But all things confidered, what could Bouillon wan- 
 dering and defpifed, Du-Pleflis with his pen. Confiant andD'Aubigné 
 with their tongues, be capable of doing againfi: an authority fo folidly 
 fixed, as that which Henry was at prefent in a condition to leave to 
 his fon ? The uncertainty of the royal fucceflion had always been in 
 my opinion, almofl the only danger he had to fear. 
 
 I MENTIONED this affair to the deputies of the affembly as opportu- 
 nities offered, without poflponing the principal one which I had brought 
 firfl; upon the carpet, which was, the nomination of the particular depu- 
 ties.
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ties. The proteftants claimed a right to nominate thefe deputies theni- 
 lelves, alledging that his majefty was not concerned in it : but I con- 
 vinced them of their miftake, by reprefenting to them, that his ma- 
 jefty, as king, ought to have the principal part in an affiiir which had fo 
 neceflary an influence upon order and tranquillity, and was fo clofcly 
 connedled with the civil government, that upon the charadler of the de- 
 puties who were chofen, depended in great meafure, the good or bad 
 intelligence between the two religions; and this I fupported-by an ex- 
 ample drawn from the thing itfelf, which was. the artful and difinge- 
 nuous conduâ: of fome of thofe who had formerly exercifed this- em- 
 ployment. 
 
 To decide this combat of different opinions, I propofed that the af- 
 fembly fhould determine upon a certain number of perfons proper for 
 this office, among whom the king fliould chufe two he beft approved 
 of; and, notwithflanding the repugnance I perceived they had IHU to 
 this expedient, I did not defpair of having it complied with, as I had 
 very confiderable gratuities to difpofe of to thofe who ailed conformable 
 to his majelty's intentions. But here Henry himfelf raifed an obftacle, 
 without attending to it : he had judged, by the unanimous oppofition 
 the afTembly made to this point, that I fhould never be able to carry it, 
 therefore he wrote to me to confent that the two deputies fliould be 
 propofed, and chofen in concert by him and the proteftants, a conceiîîon 
 which only increafed the obftinacy of the affembly : for whether his 
 majefty declared publicly the contents of his letters, or that thofe to 
 whom he confided them did not keep his fecret, all the intentions of 
 this prince were as foon and as perfedlly known in the affembly, as in 
 the council itfelf. Villeroi fent me notice of it, but I knew it before ; 
 for this caufe I infifted that Sillery and he fhould always write to me 
 with their own hands; a precaution which lobferved myfelf, and was 
 fometimes fo much fatigued by it, that I was obliged to refer them both 
 to the letters I wrote to his majefty, which they took care afterwards to 
 burn. However, I carried my point in the affembly; fix perfons were 
 to be propofed to his majefty, from among whom he was to chufe the 
 two deputies : and I likewife managed it fo as that in thefe fix there 
 fliould not be one who had given any public marks of difobedience or 
 mutiny. Henry looked npon this fuccefs as one of the moft impor- 
 tant fervices he could have received from me. 
 
 Some of the deputies requeued, that a third deputy fliould becreated, 
 and this deputy to be always one of the proteflant miniftcrs. It was 
 faid that Berault ufed his utmoft endeavours to obtain this office, and 
 
 intended
 
 In Armag- 
 nac. 
 
 472 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XXIL 
 
 1605. intended to come to the aflembly for that purpofe, though he was not 
 V- — , — -t one of the provincial deputies : he had alfo, it was confidently aflerted, 
 many fchemes to accomplirti, efpecially in favour of the duke of Bou- 
 illon : and he was the perfon who prevailed upon the affembly at Mau- 
 vefin, to write to the duke, to alTure him that the proteflant party in 
 France had ftill, in all their proceedings, an eye to his perfon and in- 
 tereft. However, Berault, bold as he was, durft not fliew himfelf 
 upon this occafion, and the propofal was abfolutely rejeâed ; as was 
 likewife another, which three or four perfons ventured to offer that 
 the proteftant party fliould chufe deputies themfelves, which were not 
 to refide near the king, but in lome parts of the chief provinces in the 
 kingdom, and correfpond immediately with the deputies-general at 
 court. If this fcheme had taken place, there would have been a ne- 
 ceffity for redoubling our attention to the conduft of thefe fubordinate 
 deputies. 
 
 His majefty never made any objedion to the quality of the de- 
 puties, provided they had the reputation of being men of probity 
 and lovers of peace ; and upon this, he carefully avoided every 
 thing that had the appearance of conftraint, as was evident when it was 
 debated whether governors of fortreffes might be appointed deputies; 
 the king yielded to the arguments urged by the aflembly for the ne- 
 gative : and alfo on the fubjed: of La-Nouë and Du-Coudrai, whom 
 the proteftants would not have placed in the lift, alledging the abfence 
 of the firft, and the employment of the fécond; however, they all after- 
 wards agreed upon La-Nouë. As for me, I gave my vote for excluding 
 Saint-Germain, notwithftanding the extreme defire they fliewed tohave 
 him continued with Belluion as his coadjutor. The king neither ap- 
 proved of the latter, nor even of Coudrai ; but being willing to fliew 
 Ibme refpedl for Lefdiguieres, he was enclined to chufe the deputy 
 from the province of Dauphine. Des-Bordes and Marabat were aifo 
 propofed ; his majefty had a long time wiftied to do fomething for 
 Marabat, although I affured him he was one of Bouillon's creatures; but 
 he altered his intention, when Marabat, by imprudently fending his two 
 children to the duke of Bouillon, left him no room to doubt of the truth 
 of my aflertions ; and this alone was fufiicient to exclude him from 
 the deputation. Of all that were propofed for this office, there was not 
 one who fo much merited to have all the votes in his favour, as an advo- 
 cate of Caftres, named La De\éfe : but the reputation he had juftly ac- 
 quired of virtue and impartiality, was alone fufficient to render him ob- 
 noxious to his brethren j he gained nothing but the honour of having 
 
 merited
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 merited the confidence of his king, who wrote him a letter which I de- 
 livered to him with the utnioft fecrefy, left it fliould entirely ruin him 
 in the opinions of the proteftants. When I became better acquainted 
 with him, I looked upon him as a man, whofe knowledge and abilities 
 might be of great ufe to me. The remainder of July was fpent in 
 propofing, chufing, rejeding, or approving the different candidates. 
 
 The choice of the deputies continued to be debated with the fame 
 heat, during the firft part of the following month. The afîembly re- 
 newed their felicitations in favour of Saint-Germain and feveral others, 
 to whom Henry would have even preferred Marabat ; but as a detail 
 of thefe difputcs is not fufficiently interefting to deferve any longer time 
 (hould be taken up with it, I fhall conclude it at once, by faying, that 
 La-Nouë having promifed his majefty by Roquelaure and me, that he 
 would break with the duke of Bouillon, and recal his children from 
 Sedan, the king chofe him from among the three perfons propofed 
 for the nobility, and Du Cros from thofe for the gown, who had Lef- 
 diguieres to folicit for him. This choice, which was very agreeable to 
 Henry, and highly praifed by his minifters themfelves, was made very 
 feafonably to ftop the mouths of fome flanderers, who reported that the 
 king, after receiving a letter from me, appeared fo greatly enraged, 
 that it was evident his defign did not fucceed well under my manage- 
 ment. One trifling letter ferved them for a pretence to propagate this 
 ftory. In my anfwer to Villeroi, who fent me a copy of it, I told 
 liim that there were no perfons who gave fo little credit to this re- 
 port as thofe who fpread it. 
 
 As to the fuccefs of this affair, the glory of which was attributed 
 entirely to me, without afFeding a mifplaced modefty, I fliall freely 
 own that I accomplifhed my defigns, by convincing the greateft part of 
 the proteftant body, that they might fafely rely upon Henry's inten- 
 tions and fentiments with refpedlto them, for the prefervation of their 
 perfons and interefts ; and that thofe few examples of feverity, or ra- 
 ther juflice, which they complained of, were greatly difproportionate 
 to the injuries he had received from them. I would not have it ima- 
 gined, that by fpeaking in this manner, I gave the proteftants the leaft 
 hint of thofe favourable defigns for the party, with which the mind of 
 Henry was then employed : to ferve a prince at the expence of his fe- 
 cret was to betray him. I was even particularly cautious upon this ar- 
 ticle with his majeily's minifters j and I don't know that I ever men- 
 tioned it in any of thofe letters I wrote to Henry himfelf, except one, in 
 
 V^oL. II. P P P which
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY'. Book XXIL 
 
 which I made feme reflexions upon the embafly to England, that 
 were neceffary to the fubjeft I wrote upon : however, I earneftly in- 
 treated him to burn this letter, left the fame accident fliould happen- 
 to it as he knew had done to others. 
 
 What his majefty had moft reafon to complain of in the affair of 
 the deputies, was, that his intention of appointing them himfelf, in the 
 manner we have juft feen, being fignified to the aflembly, feven pro- 
 teltant provinces met together, and fent to confult Du-PlelTis upon this 
 refolution, a fault which Henry with good reafon attributed to Con- 
 fiant and D'Aubigné. The laft inffance which was made by the pro- 
 teftants on this fubjeâ: was, that the duration of the deputies fervice 
 with his majefty fliould be regulated by them, and be exprelfed in the 
 brevet of eledion by the king, or at leall in the a6t of nomination : had 
 this been granted, there would have been a neceflîty for renewing this 
 ceremony every year, and for calling an affembly for that purpofe. 
 Thefe very motives induced the king to refufe it, for which I had al ' 
 ready prepared them. At length they received the brevet in the form 
 it was in, but not without returning many times to the charge. 
 
 The affair of the cautionary towns came next under confideration : 
 although the term of eight years, expreffed in the brevet of Auguft 
 i^ç8, given in confequence of the edid of Nantes, wanted yet a year 
 of being expired, yet it was neceffary to bring it upon the carpet this 
 year, if we would avoid giving the proteftant party a pretence for hold- 
 ing an affembly the next. It is certain, however, that it would not have 
 been propofed at Chatelleraut, on any other terms than to have this 
 matter left entirely to the king, without requiring a promife for three 
 or four years or a new brevet from his majefty, but that the aflembly 
 fhould be informed in the fame way I have juft mentioned, not only that 
 they might expedl every reafonable indulgence from Henry, but aîfo that 
 I had aéiuallyat that time in my poffeflion, a brevet from his majefly for 
 three years, and another for four : and it was upon this account, that 
 the king found himfelf obliged to grant them a prolongation for four 
 years. It may be alledged, that a year more or lefs was a very 
 inconfiderable matter ; and indeed Henry had no other view in 
 laying a ftrefs upon it, than to accuftom them not to obtain what- 
 ever they fliould take it into their heads to demand, and to be con- 
 tented with thole favours he voluntarily granted them : as for what 
 remained, there was nothing more certain than what I had faid to 
 them in the beginning of my fpcech to the affembly with regard to 
 
 thofe
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 475 
 
 thofe forts. Henry permitted me to inform the deputies, that it was 1605. 
 at my foUcitation he granted them this favour. < ^- ^ j 
 
 The twoqueftionsofthegreateft importance beingdecided, the aflem- 
 bly might be looked on as at an end; but, as there were alterations to be 
 tnade in the brevets, of which I was the bearer, his majefty would alfo 
 have an article added, by which he declared, that the firft eight years 
 were to commence from the day on which the edi(fl of Nantes was re- 
 giftered in the parliament. Some time therefore was taken up in com- 
 pofing thefe two brevets, and fending them to Châtelleraut. 
 
 During this time, the affair of Orange made noife enough to afford 
 à fubjedl for public difcourfe. In order to reftore this place to the prince 
 of Orange, its lawful maflier it was necelTary to withdraw Blaccons, Hedor de la 
 who held it for the proteftants ; and here the king made ufe of Lefdi- Forêt de 
 guieres, but fo unfeafonably, that I believe all the difHculties which ^'^«^^ons. 
 were found in the management of this affair, owed their rife to this 
 choice ; any one but Lefdiguieres, whom Blaccons had reafon to think 
 his mortal enemy, might have eafily effedled it. Blaccons, who had 
 long expedled orders to leave Orange, wrote to me, that nothing could 
 prevail upon him to negleâ: obeying his majefty's commands immedi- 
 ately, but the mortification and difgrace of being obliged to yield his 
 pofi: to a man who would make that ceremony an occalion of triumph 
 over him. In my anfwer to this officer, I thought I was entitled to 
 give him hopes that his majefly would alleviate the bitternefs of this 
 order : and I flattered myfelf, that if I had been at court, the af- 
 fair would have been terminated otherwife ; but Henry did not Vv^rite 
 to me concerning it, till he had fent Bullion and Bellujon with his com- 
 mands to Lefdiguieres, which he informed me of in his letter, and de- 
 fired I would fend the necelTary orders for carrying cannon to Orange. 
 I fufpecfted what had happened when I received this letter, and inflantly 
 acquainted the king with what I knew of Blaccons' fentiments. I ad- 
 vifed, I even entreated him, to fend only an exempt of his guards to 
 Orange upon this occafion, without letting up Lefdiguieres againft the 
 man he hated. 
 
 My advice came too late; Lefdiguieres, making ufe of the power 
 the king had given him, liftened to nothing but his hatred of Blaccons, 
 and in an imperious manner fignified his m ajefty's orders to the gover- 
 nor and inhabitants, adding of himfelf, that if he did not obey them, 
 he would give the king notice of it immediately. In the mean time 
 
 P p p 2 he
 
 476 MEMOIRSOFSULLY. Book XXII. 
 
 1605. he wrote to his majefty, on the 24th of July, that he need not be un- 
 
 <- 1/——' der any apprehenfions, becaufe he knew how to reduce the governor 
 
 of Orange without railing any commotions in the province. May it 
 not be faid, that Lefdiguieres was afraid he fhould not find refinance 
 enough ? Blaccons, who did not expedl fuch an infult, inftantly dif- 
 patched two couriers, one after another, to the king, to aflure him, 
 that he was ready to refign the place to any perfon his majefty thought 
 proper, even although he were a catholic. His views, by taking this 
 ftep were to prevail upon the king to alter his refolution of fending 
 Lefdiguieres, by the advice of thofe whofe intereft with his majefty he 
 relied upon, and to fufpend Lefdiguieres's march, who he did not doubt 
 would be with him as foon as poffible. Blaccons had more enemies at 
 court than friends; they thought this procedure (hewed a (irong dif- 
 pofition to rebellion, and they infpired Henry with the fame opinion» 
 which was certainly not very kind and difinterefted on their fide. 
 
 The king, however, notwithflanding all the violent counfels that 
 were fuggefted to him, would not proceed fuddenly to extremities with 
 Blaccons : he anfwered him by fending an exempt of his guards to him, 
 who was a proteilant, and three or four archers of the guard, who fig- 
 nified to him, that, till further orders, it was his majefty's pleafure he 
 fliould put the place as a depofit into the hands of the exempt, and 
 come himfelf to court, where he might depend upon receiving from 
 his majefty the mod honourable treatment, and all the fatisfadlion he 
 could defire. Henry at the fame time ordered Bullion to tell Lefdi- 
 guieres, that if Blaccons fubmitted to this laft order, he was to ftay 
 peaceably at Grenoble, and not to have recourfe to force, but in cafe 
 the governor fliould refufe to obey : for which purpofe, he fent him 
 commifTions to raife ten companies, confifting of one hundred men 
 each ; to make ufe likewife of five companies of Du-Bourg's regiment, 
 and to increafe them from fixty to two hundred men, and cannon in 
 proportion. All thefe preparations were made in confequence of the 
 courtiers perfuading his majefty, that Blaccons would not fubmit to his 
 propofal. Lefdiguieres, who had already fent the king word^ that the 
 cannon of his province of Dauphiny had no carriages, defired fome 
 might be fent to him ; or rather, becaufe that would take up too much 
 time, that he fhould be furnifhed with cannon from the arfenal of 
 Lyons, which might be eafily fent down the Rhone. It was appa- 
 rent, that he had no inclination to disfurnifli his own fortrefles. Ac- 
 cordingly the king wrote to me to fend orders to the lieutenant-general 
 of the artillery of Lyonnois and Dauphiny, conformable to the de- 
 mands
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 477 
 
 mands. of Lefdiguieres. It mud be confefTed that the king, in his 
 tranfaflions with the proteftants, took fuch meafures as might make 
 it appear to them, that he was wholly guided by juftice and modera- 
 tion. But I could not approve of thefe extraordinary preparations, 
 nor this needlefs expence ; therefore, though I paid all the refped I 
 ought to do to the orders his majefty gave me, yet I thought it my 
 duty to oppofe the délires of Lefdiguieres, efpecially in what related to 
 the cannon of Lyons, which feemed to be much better in that city 
 than in any one of Dauphiny. 
 
 It appears ftrange to me, that Henry (hould- be fo long without 
 perceiving that Lefdiguieres only fought to be authorifed in purfuing, 
 with the utmoft rigour, a man whom he hated with inveteracy. He did 
 many things of his own authority, as foon as he thought he had fome 
 appearance of juftice on his fide ; fo that the ftate of affairs was quite al- 
 tered before his majefty's couriers arrived. He was already at the head 
 of a body of troops, within two leagues of Orange, from whence he 
 haughtily fummoned Blaccons to receive him into the city. Bullion, 
 when he returned from Dauphiny, endeavoured to jurtify Lefdiguieres 
 for taking this precipitate ftep (to call it no worfe) faying, that he did 
 it with an intention to begin immediately to make proper regulations 
 in the caftle, to diltand part of the garrifon, and fend away fome fol- 
 diers levied by the officers of the prince of Orange. It was not indeed 
 furprifing, that Lefdiguieres fliould thus exceed his commiffion. Blac- 
 cons no longer viewing him in any other light, than as an enemy who 
 profecuted his own particular quarrel with him, gave him fuch an an- 
 fwer as obliged him to retire in fome diforder to Montelimart. Lefdi- 
 guieres, fired with refentment at the difgrace this retreat brought up- 
 on him, obferved no regard to truth in the letters he wrote to his ma- 
 jefty to inform him of all that had pafled, but accufed Blaccons of 
 every thing his rage could fuggeft. Blaccons likewife fent a courier to 
 his majefty, with complaints againft Lefdiguieres; he accufed him 
 with having for a long time fought to make himfelf mafter of Orange, 
 by means of a correfpondence he carried on with a miniftcr n.imed 
 Maurice. The friends of Lefdiguieres retorted this crime upon Blac- 
 cons, which they faid they could prove by a letter he had written to 
 his brother-in-law, at the very time that he -was making proteftations 
 of obedience to the king; and that while he fent a polite meffage to 
 Lefdiguieres, alluring him he was ready to receive him into the city, 
 he was forming refohitions diredtly contrary I would not anfvver for 
 the truth of either of thefe accufations. 
 
 How-
 
 478 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXIÎ. 
 
 However that may be, the affembly of Châtelleraut was diiTolved, 
 while this difpute retarded the conclufion of the affair of Orange, the 
 arrival of the two brevets, which his majefly had ordered Frefne to 
 fend me, gave great fatisfacftion to the aflembiy ; they were dated Au- 
 gufl; the 4th, 1605. It appeared there, that the king granted them to 
 the proteftants as a favour which ought to confirm' them in the refpecft 
 and fidelity they owed him. When I delivered them to the aflembiy, 
 I declared that it was his majefiy's pleafure they fliould break up, 
 after firft hearing from me the king's laft intentions, that the people 
 might be no longer kept in fufpenfe in the provinces, where I was fen- 
 fible the difi'erent reports concerning the refultof the aflembiy, gaveocca- 
 fion for commotions equal to thofe when two parties are ready to come 
 to blows. I enjoined the deputies, when they returned to their provin- 
 ces, to give afincere and candid reprefentation of the manner in which 
 the kinir and his minifliers had afted and treated with them ; and care- 
 fully to avoid that arrogant behaviour, and that propenfity to flan- 
 der, which they had fliewn in the aflembiy of Gap. I made a reca- 
 pitulation of all the king's orders and demands, and jufl:ified each. I 
 prevented their compofing, before they feparated, a new memorial of 
 demands; and, in the king's name, exprefly forbad them to call any 
 general aflembiy without permiflîon : I told them, that his majefty 
 would never refufe them that favour when the occaflon required it ; 
 but I made them fenflble, at the fame time, that they mufl: not ex- 
 pea them to be fo frequent for the future as they had been. 1 forgot 
 not to add, that Henry did not thereby intend to prejudice in any man- 
 ner their right of holding their ordinary conferences and fynods, con- 
 fined merely to afi^airs of religion ; and concluded with repeating my 
 prohibition to them, to hold any correfpondence with perfons fufpefted 
 by his majefty. I was entirely fatisfied with the inclinations I perceiv- 
 ed in them ; and was not deceived in my conjedure, that the afl'em- 
 bly would propofe to fend a deputation to his majefty, to thank him 
 for the indulgence he had fliewn them, and to aflure him of their in- 
 violable refpeft. They were defirous of firft knowing, whether this 
 ftep would be agreeable to his majefty; and the anfwer they received 
 being fuch as they had hoped for, the deputies appointed for that 
 purpofe fet out for Paris to execute their commiflion. 
 
 I LEFT Châtelleraut the fame day that the aflembiy broke up, the 
 king having ordered Sillery to acquaint me that I might do fo ; and 
 often exprefl'ed his wiflies for my return, and how neceflary my pre- 
 
 fencc
 
 Book XXIL M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 479 
 
 fence was to him in the affairs of his council. This prince would write 1605. 
 to me once more, tho' it was only to praife and thank me for the fer- 
 vice which he faid I had done him. But however folicitous he ap- 
 peared for my return, yet he gave me permiffion to vilit my eflate of 
 Berry, which I did not then tlaink proper to do, becaufe I would not 
 accumulate more bufinefs than I was able to difpatch. Such was the 
 ilfue of the alfembly, which had engroflcd the attention of the whole 
 kingdom. When I frriâly examined my own fentiments concerning it, 
 I found, that the defpairinto which my proceedings there had thrown 
 fome of my brethren, did not interrupt the joy I felt for my fuccefs ; 
 becaufe I was convinced, that I had more effeftuallv ferved my rcli- 
 gion and them by moderate and peaceable meafures, than they could 
 have done by their blind and impetuous zeal. Du-PlefTis might pof- 
 fibly have felt the force of thefe reafonings in the letter I wrote to 
 him; though my principal view by writing was to fliew him his er- 
 rors. He juftified himfelf in a very ftudied letter, which he likewife 
 fent to the king, along with mine, to fliew that he had not left one of 
 the heads of my accufation unanfwered and uneffaced. 
 
 I WENT immediately to give an account of my condudl to the king. 
 His majefty when he left Monceaux, where he had fome flight fits of 
 the gout, had returned to Paris the latter end of July, and from thence 
 went to Saint-Germain to pafs the beginning of Auguft; he was there 
 afflicted with a defluxion which fell upon his cheek and teeth, but 
 was cured immediately by having his gums lanced : this indifpofition 
 obliged him to drink the waters and obferve an exaâ: regimen, which 
 was his moft effedual remedy. I found him at Fontainebleau, whither 
 lie had come from Saint-Germain ; he embraced me twice with great 
 tendernefs, and permitted my fecretaries and all my retinue to pay their 
 refpedts to him ; and after once more folding me in his, arms, he led 
 me into the long gallery of the garden of pines, where we had acon- 
 verfation which lafted two hours. 
 
 His majefly began it by informing me of all the interelling news he 
 had received from foreign countries, and afterwards of every thing that 
 had paffed during my abfence, either in the council, in the aftairs of the 
 finances, or in the court, where his domeftic quarrels, which were re- 
 fumed with more violence than ever, made him often wifli, he faid, 
 that I had been with him. He queftioned me, in my turn, upon feve- 
 ral particulars of my journey, efpecially concerning the difpofitions 
 the proteltan* churches and fome of the heads of the party whom he 
 
 named
 
 480 M E M I R s O F s U L L Y. Book XXII. 
 
 1605. named tome were in, as I might now have a full knowledge of them. 
 I gave him great joy by the proofs I brought him of a voluntary fub- 
 miflion from thofe perfons, which, in all the reft, fecured to him an 
 unavoidable obedience : I made it plain to him that Lefdiguieres, 
 whofe troops, forts, money, and capacity, were greatly exaggerated, who 
 difturbed the tranquillity of his mafler, through a fear that his equi- 
 vocal conduft would terminate in open rebellion, was neverthelefs fo 
 weak in every refped:, that if his majefty, with an army only of fix 
 thoufand men, marched diredly to him without llopping at any place, 
 he would drive him immediately to his laft intrenchment, v/here no- 
 thing could prevent his falling into his hands. At prefent it was not 
 proper to proceed to fuch extremities with Lefdiguieres, as he had not 
 ycl given fufficient caufe for it. I repiefented to the king, that it was 
 now time and of the utmoft confequence for the extinction of the re- 
 bellion, to undertake fomething againfl the duke of Bouillon, by ufing 
 only the precaution of not putting proteftant lieutenants into his 
 towns, in the room of thofe who were leaving them ; I engaged my 
 word, that there was not one of thofe fortrefles which would give us 
 the trouble to batter it with our cannon. 
 
 These confiderations determined Henry, altho' ftill with a little 
 difficulty, to defer no longer his progrefs into the fouthern provinces of 
 France, which has already been mentioned. His two motives for this 
 journey, and for taking his rout through Auvergne and Limofin, were 
 to feize all the towns belonging to the duke of Bouillon, and make 
 fuch fevere examples of thofe who were convifted of confpiring againll 
 the ftale, as fliould ftifle, for the future, all feeds of rebellion. For 
 the firlt, he fent commiffions to the duke of Epernon for levying 
 three thoufand foot; he added alike number to his regiment of guards, 
 and gave orders that a fquadron of eight or nine hundred difciplined 
 companies of horfe, as well gendarmes as light-horfe, fliould be got 
 ready to accompany him : for the fécond, he propofed to hold an ex- 
 traordinary court, the arrets of which he defigned to have publilhed 
 and executed by a chamber of juftice which he carried along with 
 him, thit nothing might retard the courfe of his juftice. Thefe ter- 
 rible preparations were indeed abfolutely neceffary in the provinces, 
 where it feemed as if the contagious airof civil broils was concentred, 
 when it was entirely diffipated every where elfe : this ll:ep likewife 
 was neceffary to bring the bufinefs of Orange to a conclufion ; nor 
 could it be made in a more favourable time, the aifairs of Flanders and 
 England affording him leifure this year, but which could not be of 
 long duration. I
 
 Book XXII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 481 
 
 I OBSERVED to the king, that fince it was neceflary this journey i 605. 
 
 fliould be over before the month of October was expired, it ought "^ •/— ' 
 
 not to be delayed a moment longer. Henry ftill thought I prefl'ed him 
 
 too much : however, at length he refolved upon every thing. Jt was 
 
 agreed between us, that his majefty fhould march along the Loire with 
 
 his troops both horfe and foot, while I, with a train of artillery con fift- 
 
 ing of two cannons, two culverins, and two demi-culverins, fhould An extraor- 
 
 march by Montrond, which is the diredl road. I left to Henry's di- ^""''>' 'if", 
 
 i-L- 1-1 1 J 1 1 J -ir lions called 
 
 recelons every thmg that related to the troops, and returned myitii to by virtue of 
 Paris, to fettle the affairs of the council with all poffible expedition, the king's 
 and to name the members of the chamber Des grand jours, whom it commiflion 
 
 rr r 1 r n o j or letters pa- 
 
 was neceliary to lend away hrit. ^^,,(5 
 
 At court, and in the council, it was fuppofed this journey would 
 terminate in the fame manner as that to Provence had done the year 
 before. The orders which were given for fo fudden a departure, in a 
 feafon ftill farther advanced, furnillied the indolent and fenfual cour- 
 tiers with a thoufand new arguments againft it; but when they faw 
 that Henry was inflexible, they prepared to follow him, often curling 
 the man whom they fuppofed had given him the advice : but it threw 
 the duke of Bouillon's partifans into the utmoil confternation, who had 
 not, as may be eallly imagined, ufed any endeavours to divert the ftorm. 
 La-Chapelle-Biron *, and Giverfac, who were moft faithfully devoted 
 to him, as having received the moft Spanilh gold, intreated the fieur 
 de Fouflac -f- to go to court, and affure his majefty that they were 
 ready to give him any teftimony of their obedience which he ftiould re- 
 quire : it was the people of Turenne only who made any fliew of re- 
 fiftance; Rignac :{: and Baffignac threw themfelves into that place, 
 provided it with ammunition, and lodged all the artillery in it upon the 
 plat-forms. Thefe advices were fent his majefty by Foullac and Bau- 
 meville, who difpatched the fenechal de Brive with them ; but all this 
 was executed with Co much terror and difmay, that the king, who had 
 given d'Epernon and Roifty || orders to advance thither before him with 
 their troops, did not think it neceflary to ftrengthen them with the re- 
 giment of guards, as he had at firft intended. 
 
 * Charles de Charbonnières, fieur of I Peter de Rignac ; Gideon dc Balîîgnac 
 
 La-Chapelle-Biron ; Mark de Cuignsc, or Vrflignac. 
 
 lieur of Giverfac. 1| John-James deMefmes, lord of Roifly. . 
 
 t Raimund de Sognac, fieur de Fouflac. 
 
 Vol. II. Qj] q Fous-
 
 482 MEMOrRSOFSULLY, Book XXIF. 
 
 1 605. Fouss AC gave alfo feme other informations, conformable to what had 
 
 been faid by Rodelle, concerning the flate of the revolt in the provin- 
 ces of Limofin, Perigord, and Quercy ; and by him it was difcovered, 
 that the true caufe why a great many gentlemen did notcome and throw 
 themfelves at his majefly's feet, as they had intended, was that I'Aubag- 
 nac had been fent from Sedan, to diffuade them from taking that ftep ; 
 and that many of them had alfo lately received confiderable fums of 
 Spanifli money, which had been diftributed among them by Guienne, 
 The duke of Bouillon, in whofe name this money was given, recom- 
 mended it to them, at the fame time, not to be difcouraged or alarmed' 
 at the preparations which were making againft them, fmce he engaged 
 his word to make things take another turn before Oftober ; and that 
 his friends (thofe were his terms) fhould fee him fooner than they 
 hoped, and his enemies fooner than they defired: thefe founding words 
 efFedlually im.pofed upon them. Fouffac, however, aflured the king, 
 that there had not come more than ten or twelve thoufand crowns from 
 Spain ; but Bouillon, always fupplying the want of money with confi- 
 dence, had given them to underftand, that this fmall fum was fent to 
 them to be diftributedamongft their fubaltern friends, and that other fums 
 far more confiderable were referved for them : they were fimple enough 
 to believe him, and after this no longer talked of foliciting for a par- 
 don. The king ordered two hundred crowns to be given to Fouffac 
 for the expences of his journey, and fent him back to continue on the 
 ipot. 
 
 He left Paris himfelf on the 15th or i6th of September*, efcorted 
 by the regiment of guards, and the fquadron I have already mentioned, 
 and began his march towards Orleans, while I took the rout before 
 agreed on. He had not got farther than Hallier, before he faw the 
 good effedls of his journey : two gentlemen of Quercy named Cauffe 
 and Brigantin, came to meet him at this place to implore a pardon for 
 themfelves, and a hundred and twenty other gentlemen ; and that they 
 might in fome degree meriirit, they offered to difcover, in a court of 
 juflice, all that they knew of Bouillon's proceedings, and maintain the 
 truth of their depofition with the points of their fwords, and at the ex- 
 pence of their blood. Thefe two deputies revealed likewife all the 
 
 ♦ In regard to this journey of Henry IV. the original of a letter wrote by Henry IV. 
 to the Limofin, fee de Thou, b. 24. to M. de Rofny. Lettres de Henry le 
 the Mercure François, anno. 1605, and Grand, 
 
 plots
 
 Book XXH. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 plots which had been carried on by Rignac and Baffignac, in the duke 
 of Bouillon's favour ; among others that of feizing Ville-neuve in A-^e- 
 nois, for which Bouillon had not the leafl: plaufible pretence. It being 
 at this place that his niajefty had firft received notice of the attempts 
 made by d'Entragues, to deliver the count of Auvergne from his con- 
 finement in the Baftile, as I have related in order; he defired me to 
 meet him at Orleans, which he expeded to reach the next day, being 
 Saturday September the 24th, advifing me to fend the artillery in the 
 mean time to Argenton, through which place he propofed to pafs, 
 Thefe orders, however, were not executed, it being impolTible for me 
 to go to Orleans : his majefty approved of my reafons ; and I gave 
 him in writing the advice he demanded of me, which was conform- 
 able to thofe meafures I had always folicited him to purfue with re- 
 gard to d'Entragues. 
 
 Henry arrived at Orleans on the appointed day, and left that city 
 on Monday the 26th of September: he avoided the road thro' Berry 
 and Sologne, on account ol- the fcarcity of provilions in that barren 
 country, and the difeafes which he was told prevailed there ; he there- 
 fore marched towards Blois, and from thence to Montrichard, again 
 appointing a rendezvous with me at Loches, expreflîng an earneft de- 
 fire to confer with me perfonally upon the prefent flate of aifairs. Hi- 
 therto he had not received any marks of fubmiffion from the duke of 
 Bouillon; on the contrary, the refinance of Rignac and Baflignac in 
 Turenne, and Sincerai was confirmed. From Metz he had advices, 
 that Bouillon would have afliftance from another quarter ; the elec- 
 tor palatine, it was faid, had, upon the report of the king's expedi- 
 tion, fent for his colonels and captains, and the governor of Luxem- 
 burg was making preparations and affembling forces. D'Epernon in- 
 cefTantly prefied the king to advance, and demanded, with fome kind 
 of difpleafure, officers and provilions for the recruits, which he faid he 
 had raifed with great difficulty. His majefly referred this bufinefs to 
 me, defiring that I would give proper diredlions thereupon to D'Ef- 
 cures, or the other officers and inhabitants of thofe places ; and with 
 regard to Bouillon, he held himfelf prepared for refinance, although 
 hitherto he faw no appearance of it. 
 
 In effecfV, this prince had fcarce reached Blois, before he received a 
 courier from the duke of Bouillon, who brought him a letter dated from 
 Sedan, September the 20th, in which, after making his ufual protefta- 
 tions of grief for having offended his majefly, and of his intentions to 
 
 Qjj q 2 repair
 
 ^84 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXII. 
 
 1605. repair his fault at the price of his blood, he declared, that he ha'i 
 never entertained the leaft thought of difobeying his orders, or refifting 
 his perlbn ; that he had given an abfolute command to his lieutenants to 
 receive him in all his towns and caftles, a needlels order, he added, fince 
 tliere was not one perfon belonging to him who did not look upon his 
 majefty as his fovereign mafter; that he defired nothing more ardently 
 than to have brought him the keys himfelf, and, with the utmoH: hu- 
 mility, implore to be again received into his favour. The king ap- 
 peared fatisfied with this procedure of Bouillon : however, he repre- 
 lented to him, that he ought to have fent Rignac and Baffignac, againfl 
 whom fuch heavy crimes were ailedged, to have juftified their condu6t 
 perfonally. Blanchard was the maji whom Henry was moft defirous 
 of feeing, as there was no perfon in the world who had a greater (hare 
 of Bouillon's confidence, he being his Ifeward, or was better acquainted 
 with the fteps of the whole party ; but he did not appear : Henry there- 
 fore thoughtheought not todifcontinue his march, at leaft till became 
 to Limoges, that he might fee how far the duke of Bouillon's lieute- 
 nants would carry their obedience. However, Blanchard arrived at 
 Blois before his majefty left that city ; and what added to the king's 
 fatisfadtion, he came voluntarily, and with an intention to obtain his 
 pardon, by making a faithful confefTion of all he knew. 
 
 In effe6t Blanchard unfolded the whole myftery of the plot ; he 
 acknowledged, that, feconding with all his power the bad intentions 
 of the duke his mafter, he had been always obliged to have recourfe to 
 the mean artifice of exaggerating fadls, enlarging views, and making 
 promifes a thoufand times greater than he well knew could ever be per- 
 formed : fo that the execution of their defigns had always been as re- 
 mote, as they had affedled to fay it was near. Blanchard's depofition 
 appeared to his majefty to be of fuch confequence, that he ordered him 
 to give it him in writing: and now he began to be convinced of the 
 juftnefs of my opinion, which he had fo long oppofed, namely, that the 
 duke of Bouillon's party made all this noife, only becaufe they could 
 do nothing more. Notwithftanding this, Henry would neither ftop 
 nor lay down his arms, till his will was complied with without any 
 reftridiion. He remembered to have heard it faid among the proteftants, 
 that the places the duke of Bouillon pofielTed did not belong to him, 
 but to the whole party, having been given as cautionary towns, and 
 held as fuch by officers of the reformed religion : he feared therefore 
 that he might make ufe of this pretence to keep them, and thought it 
 the fecureft way not to difband his troops, till Villepion, whom he had 
 
 ap-
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 appointed to take poiTeffion of Turenne in his name, had been receiv- 
 ed into tliat capital of Bouillon's. I had written to La-Caillaudicre 
 that he might difband the cavalry ; his majefiy made inc revoke this 
 order, and in the beginning of Ocftober, left Blois and proceeded to 
 Tours, having again altered his defign of marching though Montri- 
 chard and Loches. 
 
 The conveniency of the river and caûle of Pleffis, determined the 
 queen, who had attended his majefty to Blois, to go as far as Tours 
 with him. The king, when he informed me of this alteration in his 
 march, fent me word that, as foon as this princefs had left him to re- 
 turn to Paris, he would continue his rout through La-Have as far as 
 Chatelleraut, where I had appointed to meet him. In proportion as 
 his majefty advanced, all ditficulties fell before him : Villepion was 
 received without the leaft difturbance into Turenne : and before 
 Henrv reached Limoges, all the other towns depending on the duke' 
 of Bouillon, were yielded in the fame manner to the officers his ma- 
 jefty fent thither to reprefent his perfon. All this was conformable to 
 the duke's example, who continued to declare loudly, that he had no 
 hand in the commotions of the province, and that he had been accufed 
 through mere calumny. Baffignac diftinguifhed himfelf by his obfti- 
 nacy ; for, cutting his beard, and difguifing himfelf, he fled through 
 Geneva to Sedan. 
 
 Nothing more remaining to be done by arms, the chamber des grand 
 jours began the exercife of its office : the king would not ftay for the 
 conclufion; he was weary of Limoges, after a ftay of eight days there, - 
 and rode poft to Paris. Lie left me in this prqvince, inverted with his 
 authority, as well in criminal matters as for diibanding the troops, 
 which kept me ten days after him. We went back to the fource of 
 the rebellion, by endeavouring to difcover the firft authors of it ; and 
 fo fuccefsful were our inquiries, and the effeâs of them, that all re- 
 mained peaceable for the future. It was thought fufficient to behead 
 ten or twelve of the moft acftiveofthe rebels, among whom, thofe of 
 greateft note, were the two Luquifles, gentlemen of Languedoc, who 
 have .been already mentioned^ and * Meirargues, a kinfman of the 
 
 * Lewis d'Alagon, or rather Lagonia, ber; his body was quartered, and fixed 
 
 baron of Meirargues, was arrefted at Paris, over the principal gates of the city, and his 
 
 in the monaftery of Saint-Germain, toge- head was carried to Marfeilles, where it- 
 
 ther with the Spanifti ambaflador's fecre- was faftened on the head of a pike over the 
 
 tary, and beheaded on the 19th of Decern- chief gate. The king ordered the Spanifh 
 
 Joyeufe's 3;
 
 486 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXII- 
 
 lôo^*. Joyeufe's ; the firfl for having undertaken to deliver up Narbonne to 
 the Spaniards, and the latter Marfeilles. I have no reafon to doubt» 
 but, that after thefe examples of rigour, the hatred of the proteftants 
 againft me was wound up to its utmoft pitch. I cannot but complain 
 of this unjuft prejudice, which however did not extend to all : Theo- 
 dore Beza was my friend, and his approbation alone was fufficient to 
 comfort me for the caufelefs malice of a thoufand others. 
 
 This venerable old man, who exercifed the fundlion of a minifler at 
 Geneva, was feized with an illnefs towards the latter end of this year, 
 in the eighty-feventh year of his age; his diflemper, which before the 
 eclipfe* of the fun which has rendered this year memorable, wasbutveiy 
 flight, grew fatal from that moment, and a few days after put a period 
 to his life : he preferved, till the lafl: moment, the full force and vigour 
 of his mind, in a body weakened by infirmities and exhaull:ed by age ; 
 he ordered his attendants to lift him out of his bed ; and then, with 
 the utmoll fervour, he offered up his prayers to God, and in the moft 
 earneft and pathetic manner, exhorted all thofe who were prefent to a 
 perform^ance of the duties of religion and holinefs; after which, he 
 was again laid in bed, where he expired without pain, nature being 
 quite worn out in him: he did not forget me in his lafl: moments j 
 and thinking that he owed me fome acknowledgement for the vifitlpaid 
 him at Geneva, and the fervice I did him, when I prefented him to 
 his majefly at the head of the other deputies from his city, he de- 
 fined Deodati to prefent a book to me in his name, intituled, " The 
 " treafure of piety ;" this was the New Teftament, tranflated by him, 
 
 fecretary to be fet at liberty, without wait- as dark as poflible : Le Grain fays, that 
 
 ing for the determination of the queftion, during an hour and an half, one could not, 
 
 at that time ftrongly debated, whether it is without difficulty, read or write without 
 
 right to give up to the courfe of juflice, a candle. L'Etoile was freer than M. de 
 
 an ambafl'ador, refident, or any other fo- Sully from the popular prejudice, in regard 
 
 reign minifter, who violates the law of na- to eclipfes . " Many ftrange maladies of 
 
 tions. MSS. Royaux, 8477. See alfo the " different kinds, fays he, raged in Paris 
 
 difcuflion of this queftion, and Henry IV's " at that time ; and, together with the 
 
 difcourfe on this occafion to the Spanilh " eclipfe, which happened on the 2d of 
 
 ambafl'ador. Mem. de Nevers, vol. IL " this month, eclipfed many perfons who 
 
 p. 858. Matthieu, vol. IL book iii. p. 68g. " have never been feen fince : dyfenteries, 
 
 and other hiftorians. " efpecially, were very dangerous and mor- 
 
 t This eclipfe happened on the 2d of " tal to thofe who happened to be attacked 
 
 Odlober, according to M. de Thou, and " by them, and more in other places than 
 
 on the 3d, according to the Mercure fVanc. " at Paris ; few of them efcaping." Anno 
 
 at one o'clock in the afternoon; it conti- 1605. The fame author fays, that Beza 
 
 nued two hours, and forhalfanhouritwas died the day after the eclipfe. 
 
 v^ith
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 487 
 
 with notes, which, together with the other verfions, both antient and i(c. 
 modern, formed a complete work: this he infcribed to me, and in the 
 epiftle dedicatory gave free fcope to the favourable fentiments he en- 
 tertained of me. Deodati punilually performed his lail: commands, 
 and in the month of November fent me the book, with a letter, from 
 whence thefe circumftances are taken. 
 
 I SHALL conclude my relation of his majefty's journey with that of 
 a quarrel which happened between me and the count of SoilTons, fol- 
 lowed by another with the duke d'Epernon. The count having taken 
 ofFence at fomething which the king had done or faid to him when he 
 left Paris, thought proper to revenge himfelf upon me. I had, as has 
 been obferved before, left my train of artillery, to take the diredt road 
 to Limoges, that I might meet his majefty at Châtelleraut. The 
 count of Soilfons ordered his harbinger to go to the quarter-mafters, 
 who were then employed in marking out the king's lodgment, and 
 afk them which was referved for me, and to take pofTeffion of it for 
 him, in fpite of all oppofition. This was not fo eafy to be done as 
 faid. A great number of gentlemen of the province, who knew the 
 rights of a governor as well as myfelf, being prefent when the count's 
 harbinger was preparing to execute his orders, they prevented him, 
 without even acquainting me with what they had done. The count 
 did not fail to complain to the king of this indignity, which he faid his 
 honour was concerned to refent; and, as an aggravation, added, that 
 I had caufed his harbinger to be beaten. 
 
 The king, who knew his humour, gave him but little fatisfa(ftion j 
 but the count made fo much noife, and aflerted the fad: fo politively, 
 that Henry fent D'Efcures to me to know the truth. All I knew of 
 the matter, which I told him, was, that upon receiving information 
 of what was doing, I went to the place deftined for my quarters, 
 where I found above fifty Poitevin gentlemen, who all together ex- 
 claiming againft the unjuftifiable procedure of the count's harbinger, 
 had made ufe of threats to prevent his going farther. The count of 
 Soiflbns {till infifted, that it was a defigned infult upon him, and de- 
 manded juftice of the king. He found none to take his part: and 
 Henry, by all the arguments he could think of, endeavoured to convince 
 him that his complaint was groundlefs : he told him, that all gover- 
 nors have a right in their provinces to take place of every one but the 
 king ; and that I, as grand mafter, had the additional right of claiming 
 the next quarters to the king, when he marched in the body of the 
 
 army ; .
 
 488 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXII. 
 
 1605. army ; therefore it could be no encroachment to have only part of thofe 
 ' quarters, when the whole is at the difpofal of the grand mafter : no 
 one pretending any right, or fixing on any part of it for himfelf, with- 
 out my permiffion ; and for this reafon the quarter-mafter had put to 
 mine the accuftomed mark which fecures his to the king ; thele are 
 the words, " For the king :" the count of Soiffons' harbinger there- 
 fore ought through refpeft to have abftained from his attempt. 
 
 NoNEofthefe reafons having any weight with the count tDf Soif- 
 fons, there was a necelTity that Henry fhould think of fome expe- 
 dient to fatisfy us both ; and this expedient was, that when I came, 
 as ufual, to pay my refpeds to the king, I lliould make my compli- 
 ments likewiie to the count, and offer him, through mere politenefs, 
 my quarters; which tlie count, returning my civility, fliould refule : 
 this was accordingly done, but it was on my part onlyj for the 
 count, making ufe of a mean artifice, from whence he afterwards de- 
 rived a flill meaner occafion for boaft, fufFered me to make all thefe 
 advances, without any return on his fide, and took pofleflion of my 
 quarters, becaule I could not decently unlay what I had laid. But 
 this joy, and the railleries which enhanced it, lafled no longer than 
 till the next day. 
 
 As he was pafTing through the flreet where Î lodged, followed only 
 by two gentlemen (for he was going to hunt along with his majefty) 
 he found the ftreet filled with gentlemen, to the number of two hun- 
 dred, who were waiting till I came out to mount my horfe, and who, 
 as foon at they faw him at a diflance, crouded together, as if for di- 
 verfion, fb clofe, that they left no paflage for the count ; and his 
 equerry, not being able to open him one, was obliged to cry out, 
 " Make way, gentlemen, make vi^ay for monfieur the count:" but 
 they, railing their voices all together, talked fo loud, and fb confufed- 
 ly, that the equerry could not make himfelf heard ; fbme of them mut- 
 tering at the fame time, that it was never known that a governor of a 
 province was difpoffefTed of his lodgings in a place where he reprefentcd 
 the king's perlbn. The count was obliged to wait a quarter of an 
 hour before he could get room to pafs. And for a farther aggravation 
 of his misfortune, not one of thefe gentlemen faluted him. Thit- was 
 a new fubjeét for complaint to the king. His majeily told him, he 
 was lorry for wliat had happened, but could do nothing for him, fince 
 he muft not expeét that, in complaifance to him, he would make en- 
 quiries among four or five hundred gentlemen for the peribns who of- 
 fended
 
 ^ooK^XXn. MEMOIRS OP SULLY. 
 
 c'yfFended him, when he could point out no particular man ; they at 
 the fame time fuppofing they had fome right to take this revenge up- 
 on him, for an inliilt injurious to them all. 
 
 The count of Soiflbns found no one to take part in his refentment 
 but the duke of Epernon, who was himfelf then violently enraged 
 againft me on the following occafion : the Rochellers hearing that 
 his majefly would pafs near their city in his march, fent a deputation 
 to him of their chiefeft citizens, as a mark of their gratitude and re- 
 fpeft. I was the perfon to whom they applied ; therefore the king 
 ordered me to conduél them to audience, which he gave them in the 
 prefence of the whole court : they told his majefty they were come to 
 intreat he would honour them with his prefence in their city, fincehe 
 was fo near it; afTuring him, that although he was at the head of an 
 army of catholics, he fliould not be received with lefs refpeél and fub- 
 miflion, than when he came formerly at the head of the proteftant 
 troops ; and that if their gates were not wide enough to admit him 
 and his train, they would throw down three hundred fathoms of their 
 wall, fincc his repeated bounties had enabled them to rebuild it. They 
 then prefented the keys to him, with fuch fmcere expreffions of joy 
 and atfedion, that the king was melted even to tears, embraced them 
 thrice, and afterwards, entering into a familiar converfation with 
 them on the times paft, alTured them, that in him they might always 
 depend upon finding a protector of their liberty, and a zealous prefer- 
 ver of their privileges. 
 
 As I was going away at the conclu fion of this ceremony, I met 
 the duke of Epernon, who coming to wait upon the king, afked 
 me what was doing ? and I, without refledling upon his queflion, 
 cnfwered it diredly : but I was furprifed to fee, that at the recital I 
 made him, his countenance was overfpread with rage and difdain ; 
 and, a moment after, to hear him afk me, haughtily, whether I af- 
 fumed any right in the government of Rochelle ? and by what claim 
 I took upon myfelf to prefent the deputies from that city to the king ? 
 -I never thought it any meannefs to give my friends fatisfaâion, in 
 cafes wherein my condudl might appear doubtful to them ; I there- 
 fore told him, that it was in the quality of an antient friend of that 
 city, and by his majefty's command, that I had prefented the deputies 
 to him. He replied, with the fame emotion as at firll, that Rochelle 
 being comprehended in his patent for governor, the king, the Rochel- 
 lers, and 1, had equally injured him. I could not help telling him. 
 
 Vol. n. R r r that
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXII. 
 
 that the Rochellers would look upon his pretenfions as very Angular, 
 hut that it was from them, or rather from the king, that he was to 
 deiire an explanation, and not from me, fince I had only adted by his 
 majefty's orders, and without any intention to encroach upon the rights 
 of other perfons. 
 
 Saying this, I quitted him coolly, and he went to Henry to tell him 
 the caufe of his difguft : he returned more diflatisfied than he went, 
 and all the refource he had was to mingle his grievances and complaint» 
 with thofc of the count. The malicious things they faidofme on this 
 occafion, which I had convincing proofs of, was the caufe that I af- 
 terwards took D'Ornano's part in a quarrel which happened between 
 him and d'Epernon, during the king's ftay at Limoges. This increafed 
 d'Epernon's rage, and a third difguft: which he received from me com- 
 pleted our eflrangement from each other : he demanded affignments 
 for the payment of the ammunition bread, furniûied by the cities and 
 large towns for the foldiers he had levied. I thought it my duty to ac- 
 quaint the king before I complied with this requeft, who, knowing as 
 well as myfelf that this money would remain in d'Epernon's purfe, in- 
 ftead of being delivered to thofe to whom it belonged, gave me orders 
 to refufe him. This was the rock upon which our reconciliation, our 
 mutual promifes of friendfliip, and thofe connexions which had been 
 capable of giving umbrage to the king, were all fplit and deft:royed. 
 
 At my return from Limoges, I went to give his majeft:y an account 
 of the ufe I had made of that authority he had confided in me : we had 
 now a longer converfation together, than at my return from Chatelle- 
 raut, and upon the very fame fubjedt, policy and the quarrels at court. 
 I found him this time alfo at Fontainebleau, whither he had come to 
 pafs the month of Odtober and part of November; the queen was 
 there alfo : the king and fhe met as they entered the court, fhe in her 
 litter, and he on horfeback, for he had rode poft. He loft: La-Ri- 
 viere, his firft: phyftcian there, whom he greatly regretted : he gave his 
 poft to Du-Laurens *, who was already firft phyfician to the queen; 
 and looked out for another for that princefs. I did not ftay long at 
 
 * Andrew Du-Laurens was the fourth treated to procure Du-Laurens's office for 
 
 principal phyfician, whofe death Henry IV. Turquet, one of the phyficians in ordi- 
 
 had feen fince his acceflion to the crown ; nary to the king, who was a proteftant, 
 
 and as he alfo died four years afterwards, anfwered, " I have taken an oath never to 
 
 Petit a phyfician of Gien, who fucceeded " recommend either a phyfician or a cook 
 
 him, was the fifth. M. de Sujly being in- " to the king." 
 
 Fon-
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 491 
 
 Fontainebleau; a thoufand different affairs called me to Paris, where 1605. 
 Henry had confideration enough to leave me a long time, without 
 commanding my attendance on him. 
 
 I HAVE yet mentioned but fome part of thofe affairs queen Mar- 
 garet had to communicate to me, in our interview at Cercote. As flie 
 propofed to quit her caflle at Uflbn and refide in Paris, (he was delirous 
 of having my advice upon this occalion, and to know if fhe fliould be 
 well received at court ; whither it was neceffary fhe fhould go, to prove 
 that fhe did nothing without his majefty's confent. I aflured her, tliat 
 their majefties w^ould receive her with the utmoft refpedl: ; for I was 
 well acquainted with their fentiments in regard to her, A bare afîurance 
 would not fatisfy her ; fhe infifled upon my engaging my word as a fe- 
 carity, which I did without any hefitation ; and fhe, on her fide, pro- 
 mifed to be governed wholly by my advice. After thefe mutual en- 
 gagements, we feparated ; I took the road to Chatelleraut, and Marga- 
 ret that of the caille of Madrid, where flie intended to lodge. 
 
 Henry, befides the inclination he had to oblige this princefs, who 
 well deferved that he fhould contribute to her fatisfadtion, had another 
 reaibnfor consenting that fhe fliould leave Uffon*. He was extremely de- 
 firous of having this old caftle in his own pofîefîion, as its fituation, in 
 a very fufpedied country, might make it one day a convenient retreat 
 for the rebels, as the caflle of Carlat had been. The king propofed 
 to throw down this caflle if it fhould be judged not worth preferving ; 
 for this purpofe, he ordered me to fend a faithful and intelligent com- 
 miffary to the caflle of Uffon as foon as queen Margaret had left it, 
 and to give him an exadl information of the condition it was in 
 at prefent, but that he fhould not difcover with what intention he 
 went. However, La-Varenne, coming foon after from queen Marga- 
 ret, declared to Henry, that it would give her great trouble, if the caflle 
 of Uffon was demolished fo foon after her departure ; upon which the 
 king wrote to me to defer fending the commiffary thither till he had 
 feen that princefs. This fécond order would have come too late, if 
 happily the perfon whom I had refolved to employ, and who was one 
 
 * She had lived there near twenty years, marquis de Caniilac carried her off from 
 
 On her leaving Agen, from whence (he this caftle, and (hut her up in the caftle of 
 
 made her efcape difguifed in the habit of an Uffon, which place pleafed her fo much 
 
 ordinary citizen, riding behind Lignerac, that ihe fixed her abode there, though the 
 
 flie went to live at Carlat, a caftle belong- was left at liberty to quit it whenever ftvc 
 
 ing to a gentleman called Martas. The thought proper. 
 
 R r r 2 of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXL';. 
 
 of the beft engineers in the whole body of the artillery, had not been 
 indifpofed, which obliged him to put off his journey for fome days. 
 
 The arrival of queen Margaret, and the kind reception Henry pre- 
 pared to give her, occafioned fome of thofe idle flanders which the 
 foolifh populace are fo fond of propagating. The wifeft way being to 
 feem ignorant of them, the king made no alterations in thofe honours 
 he was refolved to pay her. As foon as flie came to Paris, he feat Mi 
 de Vendôme and Roquelaure, to pay his compliments to her, till he 
 could vifit her in perfon, for he was then at Monceaux : the queen 
 alfo fent Châteauvieux in her name to this princefs. On the 26th of 
 July, Henry went' in perfon to vifit her, to Bois de Boulogne*, where 
 fhe then was, having only paffed through Paris, His majefty went 
 
 * From thence fhe went to live in the 
 palace of Sens near the Ave-Mary ; fhe 
 afterwards hired a palace in the fuburb of 
 Saint-Germain oppofite to the Louvre, 
 where fhe continued till her death. This 
 princefs has been fo much abufed in the li- 
 bels of that time, that one might be in- 
 duced to accufe M. de Sully of partiality, 
 in the praife he every where beftows on her 
 in his memoirs,. if his teftimony were not 
 confirmed by our beft hiftorians. The au- 
 thor of L'Hiftoire de la mere Si du fils, on 
 their authority, fpeaks of her in the follow- 
 ing manner. " Her degradation in point 
 " of rank, was fo amply made up by her 
 " goodnefs and the royal virtues fhe pof- 
 *' fefTed, as to render her flill greatly re- 
 " fpedled.Likeatrueheirefsoftheilluftrious 
 *' houfe of Valois, fhe never beftowed a 
 " gift on any one, without making an 
 *' apology for givmg fo little ; ihe was the 
 " refuge of men of letters, loved to hear 
 " them talk, her table was conftantly fur- 
 " rounded with them, and fhe learned fo 
 •' much from converfing with them, that 
 " fhe fpoke better than any woman of her 
 " time, and wrote more correâly than moft 
 " perfons of her fex are capable of doing. 
 ♦' In fhort, as charity is the queen of all 
 " virtues, this great princefs crowned hers 
 *' by giving alms, which fhe did with fo 
 " liberal a hand to all v/ho ftood in need of 
 *' them, that there was not a religious 
 *' houfe in Paris which, did not feel the 
 
 " efFeils of her bounty, nor one poor per- 
 " fon who had recourfe to her that did not 
 " meet with relief; thereforeGod out of 
 " his mercy repaid her with ufury, for that 
 " which fhe fhewed to his people, giving 
 " her grace to make a truly chriftian end." 
 &c. vol. I. p. 326. This is furely fufficient 
 to compenfate for a fmall number of levities 
 and human weaknefTes, which are the ut:- 
 moft of what this princefs could ever be 
 charged with. If any one is defirous of 
 feeing further what has been written for or 
 againft her on this head, let him read ■ 
 mefiieurs De Thou, Dupleix, Mezerai, 
 father Daniel, father Hilarion de Cofèe's 
 elogium of illuftrious ladies, BafTompierre, 
 M. Bayle's dictionary under the wcrd 
 UfTon, and an infinity of other writers. 
 She died on the 27th of March 1615, at 
 her palace in the Fàuxbourg-Saint-Ger>- 
 main, which has fmce been demolifhed-j 
 fhe was interred in the church of the re- 
 formed Aiiguftins, fmce called the Little 
 Auguflins, which had been founded by her. 
 " She was greatly regretted," fays the Me- 
 moirs of the Regency of Mary de Medicis, 
 " being a princefs abounding in goodnefs 
 " of heart, eagerly fond of the welfare 
 " and repofe of the ftate, who did no harm 
 " to any one befides herfelf. " Thefe few 
 words, I apprehend, are fufficient to give us , 
 the perfeft idea we ought to form of her 
 charader, and fufficiently agree with what 
 M, de- Sully fays of her^ 
 
 at.
 
 Book XXII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 49S 
 
 at feven o'clock in the evening, and returned at ten. This interview 1605. 
 pailed with equal latisfadtion on both fides. The king fpoke of the 
 caille of Ullon to this princefs : flie confented to what he propofed ; 
 and, in that whole affair, he never did any thing without firll know- 
 ing whether it would be agreeable to her. On the 28th of the fame 
 month (he came to Paris, to pay her refpedls to the queen, who came 
 to the Louvre to receive her : (he afterwards, on the 4th of Auguft, 
 went to Saint-Germain to fee the Dauphin, and ftaid there four or 
 five days with their majcflies. Henry had no greater pleafure than 
 die company of his children, as his frequent journeys to Saint-Ger- 
 main fufficiently proved. Queen Margaret returned to Bois de Bou- 
 lougne on the 1 1 th of the fame month, greatly afFeéted with their 
 majefties obliging behaviour to her. 
 
 By the orders which {he gave to her officers who remained at UfTon, 
 Barenton, who was fent thither by his majefty, found no oppofition, 
 and was put in immediate poffeflîon of the caftle. He drew up a me- 
 morial of the flate in which he found it, and brought it to the king, 
 who, perfifting in his refolution of difmantling this caftle, ordered me 
 to fend an engineer or commifiary of artillery there as foon as pofllble 
 for that purpofe. I was -commifTioned to thank queen Margaret in 
 his name, for the chearfulnefs with which flie had made this facrifice, 
 and to pay her the full value of all the ftores and ammunition which 
 were found at UiTon, which Margaret had deflined for the payment 
 of the garrifon /lie maintained there ; if that princefs did not rather 
 chufe to give, her foldiers thefe flores and provifions themfelves. 
 
 I SHALL conclude the memoirs of the prefent year with .an article, 
 which I am already certain will have the approbation of all juft and 
 fenfihle perfons; and for which I am alfo as fecure of their acknow- 
 ledgments. In all the principal cities of the kingdom, efpecially thofe 
 "which have arfenals and academies, there are alfo fchools for the young 
 nobility, , in which are taught all kinds of fports and exercifes, as 
 well military, as thofe defigned merely to form a graceful carriage, and 
 give ftrength and adlivity to the limbs : and thefe exercifes are no 
 where more carefully cultivated than at Paris, where the fpacious 
 courts of the arfenal, deftined to this ufe, are full almofl: every hour 
 in the day. I was always of the fame opinion as Henry concerning 
 thefe exercifes: he often afferted, that they were the moft folid founda- 
 tion, not only of difcipline and other military virtues, but alfo of thofe 
 
 noble-
 
 494 M E' M O ï R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXII. 
 
 1605. noble fentiments, and that elevation of mind, which give one nation 
 the pre-eminence over every other. I ufed to be prefent at them my- 
 felf, when I could fleal a moment from bufinefs, as well through the 
 tafte I had for fuch amufements, as becaufe I thought my prefencc 
 would excite a laudable emulation amongfl: the youth. 
 
 One afternoon, in carnival time, when thefe fports were mofl: fre- 
 quent, I left my clofet to (hew myfelf to this affembly of young men, 
 and came very feafonably to prevent theconfequences of two quarrels, 
 which, from that miftaken notion of honour to which France has 
 made herfelf a flave, were likely to have been very fatal. Thefe quar- 
 rels had taken their rife from a trifle, as it generally happens with the 
 greatefl: part of thofe which have been followed by the moft bloody 
 cataflrophes J but the king (I am grieved to fay it) took fo little care 
 to enforce the obfervation of the edidts publifhed by fome of his pre- 
 deceflbrs, againil: that barbarous cuflom of duelling, that every day, 
 and for the flighteft occafions, fome blood was fhed. 
 
 I THOUGHT it my duty to endeavour to convince thefe young men 
 who crouded about me, of the error they were in with regard to 
 true valour; " It is, faid I to them, in fields of war, and in adtions 
 *• which have the fervice of our country in view, that courage is per- 
 *' mitted to be fhown ; that which arms us againft our friends, or 
 " countrymen, in contempt of all laws, as well divine as human, is 
 *' but a brutal iiercenefs, madnefs, and real pufillanimity." I perceiv- 
 ed, that the moral I endeavoured to inculcate appeared very ftrange to 
 thefe young men, who were carried away by the heat of blood and 
 ardour of youth : one of them, who, it was apparent, fought to give 
 himfelf confequcnce with his fellows, replied, that princes having at 
 all times permitted, nay authorifed duels, they had paiTed into a cuf- 
 tom, which holds the place of a law. 
 
 I CONTENTED myfelf for the prefent with making the youth fenfible 
 that he fupported his argument upon falfe and erroneous principles, 
 and with preventing the challenge from proceeding any further; but 
 as foon as I retired, I gave free courfe to my reflexions upon the An- 
 gularity of an abufe, unknown to the moft polifhed, and at the fame 
 time braveft people. Thefe reflexions, when thrown upon paper, 
 compofed a kind of memorial, which I thought it my duty to prefent 
 to the king. 
 
 Duels,
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 49r 
 
 Duels, it is true, are of long landing in France, and indeed in Eu- 1 605. 
 rope, but in that part only that has been overwhelmed by barbarians, 
 froin whofe time this hateful cuftom takes its date, and appears there-, 
 fore to be derived from them ; and if hiftories of times more remote, 
 fuch as that of the emperor Otho the firft, and that of the divorce of 
 Lothario, gives fome inftances of fingle combat, they may be oppofed 
 by prohibitions of equal antiquity, ilTued out by the power of the 
 church, as that of the council of Valentia in 855', or by temporal au- 
 thority. We have in France a very ancient edid:, which forbids them 
 in all civil caufes, and in criminal caufes limits them to five cafes ; high 
 treafon, rape, houfe-burning, murder, and nightly thefts. Saint 
 Lewis * afterwards took away all reflricftion ; and when Philip the I Vth, 
 his grandfon, feemed to reftore them, 1303, in charges of ftate crimes, 
 rapes, and houfe-burning, to which he reduced them, he was incited 
 only by a motive at once deferving praife and cenfure ; the hope of 
 abolilhing infenfibly this cuftom of bloodOied, which had gathered 
 llirength in his time, by confining it to thefe rare cafes fet down in a 
 pofitive law : to make this more evident, he forbad all manner of per- 
 fons to allow them, by receiving what was called pledges of battle, 
 and declared that right referved to himfelf alone. 
 
 To fhew, by explaining the difference between the ancient duels 
 and thofe of our time, what a number of namelefs abufes have crept 
 into a practice, which itfelf was from its firfi: original a corruption, it 
 will be fufficient to lay down the circumftances and formalities which 
 were obferved in thofe times. 
 
 In the firft: place, no body, however offended, might take vengeance 
 in his own right; and as it is now pradlifed in the firft emotion of ca- 
 price and paffion, and much lefs in mere bravado, which, in my opi- 
 nion, is of all things the moft contrary to the laws of fociety. They 
 had their judges, before whom he that thought himfelf injured in his 
 honour, was to give an account of the wrong fuffered, and demand 
 permiffion to prove, in the way of arms, that he did not lay upon his 
 
 * On the fubjedt of thefe edifts of Saint fingle combats, &c. in i6c8; John Sa- 
 
 Lewis and Philip the fair, as alfo of the varon fieur of Villars, in his Treatife 
 
 origin, manner, and whatever has relation againft duels, with the edict of Philip the 
 
 to fingle combats, confult the writers who fair, in 1610; Brantôme, in the tenth vo- 
 
 trçatof.it; fuch as Paul da Montboucher lume of his Memoirs, intitlcd Touching 
 
 lîeur ofia Rivaudiere, in hisTreatifeon the Duels; D'Audiguier, Du-Piex, Ruauld, 
 
 ceremonies and la^ws of challenges and Bafnage, 5cc. and many other Italians. 
 
 enemy
 
 4^96 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXII. 
 
 1605. enemy a falfe accufation. It was then confidered as fliameful to defire 
 \_ ,- ' blood for blood. The judge, who was commonly the lord of the 
 place,, made the perfon accufed, appear likewife before him; and ne- 
 ver allowed the decifion of battle, which was demanded by throwing 
 a glove, or fome other pledge upon the ground, but when he could 
 get no other proof either of guilt or innocence. 
 
 The pledges were received, and the judge deferred the decifion of 
 the quarrel to the end of two months, during the firft of which the 
 rwo enemies were delivered each of them to common friends, upon 
 fecurity for their forthcoming : their friends endeavoured by all forts of 
 means to difcover the perfon criminal, and to give him a fenfe of the in- 
 juftice of maintaining a falQiood, from which he could expedl nothing 
 "but the lofs of his reputation, of his life, and of his foul; for they were 
 perfuaded, with the utmoft degree of certainty, that heaven always 
 gave the vidlory to the right caufe ; and therefore a duel, in their opinion, 
 was an aftion of which the event could be determined by no human 
 power. When the two months were expired, the two rivals were put 
 into a clofe prifon, and committed to the ecclefiaftics, who employed 
 every motive to make them change their defign. If, after all this, 
 they ftill perfifted, a day was at lafl fixed. to end their quarrel. 
 
 When the day was come, the two champions were brought farting 
 in the morning before the fame judge, who obliged both of them to 
 declare upon oath that they faid the truth, after which they fufFered 
 them to eat; they were then armed in his prefence, the kind of arms 
 being likewife fettled: four féconds, chofen with the fame ceremonies, 
 faw them undrefled, and anointed all over the body with oil, and faw 
 their beards and haircut clofe. They were then conduded into an in- 
 clofed ground, and guarded by armed men, having been made to re- 
 peat, for the laft time, their affertions and accufations, to fee if they 
 perfiiled in them without alterations. They were not even then futfer^ed 
 to advance to the combat : that moment their féconds joined them at 
 the two ends of the field for another ceremony, which of itfelf was 
 enough to make their weapons drop from their hands, at.leaftif there 
 had been any frienddiip between them. Their féconds made them 
 kneel down in this place facing each other; they made them join hands, 
 •with the fingers of one put between the fingers of the other ; they de- 
 manded juftice from one another, and were conjured on each fide not 
 to fupport a falfity ; they folemnly promifed to aâ: upon terms of ho- 
 nour, and not to aim at the vidory by fraud and inchantment. The 
 
 féconds
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 ^econds examined their arms piece by piece, to fee that nothing was want- 1 605. 
 jfig, and then conduced them to the two ends of the lifts, where they "«— -m — i 
 made them fay their prayers and make their confeffion ; then asking 
 each of them whether he had any meffage to fend to his adverfary, 
 they fuffered them to fall to, which they did at the fignal of the he- 
 rald, who cried from without the lifls, " Let the brave combatants 
 «' go." After this, it is true, they fought without mercy, and the 
 vanquidied, dead or alive, incurred all the infamy of the crime and 
 the punifbment; he was dragged upon a hurdle in his ftiirt, and af- 
 terwards hanged or burnt, while the other returned honoured and 
 triumphant, with a decree that attefted him to have gained his fuit, 
 and allotted him all manner of fatisfadtion. 
 
 There is throughout all this ceremony fomething wild and ridicu- 
 lous ; but, however, the voice of reafon, authority, and prudence, is 
 ftill heard, though its didtates are utterly miftaken ; whereas there is 
 nothing but monftrous unreafonablenefs in the praâice of thofe fmart 
 youths, who withdraw flily into a field to (hed the blood of one an- 
 other, with hands impelled by no better inftindl than that which in- 
 ftigates a beaft of prey. If men went to fight with the fame coolnefa 
 and deliberation as in former times, can it be imagined that there 
 would be the hundredth part of the duels that now happen ? But 
 men have thought it neceflary to difmifs confideration from that ac- 
 tion, which is ferions above all others : fome rulh blindly into this 
 danger, others pleafe themfelves with being born for the deftrudlion 
 of their fellow-creatures ; others revive the hateful trade of the gla- 
 diators, and are indeed more dreadful and contemptible than the men 
 that bore that name were heretofore. 
 
 The forms of duels which were obferved in Germany, differ not 
 effentially from thofe of France, which I have defcribed : they were 
 likevvife received in Spain and England ; only he who yielded to his 
 adverfary upon a fingle wound was reputed infamous ; he could not 
 afterwards either cut his beard, bear any office, wear a weapon, or 
 mcunt a horfe. On the contrary, he who died in a couragious de- 
 fence was buried honourably. Another Angularity, which muft have 
 kept duels from being common in Germany, was, that there were on- 
 ly three places where they could be fought, Witzbourg in Franconia, 
 Ufpach, and Hall in Swabia. 
 
 Vol. II. Sfi I 
 
 497
 
 4.9S M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXII. 
 
 1605. I COULD not wait for his majefty's return to Paris, to communicate 
 to him the memorial of which I have now mentioned the contents j 
 to inform him of the acciden's to which this practice gave occafion j 
 and to defire him to put a ftop to an evil which was every day fpread- 
 ing hy his indulgence. I intreated him to attend to the counfel which 
 I had prefumed to give him, to renew the edid;s againll: duels, to ag- 
 gravate the punilliment conliderably, and execute it feverely ; and to 
 forbid all men to profecute any word of injury or offence otherwife 
 than by courfe of law ; but to manage fo, that the juftice obtained 
 might be fpeedy and fatisfadtory; to make the complainant eafy, and the 
 aggreffor penitent; and lalUy, to have this new order fixed up, at the 
 beginning of every year, in the courts of the Louvre, the palace, the 
 arfenal, and in other places that were mod frequented *. It is cer- 
 tain, as I reprefented to his majelly, that a reputation for perfonal va- 
 lour, fuch as this prince had eftabliflied, was able to give to an edi(ft 
 concerning duels, twice the authority that it could derive from mere 
 royal plealure; but the pleafure of the mafler of kings, a power far 
 fuperior, did not allow to the reign of Henry the Great, the extirpa- 
 tion of this abufe. 
 
 It may be faid, without pretending to juflify this prince, that his 
 eafinefs with refpecîl to duels proceeded from a habit contracted by his 
 long wars, by which he faw bloodflied without emotion ; and that he 
 was likewife not much lefs indifferent about his own blood. He had 
 always fome notion that the lafl: moment was inevitably predetermined : 
 this opinion he difguifed to himfelf, under the chriftian notion of re- 
 fignation to God. There was fent me from Rome, about that time, 
 an account of a confpiracy againft the ffate, and an attempt upon the 
 life of the king, which I thought I ought to difclofe to him, though it 
 feemed to me worthy to be defpifed, as indeed he defpil'ed it. He told 
 me, on that occafion, that he was convinced of its being bed: for his 
 happinefs to pay no manner of regard to intelligence like this -f, and 
 that otherwife his life would be worfe than death ; that the calculators 
 
 * If we attentively read what cardinal thefe Memoirs where duels are fpoken of. 
 
 de Richelieu has faid on this fubje£l, in his f " Let him alone," faid this prince to 
 
 Political Teftament, part I. chap. iii. § 2- thofe who perfuadcd him to punifh a man 
 
 the title whereof is. Of the meam to prevent who had been engaged in a confpiracy 
 
 duels; we muft own, that great miniller againft him, "he is a wicked wretch whom 
 
 feems to have drawn all his refleiSlions on " God will punifh, without my interfer- 
 
 this matter from this and other parts of " iag." Matthieu, vol.1, b. 2. p. 359. 
 
 ef
 
 Book XXII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 of nativities had threatened him, feme, that he fhould die by the fword ; 
 and others by a coach : but that none of them had ever mentioned poi- 
 fon, which feemed to him the eafieft way to difpatch him, becaufe he 
 eat a great deal of fruit of all kinds that were offered him, without hav- 
 ing them tafted ; therefore, upon the whole, he gave himfelf up to the 
 Lord of his life and of his death. 
 
 It was not poffible but fpeaking in this manner, Henry reckoned a 
 little, without perceivingit, upon thegood fortunethathad accompanied 
 him as well in the dangers that particularly threatened his perfon *, 
 as thofe which regarded his kingdom and happinefs. Of eight perfons 
 from whom he had mod to fear in this latter refpeét, he remarked that 
 fome favourable planet had freed him from fix of themoftconfiderable; 
 that one was dead in the hangman's hand, and two others of ficknefs ; 
 the fourth was acflually in prifon ; the fifth was gone into volun- 
 tary banifhment ; the fixth was reduced to flatter him whom formerly 
 he endeavoured to deftroy. For the other fort of good fortune, we have 
 {ctn examples throughout this hiflory: but, alas ! thisgood fortune was 
 not complete ; but an unhappy moment for France, as well as for the 
 prince, has wholly blotted out that idea of profperity. 
 
 499 
 
 * Henry IV. efcaped one, on Monday 
 the igth of December; of which M. de 
 Perefixe gives the following relation. " The 
 " fame day on which Mairargues was ex- 
 " ecuted, an unfortunate madman made 
 " an attempt on the facred perfon of the 
 *' king, rufhing on him with a poignard 
 " in his hand, as he returned from hunt- 
 " ing over the Pont-neuf. His majefty's 
 *' footmen running up obliged him to quit 
 " his hold, and were going to beat his 
 " brains out on the fpot, had not the king 
 *' forbid them, and ordered him to be im- 
 " prifoned in Fort-L'Eveque. His name 
 " was John De-Lifle, a native of Vineux 
 
 " near Sen) is. He was immediately after- 
 " wards examined by the prefident Jean- 
 " nin, who could not get any rational an- 
 " fwer from him ; for he was entirely out 
 " of his fenfes : he fancied himfelf to be 
 " king of all the world, and faid Henry IV. 
 " had ufurped the kingdom of France from 
 " him, and he was therefore going to 
 " chaftifehim for his temerity : whereupon 
 " the king thinking him fufficiently pu- 
 " nifhed by his madnefs, commanded he 
 " fhould only be kept in prifon, where he 
 " died foon after." Hiftory of Henry the 
 Great, part 3. 
 
 S {{ 
 
 M E M G I R S
 
 M E M O I R S 
 
 O F 
 
 SULLY. 
 
 BOOK xxin. 
 
 1 606. ^TT^ H E king and queen being at Paris on the firfl: day of this year, 
 ■ I went to the Louvre in the morning, to pay my refpeâs to 
 -*- them, and offer the ufual prefents. I did not find the king in 
 his own chamber; L'Oferai and Armagnac told me, that he was in 
 bed with the queen, and that, probably, both were ftill afleep, becaufe 
 the queen's indifpofition had kept them awake almoft the whole night. 
 I pafled on to the queen's apartment, to enquire of La-Renouillere and 
 Catherine Selvage the ftate of their majefties health ; and knocked at 
 the door as foftly as poflible, that I might not wake them. I found that 
 the courtiers were already admitted ; for feveral voices, which I knew 
 tobethofeof Roquelaure, Frontenac, and Beringhen, afked all at once, 
 •' Who is there?" and when I anfwered, I heard them fay to the king, 
 " Sire, it is the grand mafter:" " Comein, Rofny, faidhis majeftytome, 
 " you will think me lazy, till you know what has kept us fo late in bed : 
 " my wife, who believes £he is in her eighth month, having had fome 
 *' pains as {he was going to bed, I was apprehenfive that ihe would 
 ** have a dangerous labour; but towards the middle of the night they 
 *' proved to be only the effe*îls of the cholic ; and (he growing eafy we 
 " fell afleep, and neither of us waked till fix o'clock this morning; but 
 *' on her part, with groans, fighs, and tears, for which flie has afligned 
 
 *' ima^
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 *' imaginary caufes : I will tell you what they are when fome of thefe 
 " people have left the room, for you will not fail to fpeak yourfenti- 
 " ments freely, and I believe ycur advice will not be unufeful on this 
 " occafion, any more than on many others of the fame kind. But, in 
 •* the mean time, let us fee what you have brought us for our new- 
 *' year's-gifts, for I perceive you have three of your fecretaries with 
 '* you, each loaded with a velvet bag." " I remember, fire, replied I, 
 «' that when I laft faw the queen and your majefly together, you were 
 " both in very good humour, and believing that I fliould find you 
 *' flill fo, and in expedlation of another fon, I have brought you a 
 ** great many new-year's-gifts, which, from the pleafure they will be 
 *♦ received with by thoië perfons among whom I ihall diftribute them 
 *♦ in your name, will afford you great fatisfaâion ; and I could wi{h this 
 ** might be done in the prefence of your majeftyand the queen." "Tho' 
 ** fhe fays nothing to you, replied the king, and plays the dormoufe, as 
 <* ufual, yet I know flie is not afleep ; but flie is offended both with 
 " you and I : we will talk of this when only you, Renouillere, Be- 
 <' ringhen, and Catherine are prefent, for they know fomething of the 
 " matter — but let us fee your gifts." " Thefe prefents, faid I to 
 «' his majelly, do not exprefs the ftate of a grand mafter of the ord- 
 •' nance, nor are worthy of the treafurer of a rich and powerful mo- 
 " narch j but, fmall as they are, they will neverthelefs give more joy 
 " to thofe on whom they are beftowed, and will produce you more 
 " acknowledgments, fame, and praifes, than the exceffive gifts you 
 " lavifli upon perfons who I am well affured thank you only by com- 
 ** plaints full of ingratitude." " I underfland you by half a word, 
 *' replied Henry, as you fometimes lliew you do me ; but let us fee 
 •* your prefents, and talk no more of what you have heard." 
 
 I THEN ordered my three fecretaries to approach. " Sire, faid I, 
 " here is Arnaud the elder, who carries in this bag, which holds the 
 " papers of the council, three purfes of gold medals." I lliewed them 
 to the king, and explained the motto, which expreffed the affedtion of 
 the people for his majefty. " One of thefe purfes, fire, continued I, 
 *• is for yourfelf, the other for the queen, and the third for the dau- 
 •• phinj that is to fay, for Mamanga *, if her majefly does not keep 
 *♦ it herfelf, as (he always does. In this bag likewife are eight purfes 
 
 * Madam de Montglat, whom the young and madam Elizabeth of France, to ma- 
 prince called fo. In the g 1 38th vol. of the dam de Montglat, there is one from the 
 king's MSS. which is entirely filled with young dauphin to his fifter, in wh:ch he 
 original letters of Henry IV. the queen, tells her, he kifl'es Mamanga's hands. 
 
 " of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book' XXIII. 
 
 of filver medals, ftruck In the fame manner, two for your majefty, 
 two for the queen, and four for Renouillere, Catherine Selvage, 
 and fuch other ladies of the queen's chamber as you fliall pleafe to 
 *' give them to. Arnaud the younger has in his bag five and twenty 
 " purfes of filver medals, to be dillributed by the Dauphin, madam 
 " de Montglat, madam de Drou, and mademoifelle de Piolant among 
 " the niirfes, and other women attendants on your children, and 
 *• among the queen's maids. And in the third bag, which Le- 
 " Gendre carries, there are thirty little bags, of a hundred crowns each, 
 *' in demy-franks, all new, and fo large that they look like whole 
 " ones ; thefe are for prefents to the queen's maids, and the women 
 " of her chamber, and thofe belonging to the children of France, ac- 
 " cording to your orders. I have left two large bags in my coach, to 
 *' the care of my fervants, full of douzains, all new likewife, and 
 ** each bag worth a hundred crowns, which make twelve thoufand 
 " fous ; thefe are to be divided among the poor invalids who are upon 
 " the keys of the river near the Louvre, which I am told are almoft 
 " full. I have fent thither twelve of the moft charitable men in the 
 " city to range them in order, and diftribute the prefents. You cannot 
 *' imagine how much thefe trifling new-year's-gifts, in little pieces 
 " new coined, will pleafe thefe poor men, and the queen's maids and 
 women of her chamber : they all declare, that they do not regard 
 '* thefe gifts for the value, but as being inftances of your regard for 
 " them; efpecially the queen's maids, who fay, that what is given 
 " them to purchafe cloaths they muft lay out as direcfled, but thefe 
 " hundred crowns they may lay out in what trifles they pleafe, which 
 " is more to their tafle." " But Rofny, faid his majefly to me, will 
 " you give them their new-year's-gifts without making them kifs you 
 " for them ?" " Truly, fire, replied I, fince you once commanded 
 *' them to kifs me, I am under no neceflity of ufing prayers and in- 
 " treaties, they come very willingly; and madam de Drou, who is 
 " fo devout, only laughs at it." " Ah ! Rofny," continued Henry, 
 with the fame gaiety, " fince it is fo, pray tell me truly, who kifles 
 *' you mort willingly? ahd which of them do you think the hand- 
 " fomeil ?" " Faith, fire, returned I, I cannot tell you, I have no 
 " leifure to think of gallantry, and I believe they take as little notice 
 " of my beauty as I of theirs : I kifs them as we do relics when we 
 *• prefent our offerings." The king could not help laughing aloud; and 
 addreffing himfelf to thofe who were prefent, " What do you think, faid 
 " he, of this prodigal financier, who makes fuch rich prefents out of 
 " his mafter's pocket for a kifs ?" After diverting himfelf a few mo- 
 ments 
 
 <c
 
 Book XXIII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 503 
 
 merits with this tliought, " Go to bieakfail:, faid he to the courtiers, 1606. 
 " and leave us to conter a little upon matters of more importance*" U/'"V"\J 
 
 Every one retiring but Renouillere and Catherine, the king gently 
 pufliing the queen. " Awake, you dormoule, laid he, give mc a kifs, 
 «* and be peevifli no more, for all our little quarrels are already forgot by 
 *' mc ; I am folicitous to keep your mind eafy, left your health rtiould 
 " fuffer during your pregnancy : you imagine, purfued he, that Rofny 
 " favours me in our little difputes ; but you would be undeceived, if 
 " you knew with what freedom he fometimes tells me truths : and tho' 
 " I often refent thofe liberties, yet I am not really offended with him 
 " for them; on the contrary, I rtiould believe he no longer loved me, 
 " if he ceafed to make me fuch remonftrances as he thought were ne- 
 " cefTary for the honour of my perfon, the good of my kingdom, and 
 •• my people's happinefs ; for be afTured, my dear, added he, there are 
 " none fo juft and fo upright, who would not wholly fall, if, when 
 " they began to ftumble, they were not fupported by the good coun- 
 ** cils of prudent friends and faithful fervants : and to convince you 
 " of the truth of what I fay, know that Rofny has been continually 
 " telling me, for thefe fifteen days paft, that you are in your eighth 
 " month, and that I ought not to difcompofe you, for fear of hurting 
 •' yourfon, for a fon he infifts upon it, it is*." 
 
 This good prince, afTuming an air ftill more tender and obliging, 
 intreated her to tell him, before me, what was the caufe of her 
 waking fighing and in tears. The queen at laft, turning to him, faid, 
 that her grief was occafioned by a dream, which feemed to confirm 
 what had been predidled to her a few days before, but that her mind 
 had been relieved by weeping. She then, in her turn, intreated the 
 king to fpare her any farther uneafinefs, at leaft while fhe was with 
 child, and to avoid giving vent to fuch exprefllons, " which, faid flie, 
 " make me, as well as others, believe, that you are happier in the 
 •* company of other perfons than in mine, and thofe too, purlued flie, 
 *' whom I well know are not only unfaithful to you, but hate you 
 
 * The aftrologers liad foretold it, fays gaiety, that if this daughter flioiiIJ not hap- 
 
 L'Etoile's Journal, and that the queen's pen to meet with a proper eflablilliment, 
 
 life would K- in danger. She was happily there would be many others in the fame 
 
 brought to bed of a daughter on the loth condition ; and that if her mother had not , 
 
 of February. Henry !V. in order to com- bore a daughter, fhe would not hare been- 
 
 fort the queen (for fhe paffionatelv defired queen of France, 
 to have a, fon) laid to her, with his ufu.il 
 
 " in
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIII. 
 
 ** In their hearts ; I know the reafon alfo, and I appeal for the truth 
 " of this to M. de Rofny, whofe word I will take." 
 
 I AVOIDED this explanation, by anfwering in a general manner, that 
 it gave me great joy to fee their majefties open their minds thus frankly 
 upon their little quarrels j that I found it would not be difficult to put a 
 final end to them for the future, if they would ferioufly refolve to yield 
 to fuch means as would be ufed for that purpofe, by perfons who chofe 
 rather to ferve their true intereft than footh their refentment. This 
 propofal was accepted immediately, and they defired me to propofe 
 thole means ; the queen faying, that fhe was refolved to make ufe of 
 them, and the king, that they would be highly agreeable to him. I 
 then declared to their majefties in plain terms (having firft convinced 
 them, that any other remedy would end only in talking and adling to 
 no purpofe, as had hitherto been the cafe) that there was only one way 
 of getting rid, at once, of all the occafions of thefe perplexities; that 
 fmce they had reafon to diftrull: their own fteadinefs, in taking and 
 keeping refolutions, they fhould make choice of fome perfon for this 
 bulinefs, who while this decifion was depending, and after it was deter- 
 mined, ihouldtake the whole upon himfelf, and aft as if the king and 
 queen were abfolutely without concern in it. I advifed them to chufe 
 a man fleady enough not to let himfelf be fhaken by any confideration, 
 and capable of fuch pure and honeft; affedlions, as to ferve them, when 
 the cafe required, by oppofing their inclinations. 
 
 I DISCOVERED not the Isaft inclination to be employed in this bufi- 
 nefs, which indeed was not very agreeable; but I allured their maje- 
 fties, that if it was upon me they call their eyes, they mull begin by 
 being abfolutely filent with refpe<ft to the means they faw me make 
 ufe of; and that, to give me a fecurity that my work Ihould not be de- 
 ftroyed by any return of difgull, they Hiould oblige themfelves, in 
 the moll Iblemn manner, not to oppofe anything I fhould do, nor to 
 preferve any refentment againfl me, although one of the parties, and 
 perhaps both, mufl, by admitting the remedy I fhould make ufe of, 
 do fome violence to their inclinations. I believe they guelTed what this 
 remedy was*; and I may venture to afl'ert, that if they had agreed to 
 my propofal, no human confideration fliould liave hindered me from 
 
 • M. de Sully has acquainted lis with it tains, arid the like number over the Teas, 
 before, in the advice he gave the king, to as he cxpreHcs himfelf. 
 fend four or five perfons over the moim- 
 
 purfuing
 
 . ooK XXIIÎ. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 purfuing it ; but I had good reafon to fear they would not fuffer me to 
 proceed thus far. However, the king replied, that he was ready to 
 fign thi? engagement; but the queen, finding herfelfprefled, durft not 
 ■venture to make any promife : flie faid Ihe would confider of it; or 
 otherwife, I mufl tell her what it was I intended to do. Yet fiie 
 knew my intentions as well as the king, but was afraid of the confe- 
 quences of a compromife. So we did nothing afterwards but talk of 
 that matter to the wind ; for fuch it is to difcufs with a ferions air the 
 trifling projeds of the court, which have been already fo often exhauft- 
 ed and worn out. It was through complaifance for their majeftics 
 that I confented to engage in this bufinefs, they having earneflly 
 prelfed me to it. I retired upon the queen's calling for her fliift, and 
 the king for his cloaths. 
 
 The king and queen made my wife g./ïd I very confiderable pre- 
 fents, in return for my new-year's-gifts ; we likewife received fome 
 prefents from queen Margaret. ■ All the time the king flaid in Paris 
 was fpent in balls, mafquerades, and diverfionsof every kind. January De Thou, 
 the loth, this prince came to the arfenal, it being very fine weather, Merc. Fr. 
 to fee a courfe of running at the ring. *""' ^ ^^ 
 
 When the entertainment was over, Henry led m.e into the great 
 walk in the gardens, where, leaning againfl the fide of the balcony, I 
 heard him with pleafure begin a ferious converfation upon his political 
 defigns; the motto of my medals, with which he was greatly pleafed, 
 had turned his thoughts upon that fubjedl. I had before perceived for 
 fome time, that Henry began to be more and more perfuaded of the 
 neceflity and importance of this political plan ; and that he every day 
 removed fome obftacle to the execution of it : he ufed often to fay to 
 me, that Philip III. had not profited by the wife councils of Philip II. 
 his father, to look upon all thofe vain-glorious ideas of univerfal mo- 
 narchy, with which his predecefiibrs heads had been intoxicated, as fo 
 many idle chimera's: he added, that this prince, by all his proceedings, 
 had made it evident he had not renounced them, and that there was 
 not one among all the princes of Chriftendom, who would be exem- 
 pted from the attacks of this proud and infolent monarchy, till it was 
 made to feel its own impotence of power by that great blow, the de- 
 fign of v-'hich I had firit hinted to him, and to the king of England ; 
 and which, as he owned, had not made all the impreffion on his mind 
 it ought to have done. I believe the proceedings of the chamber 
 Des grand jours in the former year, contributed moft to this firmnefs 
 
 Vol. IL Ttt of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. BookXXIIL 
 
 of Henry ; for by thus difcovering the fecret pradlices of Spain againft 
 him, his natural hatred of that crown was greatly increafed. 
 
 I MAY venture to affirm alfo, that the converfation we had together 
 upon this fubjedt had a great fliare in the refolution he had now taken ; 
 and indeed it was not poffible for a prince, though he were ever fo 
 inattentive to his own glory, to refleâ: upon all which an infatiable ava- 
 rice and boundlefs ambition had in thefe later times induced the houfe 
 of Auftria to undertake, without being feized with indignation. That 
 Raoul de Hablbourg, v/hofe nobleft exploits, when his eledion to the 
 empire was declared to him, had been to lead fome foldiers into the 
 neighbourhood of Bafil, during the fadions of the Etoiles and the Pa- 
 pequais, was never eafy till he had divided Alface between himfelf and 
 the city of Strafburg ; and afterwards, increafed his little domaine with 
 the dutchies of Auftria, Stida, Carinthia, and other hereditary lands 
 which are flill poffefled by his family in Germany. From the begin- 
 ning of the fourteenth century, when this happened, down to our own 
 times, how many ftates, what an immenfe extent of country, has not 
 this all-engroffing houfe devoured ? the kingdoms of Spain, thofe of 
 Naples and Sicily in Italy, the ifles of Sardinia, Majorca and Minorca, 
 Bohemia and Hungary in Germany, Burgundy, Flanders, and all the 
 Low-Countries ; add to thefe, the acquifitions fhe has made in the 
 eaftern ifles, and in the new world, equal almoft in exent to all that is 
 difcovered of the three other parts of the earth. Can we flill doubt 
 then whether Charles V. who raifed her to fuch an exalted pitch of 
 power, intoxicated with fuch fuccefs, did not ferioufly think of fwal- 
 lowing up all the reft of Europe, Afia, and Africa. 
 
 Is there a neceffity to bring any other proofs of this vain fcheme for 
 univerfal monarchy than the deftrucSionof the German proteftants, the 
 conqueft of Tunis and Algiers, the invafion of France, fo openly de- 
 clared by the irruption made into Provence, and by the famous fiege 
 of Metz J enterprifes formed at one time by that monarch ? And if we 
 have feen this project blafted, to what can we attribute it, except to dif- 
 ferentcircumftances, and obrtacles raifedagainfthimfelfby theprecipita- 
 tionof a mind which, in the intoxication of fuccels, thinks every thmg 
 poffible ? Charles V. undertook too many things at once, and thofe 
 greatly beyond his ftrength ; he engaged in thofe enterprifes without 
 caution, ^nd almoft without any preparation ; he braved earth, fea, 
 the elements, and feafons. Soliman, who made head againft him in 
 
 Europe,
 
 Book XXÎII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Europe, Afia, and Africa ; Francis the firft, Henry the eighth, the 
 Pope, the kings of Navarre, Tunis, and Algiers, were enemies he 
 defpifed, and whom he fcarce took any notice of: he knew not how to 
 manage the only refources which remained for him ; his own fuhjedls 
 rebelled againft him in Spain, Flanders, and Sicily : at length when he 
 acknowledged his error, he found no other remedy for it but an effort 
 ofdefpair, which made him abandon all, to confine himfelf to the 
 gloom of a cloifter. I never drew this pidlure to Henry without add- 
 ing, that Philip the fécond, as ambitious as his father, but u better poli- 
 tician, had refumed all his defigns, and might poffibly have fucceedcd 
 in them, if his private views upon France, England, and Ireland, had 
 not been crofTed by the lucky chance that had brought together two 
 fuch able heads, as thofe of Henry and Elizabeth *. 
 
 I HAD always been apprehenfive of the effecfls of the courtiers fug- 
 geftions, and the perfualions of the queen. This princefs was conti- 
 nually reprefcntingto the king her huiband, the advantages of a double 
 alliance with Spain j fiie affirmed, that if France was united with 
 Rome, and the two Auftrian branches, it would be an effectuai way 
 to extinguifli all fadions in Europe, and that policy as well as religion 
 dictated this method. Henry affured me, that this fort of converfa- 
 tion, which had prevailed at court for fome time, no longer affeded 
 him ; and if he fometimes heard and anfwered fuch difcourfe, like one 
 who fought to convince himfelf by making folid objedlions, it was only 
 to hinder thofe perfons from penetrating into his defigns, and to flatter 
 them with the hope of gaining him over to theirs, till a proper time 
 came for taking off the mafque. We agreed that matters were not yet 
 ripe enough for that; and this converfation concluded, as many others on 
 the fame fubjed: had done, by agreeing that, till that moment arrived, 
 it was Henry's part to continue his endeavours for drawing into this 
 affociation, the princes of Germany and Italy, the dukes of Bavaria 
 and Savoy, the former efpecially, by the profpedl of gaining the im- 
 perial crown, and the latter by the hopes of acquiring Lombardy, and 
 the regal dignity granted in favour of a marriage betwixt his eldefl fon 
 and the eldell daughter of France. 
 
 ■•£)' 
 
 * It could only be with a view to invade duke feme of his own in exchange for 
 
 Fiance in general, or fome part of it, that them : Matthieu the hiflorian inforniti us of 
 
 Philip II. intended to poflcfs himfelf of the this circumftance, vol. II. b. ii. p. 240. 
 duke of Savoy's dominions, by giving the 
 
 T 1 1 2 The
 
 jo8 MEMOÎRSOFSULLY. Book XXIII. 
 
 1606. The king could think of no other means to remove thofe obftacles 
 
 which he had reafon to expedl the duke of Bouillon would raife, than 
 to reduce him to reafon, by feizing thecity of Sedan. This expedient 
 Henry's own mind fuggefled to him; and he refolved upon it fo much 
 the more willingly, as hc-<;ould undertake this expedition without 
 creating any fufpicion of his other deligns. He ordered me to prepare 
 immediately a train of artillery, proportionable rather to the reputation 
 of that place, than its real ftrength, which this prince did not know 
 quite fo well as myfelf : he declared to me, that he was refolved to 
 'march thither in perfon, unlefs he was prevented from it by the gout 
 or fome other indifpofition, in which cafe he would commit the con- 
 dudl of this enterprife to me ; and that I might join together the au- 
 thority and dignity fuitable to the high employments I exercifed, his 
 majefty offered me that moment, and indeed commanded me to accept 
 the rank of duke and peer, defiring me to tell him from which of my 
 eftates I would chufe to take my title, that he might order Viileroi to 
 make out the patent immediately. 
 
 I HAD refufed this dignity before when the king fent me ambaffador 
 to England; but, fince that time, the repeated bounties of this indul- 
 gent mafter had removed the obftacle which hindered me from taking 
 advantage of his favourable intentions ; and finding likewife that this 
 prince wirtied me to be raifed to this rank as much for hi? own intereil: 
 as mine, I accepted this new favour with the higheft acknowledgment. 
 I named the lands of Sully for my title, and the patent for it was figned 
 on the 1 2th of February, fealed a few days afterwards, and regiflered 
 on the laft of the fame month *. All the lords of the court, and the 
 greatefc part of the grandees of the kingdom, were pleafed to accom- 
 pany me when I went to the parliament for the ceremony of my recep- 
 tion, which was ftill further honoured by the prefence of all the princes 
 of the blood, except the count of Soiflbns ; the great chamber, the 
 hall, all the galleries, and the very courts themfelves were fo full, that 
 there was fcarce room to move. I carried fixty perfons of the higheft 
 quality home with me to the Arfenal, where an entertainment of flefli 
 and fifh was prepared for them, and was moft agreeably furprifed to 
 find his majefly, who went thither during the ceremony without giving 
 me notice of his intention, " Grand mafter," cried the king, as foon 
 
 * De Thou, b. xxxvi. and almoft allthe the marquis de Rofny. Henry IV. had 
 hiftorians, mention the diftinguifhed man- before made him honorary counfcUor of the 
 ner in which this dignity was conferred on parliament. 
 
 as
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 as I entered, " I am come to the feaft without beuig invited; fliall I 
 " have a bad dinner ?" " It is potTible you may, Sire, I replied, iince 
 " I did not expedl to be honoured with your preiènce." " I aflure 
 " you I fliall not," returned the king, preventing my acknowledg-, 
 ments, " for while I waited your return, I vilited your kitchens 
 " where I have feen the fineft fi(h imaginable, and ragouts in my own 
 *' talle ; and becaufe you (laid too long, I have allayed my hunger 
 *' with fome oyilers, and drank fomeof your wine of Arbois, which I 
 ** think is the befl I ever tafted." The king's gaiety heightened the 
 pleafure of the entertainment ; and the reft of the day was pafled to 
 the entire fatisfadlion of the guefts. 
 
 His majefty fent for me the next morning, and, in the prefence of 
 all the courtiers, afked me whether I had remembered to make a me- 
 morial of the train of artillery for the attack of Sedan which he had 
 mentioned to me : it was already drawn up ; and when I left my clo- 
 fet I put it into my pocket. 1 now prefented it to the king, who 
 caufed it to be read aloud, by which means the courtiers were acquaint- 
 ed with the king's defign ; who afterwards humoroufly faid, that the 
 duke of Bouillon, though a naturalifed German, had not probably 
 forgot the French language ; but that if it was fo, we might teach it 
 him in a little time by this method. His maiefty then feeming to 
 expedl my advice concerning this war, I told him, that I did not 
 think the duke of Bouillon had fo little judgment, as not to be fenfl- 
 ble of the vaft difproportion betwixt his majefty's forces and his own, 
 or fo imprudent as to expofe himfelf to the danger of knowing it by 
 experience ; that I had a long time forefeen his city would not hold 
 out againft the cannon j and knowing this better than any other, I 
 was afTured that, if he made any fhew of refiftance, it was only with 
 a hope that, during that time, he might employ more fuccefsfully the 
 arts of negotiation : yet that I took the liberty to advife his majefty to 
 write once more to the duke of Bouillon, and let him know that, in 
 the prefent conjundlure, he might come with full fecurity and throw 
 himfelf at his feet, and be very certain that, upon this fubmiffion and 
 more exadlnefs in keeping his word for the future, his pardon would 
 begrantedand himfelf treated as formerly; butthat if herefufed thislaft 
 favour, he muft no longer expeél to be received upon any terms of 
 compofition. After this I continued to give the king an account of 
 the preparations I had made; the king approved of the hint I gave 
 him to fend away only the body of the artillery from Paris, and to 
 take up the ammunition and other neceffary provinons in places nearer 
 Sedan, to fave the expcnces of carriage. 
 
 This-
 
 çio M E M O I R s O F s U L L Y. Bock XXIJ. 
 
 5 
 
 1606. This affair was not puflied on as vigoroufly as I had expecfted it 
 
 would, on account of the great oppofition it met with at court, where 
 the leafl: preparation for war feemed to give as much akrm as it could 
 do to the enemies themfelves. Nothing was talked of but the difficul- 
 ties to be encountered before a town, the fortifications and fituation of 
 which every one exaggerated to Henry, and of the inconveniences 
 which would attend a fiege as long as that mud: inevitably be : to hear 
 them, one would have imagined that heaven and earth were interefted 
 in favour of Bouillon and his city. They contrived that a memorial on 
 this fubjedl, in the form of a letter, fliould fall into his majefty's hands, 
 full not only of abfurdity but impertinence ; the king thought the llylc 
 of it refembled that of the duke of Bouillon, with fome ftrokes of Du- 
 Pleffis and Tilenus : it was not furprifing that the particular friends of 
 Bouillon or the proteftants fliould talk in this manner, fuch as Mont- 
 luet, La-Nouë, and the two Saint-Germains, who might think the 
 whole proteftant body concerned in this bufinefs : but it was flrange 
 that perfons who had no connexion with the duke of Bouillon, and 
 even others who underflood fortification, as the engineer Errard for 
 inftance, fliould never mention this defign but to fliew the impofiibi- 
 lity of executing it : it would be very difficult for me to believe that 
 thefe perfons wiflied well to the undertaking. 
 
 The king himfelf fell into an irrefolutlon which was wholly incom- 
 prehenfible to me ; I often reprefented to him, but in vain, that he 
 would, by this procedure, give all the advantage of the caufe to perfons 
 who, having neither arms, hearts, nor hands, depended upon this re- 
 fource alone : and it is certain, that the duke of Bouillon would not 
 have feen matters carried fo far as they were, but becaufe he perfuaded 
 himfelf upon the report of his friends at court, who gave him intelli- 
 gence of what pafled there, that his majcfly would never carry his de- 
 figns into execution. Another expedient which thofe perfons made ufe of, 
 was to tell the king that the duke had no intention to refifl: him, but 
 that he could not refolve to appear weak and fearful before perfons, 
 who, infteadof making him a faithful report of his majefty's intentions, 
 feemed felicitous to widen their difference by threats and infults; that 
 if, infl:ead of thofe perfons (and here I was certainly meant) his majefty 
 would be pleafed to treat with him, by men proper to infpire him with 
 a confidence in his promifes, he would be foon convinced of the truth 
 of their alertions. Montluet * and La Noue, among others, boafled 
 
 * Francis d'Angennes, fieur Montluet. Odet de La-Nouë. 
 
 that
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 that they would, without any difficulty, bring him back to his duty ; 
 therefore the king thought the befl thing, he could do was to depute 
 them to him : they brought back nothing but words, and thofe gene- 
 ral and ambiguous ; yet this did not open Henry's eyes, becaufe they 
 likewife reprelented to him that Sedan, by the new fortifications which 
 was raifed there, was abfolutely impregnable. I know not whether 
 they really were carried away by this falfe opinion, or only affeded to 
 appear fo : but Henry, inftead of haftening his preparations after this 
 aniwer from the duke of Bouillon, difcovered more plainly, that he 
 thought the fuccefs of this attempt very doubtful. 
 
 I LIKEWISE refledled ferioufly upon the difpofition I faw the king in, 
 and began to fear, that when by fupporting him againfl: the general 
 outcry, and againfl his own apprehenfions, I flaould have embarked 
 him in the enterprifej upon feme unforefeen difficulty which he might 
 probably meet with, or by not having influence enough over his 
 mind already ftrongly prepoffefled, he might abandon it after 
 ' great noife and expence, or poffibly liften to' propofals for an ac- 
 commodation with the duke, upon conditions neither fuitable to his 
 perfon or dignity : in which cafe it would be better either not to en- 
 gage in the attempt, or to find, while it was yet time, fome other way 
 to fave his majedy's honour. I was very fure, that the reproach of 
 making an ufelefs armament, could not fall but upon me ; that I Hiould 
 be accufed of having done too much or too little, and that faults abfo- 
 lutely contradi(flory to each other would be imputed to me from the 
 fame perfons. I concluded, that it was neceifary Henry fhould of 
 himfelf come to fome determination ; and I was willing to fee what 
 would be the refult of his own reflexions. 
 
 I BEGAN therefore to fpeak lefs frequently, and with more coolnefs 
 than before of the enterprife of Sedan, and obferved the fame condudt 
 in public ; the king was one of the firft who perceived this alteration ; 
 and as he did not endeavour to penetrate into my reafons for this beha- 
 viour, or thought that I had changed my opinion concerning the duke 
 of Bouillon and Sedan, it came into his mind that, having myfelf re^- 
 fletSed more deeply upon the advice I had given him, I now tacitly re- 
 traced it, perceiving that the blow I v/as aiming againft one of the 
 heads of the prcteftants might fall upon the whole body, by opening 
 a way to opprefs one after the other, all who fupported them in France. 
 From this thought, which was already firmly tftabliffied, Henry eafily 
 pafled to a belief that I had no great reliance upon his equity, or tha* 
 
 my
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 my attachment to my religion carried me too far ; he declared this fuf- 
 picion to feveral perlons whom he knew to be my friends, and in order 
 to have it cleared up by myfelf, he came to the arfenal. I was then 
 confined to my chamber, by the wound I had formerly received in 
 my mouth and neck, from whence ilTued a fplinter of bone, fonie lint, 
 lead, and fome grains of gunpowder, ftill fo frefli and fo little altered, 
 that they took fire when laid on fome burning coals. 
 
 Henry turning the difcourfe upon the duke of Bouillon. " T thinlc, 
 " faid he, you are not fo folicitous about this affair of Sedan, as yoa 
 " were fome time ago, nor fo firm and fteady kî your refolves con- 
 " cerning it as I have known you to he on other occafions, where far 
 ** greater difficulties were to be expedledj what is the meaning of it ? 
 *' tell me freely, I entreat you, and do not conceal any thing from me." 
 This prince, by an effeél of the livelinefs of his temper, did not give 
 me time to reply, but proceeded to difcover the notion he had enter- 
 tained of my alarms and apprehenfions with refpeil to the proteftant 
 body in France. He protefted with great earneftnefs againfh the fufpi- 
 cion of his labouring to ruin the chief proteftants one after the other ; 
 he appealed to the knowledge I had of his fentiments, and afked whe- 
 ther it was not true, that it was generally known that, in whatever con- 
 cerned the fervice of his perfon and his table, he choie rather to truft 
 himfelf in the hands of the proteftants than the catholics ; and he af- 
 fured me alfo, that he had no perfonal hatred to the duke of Bouillon ; 
 that he would require nothing diflionourableof him; in a word, that he 
 would make me judge of the manner in which he ought to be treated. 
 
 I WAS pleafed to hear the king fpeak thus, and alTured him, that I 
 was well convinced of his favourable fentiments for the proteftants in 
 general, and for me in particular; yet I owned, that the fufpicion he 
 had entertained of me with regard to the affair of Sedan had given 
 me uneafinefs : I declared to him the true caufe of that coldnefs he 
 taxed me with ; and, having afterwards exhaufted all the reflexions 
 which the mind could fugged: on this occahon, I dilclofed one to him 
 which had occured to no one but himfelf; and this was, that the ex- 
 pences Bouillon had been at in fortifying Sedan having entirely ex- 
 haufted his funds, and probably involved him in great debts, this 
 might be the real caufe of his not yielding to his majefty's defires, 
 fince, if he refigned Sedan to him, he would deprive himfelf of the 
 only refource he had to retrieve his affairs ; and this fuppofed, perhaps 
 «11 that was neceffary to bring the affair to a happy conclufion, was to 
 
 offer
 
 "BooFC XXm. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 offer the duke of Bouillon a Aim fufficient to pay his debts. I repre- 
 fented to the king, that if, by giving Bouillon two hundred thoufand 
 crowns, he might be prevailed upon to accept all the other conditions-, 
 his majefty would be ftill a gainer of fix hundred thoufand, fince the 
 expenceof the armament he was preparing could not amount to lefs than 
 eight hundred thoufand crowns. A new motive for treating Bouillon 
 with the utmoft rigour of war, if he obliged the king to attack him, 
 was to declare not only the principality of Sedan, but the vifcounty of 
 Turenne likewife reunited to the crown ; although he pretended to 
 hold them both of France in the fame manner, as they do the great 
 fiefs of the crown : I added, that unlefs his majeify did this, he would 
 have the mortification of having made advances, for which afterwards 
 nothing could make amends. It /liould feem that it was a kind of fore- 
 fight of what happened, which made me infift fo earneftly upon this al- 
 ternative, either to fhewan extreme indulgence before the enterprife was 
 begun, or, when we had once taken up arms, an inflexible refolution. 
 
 The king replied, that to enter into a négociation with Bouillon, 
 would be to confirm him in the opinion, it appeared by the letteralready 
 mentioned he entertained, that his majefty durft not attack him : he 
 confented, however, to let me try this method in concert with the prin- 
 cefs of Orange * who was then at Paris, and that we fliould fend Du- 
 Maurier -f- to the duke with difpatches, the purport and terms of which 
 he left wholly to me. " But you muft likewife promife me, added 
 "" Henry, that, if he fliould not accept the offers you make him, you 
 *' will ferve me impartially in this affair, and in the manner you have 
 " done before," purfued hcj inftancing the fiege of Amiens, the cam- 
 paign of Savoy, and other enterprifes of the fame kind. This I faithfully 
 promifed. " It is enough," faid Henry, taking my hand, " I am fatif- 
 " ficd, and will rely entirely upon your capacity and fidelity." Saying 
 this he left me. 
 
 I WENT the next day to the princefs of Orange, and concerted with 
 her the manner in which we fhould both write to the duke of Bouillon. 
 We fettled the deputation of Du-Maurier, and the matter of the in- 
 ftruâions which were to be given him. This is the fubflance of the 
 letter I wrote to the dukej I began by calling to his remembrance the 
 
 * LouifadeColigny the admiral's daugh- prince ofOrange,whofewido\vniethen was, 
 
 ter, firft married to the count de Teligny, f Benjamin Aiibery du Maurier, at 
 
 who was killed on St. Bartholomew's day ; firft attached to the duke of Bouillon, aftsr- 
 
 And a fécond time to "WUlJam of Nalïau wards to the duke of Sully. 
 
 Vol. II. U u u 
 
 power
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 power and perfonal abilities of the prefent king, both as well known to 
 himfelf as to me; and I entreated him to refleil well upon theadvantages 
 they gave him, fince this was the fureft way to avoid the dangers with 
 whicli he was threatened, and to prevent being blinded by his own 
 prejudices, or carried away by the violence of his paffions. This was 
 not indeed to flatter, but as I told him, it was to give him a clear no- 
 tion of what he might expeft, and to prevail upon him to follow the 
 advice offered him by the princefs of Orange, and by a man who foli- 
 cited him as a friend, not to reduce himfelf to the neceflity of giving 
 to force, what nothing but his own obftinacy would hinder him from 
 granting to conditions difcated by the utmoft gentlenefs. I did not 
 enter into a detail of the propofals, but informed him, that Du-Mau- 
 rier was commiflloned to make them to him perfonally ; befides which, 
 we had reduced to writing all that he had to fay to him in our names> 
 that nothing might be forgot or miftaken. I prevented the objeftions 
 which I fuppofed be would make, that his majefly did not appear 
 to have any part in the propofals we made him, by giving him my 
 word of honour, and even offering to become furety, if necefTary, that 
 his majefty would ratify whatever fliould be agreed on betwixt us j 
 adding, that I was willing to be branded with the names of bafe, per- 
 fidious, and dilhonourable, if every article was not performed. I con- 
 cluded with earneftly intreating him not to fuff'er matters to come to 
 an extremity. This letter, which exadly agreed with that written by 
 the princefs of Orange, was dated the. i ft of March. 
 
 The duke of Bouillon anfwered by a letter, dated the 4th of the 
 fame month : he told me, that he had received a letter from me, as 
 likevvife one from the princefs of Orange ; that he had heard what Du- 
 Maurier had to fay, and had read his paper attentively, but that he had 
 reafon to complain he.fhould be obliged to purcbafe the king's favour 
 by a meannefs which would render him unworthy of it ; that what 
 was promifed him was only by a writing, which could be known but 
 to a fmall number of perfons, while all France would be witnefs of 
 his humiliation, and the little regard the king would afterwards have 
 for him ; that his friends whom he had confulted, and who were not 
 fo inconfiderable for their number as has been reported, were all of 
 his opinion ; that his majefty was very far from having thofe favour- 
 able thou-^hts of him which he had been made to hope for, , fince he 
 diftrufted his fidelity fo much, as not to allow him to keep a place of 
 fo little ftrength as Sedan. And here he added, but with more confi- 
 dence, and in contradidion to what he had juft faid, that he was well 
 
 informed.
 
 BûoK XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 informed therewere perfons who attempted to impofe upon his ma 
 jefty, by promifing to make him mafter of Sedan in lefs than a month' 
 and without the lofs of one fingle man. Bouillon, no doubt, applaud- 
 ed himfelf here on the ingenious way he had found to give me 
 the lye in fpeaking to myfelf. The whole letter was in this ftrain of 
 complaints without foundation, and proteftations of innocence, equally 
 vague and uncertain. He took care to avoid making any confefhon 
 cr promife; and all that he faid to the purpofe, after this idle preface, 
 was, that if he had given the king any caufe to be offended with him, 
 rather than aggravate his fault by denying, he was ready to make a 
 frank confefTion of it, and to fubmit to any reparation his majefty 
 fhould require, provided it was not expelled the return of his favour 
 and confidence fliould cofl him his poor inconfiderable city, which he 
 was ready in an authentic manner to declare, that he held only from 
 his goocjnefs : but that if the king perfifted in his refol'ition to deprive 
 him of it, he fliould be forced to believe, that though his words ex- 
 prelTed kindnefs, yet his adions teftified hatred. 
 
 Bouillon's letter to the princefs of Orange was conceived almoft 
 in the fame terms ; and what Du-Maurier related from himfelf having 
 nothing more fatisfadlory in it, the king began to confider the duke of 
 Bouillon as wholly untradlable. I thought it neceflary, however, to 
 anfwer his letter : I told him that his majefly was difpleafed at the 
 manner in which he had refufed the offers he had made him by me ; 
 that he had thought his letters full of diftruft, doubts, and of expreffions 
 very difrefpedtful to him ; befides his affedlation of not anfwering pre- 
 cifely to what was propofed to him. I added, that I was truly grieved 
 my advice fliould have no other effedt but to imbitter his mind, as it 
 had happened formerly, when I wrote to him upon the imprifonment 
 of maréchal Biron; but that the time would come, and perhaps it was 
 already near, when he would be fenlible that the counfel I had given 
 him was in the prefent conjuncture the beft that could be offered ; 
 and I warned him, for the lafl time, to think ferioufly of it, and ear- 
 neftly entreated him to take fuch a refolution as would bemofhfor his 
 true interefl, fince nothing (whatever he might think to the contrary) 
 would give me more fatisfaftion. 
 
 o 
 
 In the mean time I had found means to get a plan of Sedan drawn, 
 both of the upright and the ground-plot. The king came to the arfe- 
 nal to look at it, and brought with him the count of Soiffons, the 
 duke of Epernon, the marechals Briffac, Fervaques, Bellegarde, and 
 
 U u u 2 Ro-
 
 Si6 M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXUL 
 
 1606. Roquelaure, Don John de Medicis, De-Vic, Montluet, La-Nouë, 
 
 C— (, ' Boeffe, Nereftan, D'Efcures, Eiard, and Châtillon, who had drawn the 
 
 plan, but whom I had exprefsly ordered not to give his opinion before 
 ib many witneffes. The fituation of the place, its flrength, and the 
 form of the attack, were fubjedls for endlefs debate among fo many 
 perfons : Montluet, La-Nouë, and Erard, maintained with great obfti- 
 nacy, that it was impregnable, and could only be reduced by famine. 
 All this while I fcarce made any anfwer, t4iough they generally ad- 
 drefTed themfelves to me, and often demanded my thoughts of thofe 
 terrible foffes, all cut in the rock, for lb they alledged they were. 
 
 The aflembly feparating without taking any refolution, I waited 
 upon his majefty the next day ; and after telling him my reafon for 
 keeping filence the day before, which was, that among fo many per- 
 fons fecrecy is but ill kept, I made him lenfible, that none of thofe 
 diligent obfervers had attended to any of the defefts in the fortification 3 
 among which were, the valley of the fountain, that of Ginmenes, the 
 foffes, which in fome places were not defended by the natural rock, 
 but flanked with earth brought thither for the purpofe ; and the two 
 approaches by the river fide, one above and the other below, fo fpacious, 
 that I afiîired his majefty I would lodge, and that with very little dan- 
 ger, all the troops within two hundred paces of the city, and even un- 
 der the counterfcarp of the artificial ditches, becaufe that the turning 
 of the valleys would cover them from the difcharge of the fmall arms, 
 while the befieged would not be able to lliew themfelves upon their 
 parapets, nor fcarcely in any other place, without being perceived from 
 the eminences in the field, which fo abfolutely command the whole 
 body of the fortification, that we might have a full view of the infide 
 of the lodgments, from before, behind, and of each fide : and I gave 
 his majefty my word, that within the eighth day after the batteries 
 were raifed, I would put him in pofieffion of Sedan. 
 
 This once the king believed me, and in the joy that tranfported 
 him he flew to impart it to meflieurs de Medicis, de La-Force, De- 
 Vic, de Nereftan, and Boëfle, whofe difcretion he was well affured of, 
 and who greatly praifed my caution. After this, Henry no longer he- 
 fitated whether he fhould attack Sedan, but prepared to fet out as foon 
 as poffible, at the head of a body of cavalry, and fome companies of the 
 regiment of guards j while I, in the mean time, afifembled the reft of 
 the troops in a body, and fent away the artillery before ; taking care 
 that the country people and citizens ftiould receive no infult, or fuffer 
 
 the
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 517 
 
 the leaft inconvenience, by the quartering of fo great a number of 1606. 
 foldiers. 
 
 The defign of falling upon the duke of Bouillon couU not fail to 
 raife murmurs among the proteftants ; and it is probable, that the duke 
 depended upon a general infurredtion in his favour. If this was the 
 eafe, he was deceived in his expectations; to which, I confefs, I con- 
 tributed. I took occafion, from a letter that Parabere wrote to me 
 upon this fubjedl, to give in my anfwer a kind of manifefto, which 
 might juftify to the proteftants the king's proceedings, and flievv that 
 the duke of Bouillon fuffered only through his own fault. It was for 
 this reafon that I took much more pains in the compolition of this 
 letter, and extended it to greater length, than I fliould have done if 
 Parabere only had been to fee it; fori fufpected, and with reafon, that 
 it would be made public. 
 
 I BE&AN with enumerating the chief favours which Bouillon had 
 received from his majefty, who had preferred him to the prince of 
 Condé himfelf, made him maréchal of France, firft gentleman of the 
 bed-chamber, and raifed, before any other of the proteftants, to all 
 honours and dignities, rewarded with penfions and appointments much 
 larger than what were given to the others^ his penfions, falaries, &c. 
 amounting to one hundred and twenty thoufand livres a year; befides 
 ■which, his majefty had married him as advantageoufly as he could hav» 
 done his own fon or brother ; favoured him in the fuccefllon of Li- 
 meuil, and, after the death of the duchefs his wife, fupported him with 
 all his power : this particular I was myfelf an ocular witnefs of, and I 
 fpoke of it as fuch. Thefe ad:s of kindnefs, and thefe repeated bene- 
 fits, I contrafted with the ingratitude with which Bouillon had behaved 
 to Henry; his fecret pradtices,his feditious condudl at the fiege of Ami-r 
 ens, his retiring from court when maréchal Biron was arrefted, and 
 his leaving the kingdom, which was attended with circumftances more 
 than futBcient to condemn him. I took Parabere to witnefs that not- 
 wiihftanding all this, himfelf, Conftant, and I, had been greatly in- 
 ftrumental in foliciting thofe favours which his majefty had fince been 
 ftill willing to beftow upon him : I obferved to him, that Bouillon had 
 infome fort confelled himfelf guilty of high treafon, by his requefting a. 
 full and general pardon ; and when his majefty appeared ready to grant 
 it, eluded all by a fubterfuge which was in itfelf a crime ; for he, tho' 
 a fubjedl and domeftic of the king, from whom alone he held the 
 principality of Sedan, refufed to hold it upon the fame conditions of 
 
 pro--
 
 MEMOIRS OF SU.LLY. Book XXIII. 
 
 protedion which the late duke of Bouillon had accepted from Francis II. 
 of whom he was neither a fubjedl nor domellic. 
 
 I AFTERWARDS enumerated all the conciliatory methods which feme 
 of his chief friends had fent Du-Maurier to propofe to him, with fuli 
 alîlirance that his majefty would confent to them, namely, that it fliould 
 bç propofed to the king, that Sedan fhould be confidered as one of the 
 cautionary cities given to the proteftants j that the duke fhould fell it 
 to the king; or if not, that La-Noué fliould be made governor of it, 
 the Ibvereignty, and even property, remaining to the duke : but that 
 while' the king offered him more than he had reafon to expedl, he 
 would liflen to nothing, and, by his ill-timed obftinacy, obliged us to 
 draw our fwords againft each other, and to reduce the church of Sedan 
 to the extremity it would be lliortly in : that his majefi;y was lb greatly 
 affeéled at this misfortune, that he had refolved, and even faithfully 
 promifed the deputies from the church, to make no change, or intro- 
 duce any innovation in the religion of Sedan, although he fliould take 
 it by ftorm. I concluded with earneftly intreating Parabere to do mc 
 juflice in public, as to the purity of my intentions, and my grief at 
 beholding one, who profefTed the fame religion as myfelf, running fo 
 blindly upon his deil:r«<^ion, 
 
 Henry thought it neceiTary to ufe the fame precaution with the 
 proteftant party. Bouillon having made, by La-Nouë, fome propoials 
 not fit to be received, the king publilhed and anfwcred them by a 
 writing which was diftributed among the duke's friends, tho' at the 
 hazard of confirming both him and them in their belief, that his ma- 
 jefty was defirous of ending this afïair by gentle means ; and they ac- 
 cordingly gave out, that the king now defpaired more than ever of the 
 fuccefs of his enterprife; to which Bouillon added (as being reported 
 to him by La-Viéville, D'Arfon, and Du-Maurier, who were deputed 
 to him at different times) that it was I who thus raflily engaged his 
 majefly, againft his inclinations, in a war ; and that I one day boaffed to 
 this prince, I would take Sedan in three months, by attacking it on the 
 fide of Fer a-Cheval. This lafi: report indeed was true, and made the 
 kingbegin to refleâ: upon the pretended fidelity of thofe he had admitted 
 into his councils ; for when thofe words efcaped me there were none 
 prefent but the king, Don John, and Erard. Bouillon accordingly 
 confidered and treated me as one of his mofl dangerous enemies, who en- 
 deavoured to fupprefs every favourable thought which arol'e in the mind 
 of his majefty for him. It was the king's part to anfwer this reproach, 
 
 and
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 and he did it ia the manner I willied ; and as for thofe other reports, 
 which were ftill more inlblent, he reiblved to force Bouillon foon to 
 change his ftyle. 
 
 His majefty left Fontainebleau the latter end of March, carrying 
 with him the queen, who would go part of the journey *, notwith- 
 ftanding the badnefs of the roads ; and took his rout by Rheims, Rhe- 
 tcl, Mezieres, Doncheri, and Mouffon. As I did not fee his majefty 
 again till the whole affair was concluded, I fliall take the relation I 
 give of it from the letters he wrote to me, and thofe which by his 
 orders were continually fent me by Villeroi and La-Varenne. 
 
 Bouillon kept up his firfi: arrogance as long as he could : he boaft- 
 ed to Du-Maurier, that as foon as he founded a trumpet he would 
 drive the forces of France from his gates. The king, while he pur- 
 fued Bouillon with arms, was defirous alfo that preparations Ihould be 
 made for his trial, which he commanded me to pufli on vigoroufly 
 before I fet out to join him. The duke tampered lb fuccefsfully with 
 four of his majelty's gunners, that they fuffered themfelves to be pre- 
 vailed on to defert him, making ufe of the horfes he fent them to 
 La Fére in Tartenois for that purpofe ; a crime which well deferved 
 an exemplary punifliment. Although the duchefs of Bouillon did not 
 leave Sedan, yet he managed with fuch art, that thofe whom his ma- 
 jefty employed to bring him an account of every thing that was doing 
 there, reported that (he had retired to Germany, to avoid the incon- 
 veniences (he might be expofed to in a belieged city. He was heard 
 to boaft likewife, that by ftan.ping his foot upon the ground, he would 
 bring four thoufand men into Sedan ; and would have had it believed 
 that he had the abfolute difpofal of feventeen companies of horfe and 
 fome regiments of foot, which were in Luxembourg j and that he 
 fliould procure a powerful fupply from the Swifs Cantons, The moft: 
 circumiiantial advices we received were, that before the 20th of April 
 he expected to be reinforced by five or fix hundred foldiers, which he 
 had caufed to be levied in Gafcony and in the neighbourhood of Li- 
 meuil, and ordered them to embark at Bourdeaux. A nephew of 
 Rignac, and a man named Prépondié, raifed them, under colour of 
 
 * The queen only made this journey, tageous conditions that were poffible for 
 according to De Thou, the Merc. Franc, the duke of Bouillon, who had engaged her 
 and the mofl authentic memoirs of that in his intereft. 
 time, in order to obtain the moft advau- 
 
 being
 
 520 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 1 606. being recruits for the war in Fliinders : his majeily had received notice 
 of this from Pucharnaut, vvhile he was fcill at Paris. 
 
 These advices, upon a nearer examination, were found to have 
 greatly exaggerated the truth : it was known that Germany did not 
 offer to ftir in the duke of Bouillon's caufe ; the king was well affured 
 by Bongars, that the arch-dukes teftified more fear of our armament 
 for themfelves, than inclination to declare againfl: us ; Spain thought 
 the occafion too flight to break the peace with France j and England 
 had not the fmalleft confideration for Bouillon : three or four hundred 
 Swifs adventurers were all he could depend upon, and this number 
 was likely to be lefTened, fmce our levies againll him were carried on 
 in thofe cantons without any oppofition. Montglat had not yet feen 
 the eledor Palatine, but he wrote from Strafburg, that this prince 
 fliared in Bouillon's fears, and the Landgrave fent letters to France to 
 notify his intentions to us. 
 
 As for the duke himfelf, every one knew that he had not more than 
 twelve hundred foldié'rs in Sedan ; and we were afterwards more parti- 
 cularly informed, that he had, in reality, but (even or eight hundred, 
 citizens and adventurers together, part of whom alfo feemed to have 
 an inclination to leave the place before the approach of the king's ar- 
 my. It was reported that Bouillon himfelf had retired into Germany, 
 efcorted for fome leagues by his garrifon, and had been feen in Bafcognc 
 by fome foldiers who knew him, and to whom he fpoke. Some par- 
 ticulars, with regard to the orders he had given in Sedan for the caftle 
 and town, gave room to believe that he did not defign to return : but 
 this news, which the governor of Ville-Franche came exprefs to relate 
 to the king, was found to be falfe ; the duke of Nevers, who was bet- 
 ter informed, wrote the king word, that the duke of Bouillon had in- 
 deed marched out of the town, at the head of three or four hundred 
 men, but it was to meet a German prince, with whom he returned to 
 Sedan the night after. Although the feveral informations given his 
 majefty by his agents did not exadlly agree in every circumflance, yet 
 k was known from very good authority, that Bouillon was not far from 
 his city. This German count,, whom it was faid he had brought into 
 Sedan to undergo a fiege there, was the third of the counts of Solme : 
 the eldeft was grand mafter to the eledor Palatine ; we have feen the 
 fécond with the fieur Du-PlefTon : as for this, his knowledge and ex- 
 perience were not fpoken of very advaiitageouily. 
 
 The
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 521 
 
 The king was indifpofed at Nanteuil, with a cold which did not 1606. 
 hinder him from hunting, as foon as be began to fpit : he wrote me 
 word from this place on the 27Lh of March, that he had miffed of his 
 flag, but to make amends for that, he had taken two wolves, which he 
 looked upon as a favourable augury; at Frefne he found four compa- 
 nies of the regiment of guards, already recruited with feveii hundred 
 men, whom he permitted to ftay there, till the ill: of April, to raife all 
 the recruits they wanted. It was eafy to perceive the heart of Henry 
 expand itfelf, and a martial ardour appear in his countenance, at his 
 refuming his firfl glorious occupation. He went two leagues from 
 Frefne to dine, and from thence to attend the fervice called the ténè- 
 bres at Rheims. Here he continued till the Wednefday following, 
 when he was joined by the duke of Mercoeur, and all the nobility of 
 the country. There alfo he faw Du-Maurier, who came from Sedan, 
 commiffioned by the duke of Bouillon to tell him, that he confented to 
 receive a perfon there, in the king's name, provided that he was in- 
 verted with no authority, and that his garrifon Ihould remain there, 
 commanded by his own officer ; that he was ready likewife to receive 
 his majefty into Sedan with what train he ihould think proper, and all 
 whom he chofe to depute to him, but that he perlifted in his refolution 
 to be fole mafter of his own city; and rather than refign it, he would 
 be contented to lofe his eftates, his children, and his life : but in pro- 
 portion as the danger came nearer, the duke's pride abated. 
 
 The king, without returning any anfwer to this propofal, fent the 
 duke of Nevers* to Mouffon, to affcmble what cavalry was come thi- 
 ther, and hinder thofe fuppofed troops of the duke of Bouillon from 
 entering Sedan : the whole number amounted but to three hundred 
 men, Swifs and Germans included ; and there was no appearance that 
 any more Ibpplies would be fent him, his majefty being then in a con- 
 dition to prevent them. The king difcovered great impatience to ad- 
 vance towards this city, but he had yet only his regiment of guards 
 with him ; the recruits of light-horfe arrived in good order, but the 
 remainder of the troops were not to join him till the fourth of April. 
 The king did me the honour to write to me twice from Rheims, on the 
 24th and 26th of March, preffing me to come thither to him with my 
 fon ; he propofcd to fet out on the 27th for Rhetel, and to be at Mouf- 
 fon on the 30th, which was the day he prefcribed for the rendezvous 
 
 * Charles de Gonzague de Cleves, duke of Nevers. 
 Vol. II. X X X of
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Boox XXIIL 
 
 of the regiment of guards, although the roads were rendered almoft 
 impayable by the rains. His majefty wrote to me aUb to fend him 
 fome officers and horfes, with a convoy of pick-axes, fliovels, and 
 mattocks, and fome pieces of cannon of a moderate fize, to strengthen 
 his lodgment. 
 
 Nevertheless very little dependence was to be had upon all thefe 
 appearances, as notwithlfanding the preparations for war, fo many per- 
 fons were labouring to conclude the affair by way of negotiation ; and 
 in effedl, the party that was for peace, in a ihort time prevailed. His- 
 majefty, however, was but ill fàtisfîed with the laft propofals which Du- 
 Maurier had brought from Bouillon, and which, by the king's order, 
 were communicated to the keeper of the great-feal and to me. His 
 majefty was yet more offended with the memorial, in which it feemed 
 as if the duke wanted to treat with Henry as his equal. D'Arfon, of 
 his own accord, went to Bouillon after Du-Maurier had prefented thiS' 
 impertinent memorial to the king ; but Bouillon, after this facrilice ta 
 his vanity, comprehended that it was at lafl: time to change his lan- 
 guage, which all of a fudden he foftened very much; in confequence 
 of which, he deputed Nétancourt* to intreat his majefty to fend Villeroi. 
 to confer and treat with him; to which the king confented,on condi- 
 tion that the conference was held atTorcy, in the dominions of France. 
 The laft a(fl of extravagance of this man, who certainly deferved worfe 
 than what adlually befel him, was to fend back Aériens, who, witlv 
 Henry's leave, had been with him, and to declare by him, that 
 he difclaimed Nétancourt, and that he could do without Villeroi. 
 
 Henry mufl have had fome pow-crful reafons, though unknown to 
 me, which made him depute, as he did after all this, Villeroi and Din- 
 teville -j-, in order to throw the whole blame of the mifcarriage of the 
 accommodation upon Bouillon. With them it appears that Bouilloa 
 flicwed neither ill-humour, nor adifmclinationto treat. Villeroi him- 
 felf wrote me word what paffed between them, and fubjoined to his 
 letter a long memorial, which he wrote the fame evening being the 
 30th of March, after he had returned to Donchery. If I was to be- 
 lieve Villeroi (for we fliall immediately fee the realbns I had to doubt 
 his lincerity) he found Bouillon fo dark and irrefolute, that he could 
 
 * John de Nétancourt, count of Vau- Champagne, died in 1642. 
 becourt, counfellorof ftate,camp-marechal, f Joachim de Dintcville, governor of 
 
 lieutenant-general of the city and bifhop- Champagne, 
 ric of Verdun, governor of Chalons in 
 
 not
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 not anfwer for any thing till another interview, nay until Bouillon had 
 not only concluded and ligned the treaty, but alfo begun to execute it : 
 now how fliall we be able to reconcile this with what follows immediately 
 after, when he fays, that it feems as if the duke of Bouillon was com- 
 ing to reafon, but by fuppofing that he could not heip throwing out 
 fome dark hints of his knowledge of the treaty being much nearer a 
 conclufion than he cared to tell me. He further acquainted me, that 
 a fécond conference was to be held the next morning at Donchery, 
 which would oblige the king to fpend another day in that place. 
 
 As a proof that Villeroi did not communicate to me the whole of this 
 affair, La-Varenne, who wrote to me at the fame time, informed me, 
 that Bouillon had prefented himfelf at the conference with the air of a 
 man who afked quarter; for which condudl, fays he, he had very good 
 reafon, as after having made his utmoft efforts, after having exhaufted 
 his fmall territory by levies on all lides, he could raife no more than fifteen 
 hundred raw men, none of whom had ever feen an engagement, with 
 a few French and German foot foldiers, and only twenty-five Swifs, 
 all the reft of his troops being in a moft wretched condition, except fome 
 Flemings from Frankendal and the neighbouring country. Therefore, if 
 in this extremity the duchefs of Bouillon had not yet left Sedan, there 
 was no reafon to doubt but that her husband had refolved to accept of 
 any conditions whatever, fo that the treaty might be looked upon as in 
 a manner concluded, it being only to fave his charadler from the re- 
 proach of fo hafty a capitulation, that the duke had demanded, as a 
 favour, a refpite till the next morning. 
 
 All was accordingly concluded in this fécond conference. Villeroi 
 was, in appearance, very eager to acquaint me with the news, fince he 
 wrote to me immediately after, as he had done the day before : how- 
 ever, he took care to conceal part of what had paffed, as we fhall foon 
 fee. In this fécond letter, ho.vever, he promifed to fend me the treaty 
 itfelf, as foon as it was fairly tranfcribed and figned, which was to be 
 done the next morning : but in the mean time he fpecified the prin- 
 cipal articles; the treaty was intitled " Articles of the proteftion of 
 •• Sedan, and Roucourt," and dated April the 2d, 1606, and to remain 
 in force four years. By this treaty, the duke of Bouillon confented 
 that the king fhould place a governor in the caftlc, with a company of 
 fifty men ; and that the inhabitants of Sedan Ihould take the oath of 
 fidelity to the king, which Bouillon alfo engaged to do himfelf. 
 Villeroi filled up the reft of his letter with the praifes which he faid 
 his majefty publicly beftowed on my vigilance, and tlie advice I had 
 
 X x X 2 given
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 given on this occafion; yet furely this was unnecefTary, for all my en- 
 deavours and all my counfels produced nothing : therefore, I was not 
 to be dazzled by Villeroi's flattery, nor could I alter my opinion of 
 his proceedings. 
 
 I HAD no reafon to doubt, that his majefly fincerely defired to give 
 me fome part in the conclufion of this affair, after the alTurances I had 
 received from him, and the letters he wrote to me for no other purpofe 
 but to prefs me to come, that nothing might be dene without me. I 
 do not pretend to know Villeroi's reafons for thinking fo differently 
 from his majefty in this refpeél; perhaps he was afraid I fliould de- 
 prive him of the hpnour of this treaty, or probably he thought Bouil- 
 lon might, by my interpofition, obtain terms more advantageous ; in- 
 which cafe, our friendfliip would unite us againft his policy, which 
 was to keep the moft confiderable proteftants at variance with each 
 other. This, however, was certain, that he preffed the conclufion of 
 the affair fo much the more eagerly, as his majefty appeared folicitous 
 for my being prefent, and repeated his invitations to me to come j and 
 to effedl this purpofe^ did not fcruple to make ufe of a little artifice. 
 Henry having given him the letters before-mentioned to be difpatched. 
 to me, he committed them to the care of a fervant, whom he order- 
 ed to ride flowly to Amiens, Saint-Qmntin, and Rheims, that I might 
 not receive them till I had got another letter from his majefty, vv'hich 
 he wrote to me eight days afterwards, and was brought to me by a 
 courier fent exprefsly with it. My aftonifliment may be eafily ima- 
 gined, when by thefe laft difpatches, I found that his majefty was 
 under great uneafinefs on my account, fearing that I was indifpofed, 
 fince he had received no anfwers to letters he had wrote to me eight 
 days before, which was the caufe that every thing had been concluded 
 without me. In this letter, which was dated Saturday, April the ift, 
 Henry defired me to delay no longer, but leave my heavy baggage at 
 Chalons, and meet him on Monday following at Cazine, whither he 
 went to fee the queen. 
 
 Having received thefe two letters both in one day, I fawlhad not 
 a moment to lofe, if I would meet his majefty at the place appointed. 
 I found, by the reception he gave me, that, after a little reflexion, he 
 would eafily pardon the fault Villeroi had committed with regard to 
 me*. This prince treated me with more than ufual kindnefs and 
 
 * De Thou, in the account he gives of but a fmall degree of inch'nation to the duke 
 this expedition of Sedan, b. cxxxvi. Ihews of Sully, but a grcût one to the duke of 
 
 relpedt.
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 refpeft, fuppofing perhaps^ that I refented his not waiting for me. "You 
 ** are welcome, faid he to me aloud, I have provided a fupper and a 
 ** bed for you ; you fliall have good accommodations." •' Can you 
 *' guefs," faid he afterwards in a low voice, and leaning towards me, 
 " why I have made fuch hafle ; it was becaufe I knew that, as foon 
 *' as you arrived, you would be for viewing every thing, and throwing 
 " yourfelf into the m"û dangerous places, fo that I was apprehenfive 
 *' of fome accident happening to you ; and I would rather Sedan was 
 *' never taken, than hazard fuch a misfortune, for I have need of you 
 ** for affairs of much more confequence." 
 
 After this, any reflexions I Should make upon this agreement, and 
 the whole condu<ft of the afïliir, might poflibiy not be free from partia- 
 
 Bouillon. He would perfuade us, that 
 Henry IV. having been convinced, during 
 this journey, that M. de Sully perfecuted 
 the maréchal de Bouillon only from a per- 
 fonal enmity to him, he was glad to take 
 the opportunity his ablence afforded, to de- 
 termine this affair by a treaty, becaufe in 
 reality his connexions with meffieurs de 
 Biron and d'Auvergne, had not extended 
 to any thing criminal. The evidence of the 
 Merc. fVanc. of almoll all the hiflorians, 
 and of the author of the Apology for the 
 duke of Bouillon himfelf, who, on the 
 contrary, fpeaks more favourably on this 
 cccafion of the duke of Sully, than of the 
 duke of Bouillon ; and the other proofs in- 
 terfperfed through thefe Merroirs, incon- 
 teftably evince, according to my judgment, 
 the invalidity of what 5'I. de 'I'hou here 
 afferts, of the opinion Henry IV. formed 
 of the duke of Bouillon's fentiments and 
 difpofition. A quite different degree of 
 credit is due to facls eftablifhed on the evi- 
 dence of original letters and diicourfes, as 
 the greatefl part of thofe produced in the 
 duke of Sully's Memoirs, and the prcfent 
 in particular, are, than to fuch as are founded 
 only on the tcltimony of public report: 
 and, if I am not niiilaken, it would not be 
 difficult to convince M. De Thou, that he 
 is incoafiflent with himfelf in what he fays 
 on this fubjecl. 
 
 It may be afKed, what was it then that 
 occafijned that precipitation in concluding 
 
 the treaty, that appearance of favour which 
 is manifeft in it, that myftery which M. 
 de Sully himfelf infmuates the king made of 
 it with refpeft to him ? I fubfcribe to the 
 reafons Marfolier gives : firft, that Henry 
 IV. had no mind to ruin the duke of Bou- 
 illon, but only to make him fenfible of the 
 weight of his power, to contain him within 
 the bounds of his duty for the future ; fe- 
 condly, that the duke of Bouillon, feeing 
 the inftrument of his affociation with ir.ef- 
 fieurs de Biron and d'Auvergne in the hands 
 of M. deVilleroi, thought it high time to 
 -make his fubmiffion to the king in earneft, 
 in order to obtain his pardon, which his 
 haughtinefs prevented him from aflcing, fo 
 long as he could flatter himfelf his machina- 
 tions were concealed : thirdly, that on due 
 refleiSlion, lienry IV. concluded the duke 
 of Bouillon would be able to do him lefs 
 niifchief at Sedan than any where elfe; and 
 that for this reafon he was fofar from driv- 
 ing him from thence, that he fent him back 
 thither in a month's time afterwards. As to 
 M. de Villeroi, v.'hofe behaviour on this 
 occafion the author condemns, he certainly 
 afted only in obedier.ce to the king's orders, 
 and in conformity to his intention ; and he 
 is therefore greatly commended on account 
 of this négociation, m the 8477 volume 
 of the royal iVISS. See the hiftorians, and 
 efpecially the Merc. Franc, anno 1606. 
 No writer has given fo minute a relation of 
 this fatSt, as is contained in thefe Alemoirs. 
 
 lityi
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIH. 
 
 lity ; all I Ihall fay therefore, is, that the duke of Bouillon had reafon 
 to think himfelf very happy that he got off at fo eafy a rate, after hav- 
 ing obliged his majefty to fet an army on foot, and bring a train of ar- 
 tillery of fifty pieces of cannon, within fifteen or twenty paces of Se- 
 dan, while he himielf advanced almoft to its very walls. All this 
 Henry acknowledged, and fometimes he was greatly enraged at the 
 duke's conduft; but his natural clemency prevailed. He made his 
 entry into Sedan on the zd of April, and left there fifty men, with 
 Nétancourt at their head. Bouillon came afterwards to pay homage 
 to his majefty, who fent for me to be prefent at this ceremony, which 
 was performed in the king's chamber fo early in the morning, that 
 the duke found his majefty flill in bed *. 
 
 I VISITED the town the next day, where, inftead of thofe powerful 
 fupplies which were to come from all parts of Chriftendom to the 
 duke's affiftance, three hundred miferable Lanfquenets, and twenty-five 
 Swifs, were all the foreign troops I faw there: all the reft were in pro- 
 portion, the cannon in very bad order, with four or five unfkilful 
 gunners to attend them, no place likewife fit to receive them, no faf- 
 cines, gabions, pick-axes, or planks ; in a word, none of the ufual pre- 
 parations for a fiege. It was not polTible for me to reftrain myfelf 
 from exprefling my aftonifliment to the duke of Bouillon, who was 
 prefent at the furvey, and who, not being pleafed either with my ob- 
 fervations, or the freedom of them, began a debate, which he fup- 
 ported with more heat than was neceffary. But however ingenious 
 his vanity might be, the inequality of the two parties were fo palpa- 
 ble, that he paffed among our neighbours, to have prevented his total 
 ruin by an implicit fubmilîîon. Cardinal Du-Perron fent me a letter 
 of congratulation from Rome, in which he fays, quoting an ancient au- 
 thor, wars ought to be carried on with vigour and rapidity, for by that 
 means we fave both time and expence ; thofe conquefts which are made 
 by the terror of arms, are more expeditious and extend farther, than thofe 
 which are gained by arms themfelves. The pope fpoke publicly of 
 this expedition in very advantageous terms ; and 1 was convinced 
 that, in all other countries, people thouglit of it in the fame manner 
 as they did at Rome. This gave me fome confolation, that the re- 
 putation of our arms did not luffer. 
 
 * Henry IV. obligingly anfwercd him, that it was not fo much his city of Sedan 
 which tempted him, as the goodfervices he expected from him perfonaîly. MSS. ibid.
 
 Book XXIIL MEMOIRSOFSULLY. 527 
 
 I PROPOSED likewife to indemnify ourfelves in fome meafure for 1606. 
 the expences of this armament, by reducing to his majefty's fubjedioii 
 the fortrefs of the earldom of Saint-Paul. And here it is neceflary to 
 remember what I have already faid concerning the acquilition of this 
 earldom in 1604, that when Gouillauire came from the count of Soif- 
 fons to propofe this bargain to the king, his majefty intrufted the ma- 
 nagement of this affair, in my abfence, to meffieurs Bellievre, Ville - 
 roi, Sillery, and MailTes ; and that upon the difficulties which I repre- 
 fented to this prince would arife in the affair, he caufed a contradl to 
 be drawn up, in the name of a third perfon, until the king, by making 
 himfelf mailer of thofe forts, they fliould be declared his by right of 
 conqueft. 
 
 When Henry propofed to me to pay the troops and difband them, 
 " How ! fire, replied I, difband them, what then will become of your 
 " contrad for the earldom of Saint-Paul ? Have you forgot the refo- 
 "^ lution you made when it was paft ? Since you have been at the ex- 
 " pence of raifing an army, what now remains but to employ it that 
 " way?" I reprefented to his raajefty, that it would be the work of 
 fifteen days only. The Spaniards had not the leaft expedlation of fucli 
 an attempt, and when it did happen could have no juft caufe to com- 
 plain, fince the king only made ufe of that power granted by treaties 
 to the earls of Saint-Paul, to chufe between France and Spain, which 
 fliould be declared to the council of Madrid at the fame time that we 
 fet forward. " I am convinced," faid Henry, after having heard me 
 attentively, " that you are in the right, but it requires fome delibera- 
 " tion before we engage in this affair ; and I ihould chufe to mention 
 " it to the principal perfons here with me, and to my ordinary coun- 
 " cil." T know not with whom hismajefly confulted, or what advice 
 was given him, but two days afterwards this prince took me afide, and 
 endeavoured to perfuade me, that at prefent it was beft to let this affair 
 fleep. I confefs, when I quitted the king, I could not help faying, 
 " Ah! de-par Dieu! — I find we are going to put our fwords in the 
 " fcabbards : with fo fine an army, and ib favourable an opportunity 
 " of employing it, we are preparing to difband our men." I was not 
 able to alter the king's refolution : the troops, were paid and difhanded, 
 and I fent back the artillery to Paris. 
 
 The king having a defire to enter this city with a difcharge of all 
 the ordnance, La-Varenne, by his order, came to acquaint me with it. 
 
 " What
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 " What does the king mean, monfieur La-Varenne," cried I, furprifed 
 at the propofal, " we have not drawn our fwords, nor fired one lingle 
 *' volley of cannon, and {hall we play the vidlors ? we who in two 
 " rcfpefts are the vanquished, for we have bought with too great cre- 
 " dulity, what the king ought only to hold by his own courage, and 
 " afterwards have been afraid to publifli our own acquifition. I was 
 " always apprehenfive that things would be managed thus ; tell the 
 " king that all the world thinks as I do on this occafion, and would 
 " laugh at us if we fired the cannon." I probably carried my free- 
 dom a little too far, but the grief I felt at what had happened was the 
 caufe of it. The king could not hear this anfwer without great emo- 
 tion ; he concealed it from no one butmyfelf. Praflin, and afterwards 
 Béthune, came back immediately, to tell me from him, with great gen- 
 tlenefs, that there was nothing unreafonable in what his majelly re- 
 quired of me ; and I, in my turn, thought I was able to convince them 
 of the contrary. Henry began now to be extremely enraged with me, 
 gave my refinance very harfh names, and fent me an abfolute com- 
 mand to obey him : which I did with fuch expedition, and with fo 
 great a noife of the artillery, that he was appeafed immediately, and 
 fent for me to come and embrace him *. Bouillon was in the king's 
 train when he made his entry ; he would certainly have injured his 
 majefty greatly to have feared from him any appearance of contempt. 
 The king refumed his former familiarity with him; and if there was 
 any change in his behaviour, it was only to greater kindnefs and re- 
 fpea. 
 
 About this time broke out the famous quarrel between pope Paul V. 
 and the Venetians ; the foundation of it had been laid long before, on 
 occafion of fome pretended ecclefiaftical rights which the holy father 
 at a very unfeafonable time undertook to maintain againfl this repab- 
 
 * The Journal of Henry IV. makes no " days 'tis pajî : fo much was I in love 
 
 mention of this difpute, but, on the con- '* with Sedan. You are now able to judge 
 
 trarv, fays, that M. de Rofny was at the " whether I was in the right or not; and 
 
 king's fide, converfing with him, and " whether I did not know the condition 
 
 fhewing him fome beautiful ladies : that " of that place better than thofe who 
 
 the maréchal de Bouillon was very plainly " wanted to make me believe I fhould not 
 
 dreflcd and mounted, and his look very " be able to take it in lefs than three 
 
 forrowful. A letter wrote by the king to " years," &c. M. de Thou is alio mis^ 
 
 the princcfs of Orange on the Airrender of taken, when he fays, ibid, that the duke 
 
 Sedan, is fet forth in this Journal in thefe of Bouillon did not arrive till three days af- 
 
 words : " Coufin, I may fay as Cxfar did, ter. See the Merc. Franc, where a defcrip- 
 
 " Veni^ vidi., via': or as the fong does : tion of his majefty's entry iiito Paris is 
 
 " 7T>ree days my love will loft, and in three given. 
 
 lie;
 
 Book XXIIÎ. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 lie ; who, on their fide, oppofed them by very firm decrees*. Frefiie- 
 Canage, our ambaflador at Venice, had given me notice of it in the 
 month of Oélober. Thefe decrees, joined to the imprifonment of 
 the two ecclefiaftics by an arret of the lenate, the interdict fulminat- 
 ed by the pope upon their refulal to revoke thofe decrees, and to do 
 him jullice with regard to their imprifonment; and laftly, the pfote- 
 ftation lately made by the republic againft this excommunication, had 
 brought matters to extremity on both fides. 
 
 To fpeak candidly my fentiments of the affair, I thought the pro- 
 ceedings of both parties much the fame, equally violent and impru- 
 dent. I have ever had a real refpedt for Paul V. and have profefled to 
 honour him greatly ; nor do I think what I am going to fay has any 
 thing in it contrary to thefe fentiments. We live not now in thofe times 
 when the popes exercifed that fpiritual authority from which they 
 thought, and with reafon, their greatefl: advantages were derived, and 
 exercifed it in fuch a manner, as gave them, in reality, a fovereign power 
 over the princes and liâtes in Chriflendom. At prêtent, their ufurpa- 
 tion of temporal authority is clearly known and diflinguiflied, and is 
 ftrongly contefted with them. I may almoft venture to fay, that they 
 are difabled with regard to their fpiritual power : at leaft it is cer- 
 tain, that the proteftants deprived them of two thirds of it at once; 
 an example fo recent, and foeafy to imitate, that it was certainly very 
 injudicious in the Roman court, to expofe the republic of Venice to 
 fuch a temptation, furrounded as it is by provinces who have fhook 
 off the yoke of the apoftolical fee, and who would receive them with 
 
 * By one of the decrees, of the loth of in particular in the writings on this famous 
 
 January, 1603, it is forbidden to build any difpute. Thejefuits, the capuchins, and 
 
 church without leave from the government; a fmall number of other monks, were all 
 
 and by a fécond, of the 26th of March, 1 605, that paid any obedience to the interdiiSion, 
 
 eccleiiaftics, and perfons holding in mort- and thereby got themfelves drove out of the 
 
 main, are reftrained from making any ac- Venetian territories : the excommunication 
 
 quifition without fpecial authority. I {hall was treated with contempt by all the other 
 
 not enter into a difcufllon of thefe points orders in the republic, and divine fervice 
 
 of law, there being an infinity of treatifes continued to be performed as before. It 
 
 wrote at that time on each fide of the que- is reported, that the vicar-general to the 
 
 {lion; the chief are thofe which came from bifhop of Padua, faying to the governor, 
 
 the pen of cardinal Baroiiius, in favour of that he would aft on this occafion as the 
 
 the pope ; and of friar Paul Sarpi, a monk Holy Ghoft fhould infpire him ; the gover- 
 
 of the order of the Servites, on behalf of nor made anlwer, that the Holy Ghoft 
 
 the Venetians. All thefe may be feen in had already infpired the council of ten, to 
 
 M. De Thou, the Merc. Franc. Mat- order all thofe to be hanged who fhould re- 
 
 ihieu, an. 1606. and other hiitorians ; and fufe to obey the order of the fenate. 
 
 Vol. n. Y y y open
 
 SS^' 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIII. 
 
 1606. open arms as foon as they had dene the like : thefe I fpeak of were 
 c— ■,-• J the Lutherans, the proteftants of Germany, Switzerland, Bohemia, 
 Hungary, Auftria, and Tranfilvania ; to whom may be added, the fchif- 
 matic Greeks and Turks. Rome ought to refledt upon the ravage made 
 in her empire, by three or four monks only; and that this misfortune 
 happened through the ill-timed pride of Leo X. and Clement VIL 
 too like what Paul V. difcovered in the prefent conjunélure. 
 
 The Venetians, it is probable, run greater risks than the pope, by 
 making him their enemy. All thefe difcuffions, which at firft the con- 
 tending parties pretended to regulate and guide by the judgment or 
 award of confcience, terminate, iboner or later, in being fupported by 
 arms; when, as it always happens, arguments, far from being relifh- 
 ed, give rife to proceedings more and more violent. And there was 
 nothing which this republic ought fo carefully to avoid as war, fince 
 fhe may be convinced, that if the emperor and the king of Spain do 
 not profecute their claims upon her dominions, which they fcarce ever 
 conceal, it is certainly becaufe they have not pretences in readinefs, or 
 want opportunities. It is the part of the Venetian policy, therefore, 
 to aim continually at maintaining the republic and all Italy in theftate 
 they are at prefent : for them no change can be advantageous, and any 
 revolution fatal. I have often examined this matter in my converfations 
 with the cardinals do Joyeufeand Du-Perron, and laboured with more 
 candor than is generally fliewn by a zealous Huguenot, to find out 
 means to prevent the new religion from getting a footing either in 
 Italy or Spain, provided that they, on their lide, would promife, that 
 the pope, who was the head of Italy, fl:iould fpare himfelf the trouble 
 of taking any intereft in that part of Europe with which he had no 
 connexion ; for it has been always my opinion, that the true fyflerrj 
 of politics, that which may give and preferve tranquillity to Europe,^ 
 depends upon fixing her in this equilibrium*. 
 
 Could they have thought in this manner at Rome and at Venice, 
 every one there would have confpired to flifle the prefent quarrel m its 
 birth; and for this afeafonable and mild difcuffion had been fufficient: 
 thofe affairs in appearance the moft intricate and perplexed, are ftill 
 
 * It is eafy to diftinguifh in this difcourfe, bounds of truth. I ftiall not make any 
 
 as well as in all others where matters of re- further obfervation on it, as I apprehend 
 
 ligion come in queftion, how M. de Sully's the reader muft before this time be accuf- 
 
 belief induces him to fpeak with too much tomed to it, and not affected by it. 
 
 vehemence, and carries him beyond the 
 
 capable
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULY. 
 
 capable of being happily tempered by proper management, and this 
 more than many others : v/e ought to conlider them without any re- 
 gard to the conlequences, with which it is wrong to alarm one's felf, 
 for we ought never to be alarmed with what is merely pofiible; but 
 they had defignedly increaled the difficulties, by propofing things 
 which always rendered the prudence of the ableft mediators inefFec- 
 tual. The malicious infinuations of thofe perfons who fought to take 
 advantage of this difunion, had alfo fome fliare in heightening it. If 
 there is a perfon in the world who, amidft the emotions of ange r is 
 capable of liftening to the voice of reafon, I fhould advife him then to 
 dillruft the difcourfe of thofe perfons who, when thus agitated, offer 
 to affilf his vengeance : it is on fuch an occafion, that hatred and envy 
 lay their moft dangerous fnares. 
 
 Canaye, when he confclted me upon what, as ambaflador from phiiip Ca- 
 France, it was tit for him to do, in the prefent poflure of affairs, thought nayc, lord of 
 it neceffary, for my better information, to fend me a long memorial of ^''^^"X" 
 the grievances complained of, and arguments ufed by both parties. I 
 made no great ufe of this paper ; for to examine their reafons, and pro- 
 nounce upon each, would not have been lerving them effecftually : I 
 therefore told Canaye plainly in rny anfwer, that, without having any 
 regard to the foundation of the quarrel, the Venetians had no other part 
 to take but to refer themfelves to arbitrators, who might perform the 
 office of a common friend to both, by pacifying their refentment, not 
 judging with rigour. I named the king of France, as being, in my opi- 
 nion, the only one who was likely to produce this effeâj and recom- 
 mended to them to make ufe of the nuncio Barberini, whofe wifdom 
 and integrity I was well affured of, to make a report of all to his ma- 
 jefty. They followed my advice, but not till paffion had afferted its 
 ufual dominion. However, during the reft of the year, it was confined 
 to writings, wherein invedlive was carried to great excefs ; but happily, 
 the contending parties were the two powers in Europe who were 
 flowcft in declaring war, which was what each relied on. We fliall 
 fee in the following year the event of this quarrel. 
 
 It was of fome ufe to the nuncio Barberini to obtain for him a 
 cardinal's hat, which the pope fent him upon making a promotion of 
 cardinals, out of the ufual order of time. His majcfly, to whom he 
 was chiefly obliged for this dignity, congratulated him upon it. Bar- 
 berini often declared, that he had a good friend about the king in me; 
 cardinal Du-Perron thought likewife, that my intereft had been of 
 
 Y y y 2 fome
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 fome ufe to him, with regard to the archbifliopric of Sens, and the 
 pofi: of great almoner ; both which were beftowed upon him by his 
 majefty : he made his acknowledgments to me for this fervice, and 
 intreated me to procure him, during his ablence, the enjoyment of 
 all the privileges of his office. 
 
 The citizens of Metz received a fervice of ftill greater importance 
 from me, on occafion of th::; difpute they had about that time with the 
 jefuits; thefe fathers had two years before made an attempt to procure 
 a fettlement in Metz, the inhabitants of which avoided the blow by an 
 application to his majefty, which I fupported. The jefuits returning 
 to the charge, I again encouraged the people, fending them an account 
 by Saint-Germain and Des-Bordes, and afterwards byLa-Nouë, of the 
 king's opinion of the matter. But at the beginning of this year their 
 fears were again awakened, by the jefuits raifing new batteries ftronger 
 than before, obliging the clergy, and all the catholic burghers, to unite 
 with them ; they had likewife fecured the duke of Epernon's vote, who 
 was governor of Metz, and arrived there on the 15th of April, to put 
 the laft hand to the work ; at leaft this was what the people apprehend- 
 ed, and that the governor adled in this affair only by the king's orders. 
 Alarmed at his arrival, they fent me a letter the next day, which was 
 followed by another, dated April 25, and delivered to me by the lieur 
 Braconnier, who was ftridtly charged to urge all the reafons that had 
 induced me to undertake their defence, which they were afaid I fliould 
 forget: they likewife deputed two of their countrymen, one afterthe 
 other, to court, to attend this affair ; not, faid thofe proteftants, that 
 they were apprehenlive the jefuits would turn them from their faith, 
 but becaufe they were perfuaded the fociety, by its intrigues, would 
 caufe fome revolution at Metz J the confequences of which, in a city 
 fo lately re-united to the crown, might be fatal. 
 
 It was by this motive, that I endeavoured to gain over his majefty, 
 who likewife knew the importance of this city to his great defigns. I 
 filled the inhabitants with joy when I fent them word by their laft 
 deputy, that the king had granted their requeft, and would fuffer no 
 innovation to be made in their city; which I affured them of, in the 
 king's name. They made me greater acknowledgments in a third let- 
 ter, dated the loth of July; but I could perceive they were not quite 
 freed from their fears, their adverfaries boafting, they faid, that it was 
 in their power to alter the king's determination. 
 
 In
 
 Book XXIII. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 533 
 
 In efFeâ:, the jefijits received every day fuch ftriking proofs of the 1606. 
 king's favour and proted:ion, as might well authorize the fears of the 
 people of Metz: this very year Henry made them a prefent of one 
 hundred thoufand crowns for their college of La-Fléche alone, and 
 condefcended to regulate the dilpofal of it himfelf, in the following 
 manner : one hundred and fixty thoufand livres for building the col- 
 lege, twenty-one thoufand for the purchafe of the ground, feventy-five 
 thoufand in lieu of church-lands, which were feized upon, in order to 
 ereâ: a perpetual revenue for this houfe ; for as thefe lands were pof- 
 fefled by perfons who were not ecclefiaftics, it was allowable to com- 
 pel them to fell, (and that ftep was here aélually taken) a pecuniary 
 equivalent being granted them ; twelve thoufand fora dwelling-houfe 
 for the fathers, three thou land to purchafe books for them, as much 
 for the decorations of their church, fix thoufand for their lubfiftence 
 for the prefent year (for Henry forgot nothing) and fifteen thoufand, 
 which had been lent them by Varenne after they came to La-Fléche, 
 which this prince kept an account of. The paper was dated Odober 
 16, and figned by the king. 
 
 But here follows another much more extraordinary. A counfellor 
 of parli iment, named Gillot *, had in the year 1603 lent a book to 
 father Cotton, which he could not get again, though he had feveral 
 times afked the father for it ; at length he fent a fervant to demand it, 
 wiih orders not to leave him till it was returned : the counfellor getting 
 his book by thefe means, happened, in opening it, to find a flieet of 
 paper between the leaves, which had apparently been forgot by the je- 
 fuit, and was writteii all over, as he fuppofed, with his own hand: this 
 paper feemed to him to be worth my notice ; he brought it to me, and 
 after obliging me to prornife that I would not name him in the affair, 
 he left the paper in my hands, to make what ufe of it I thought pro- 
 per. After convincing myfelf that it was the hand-writing of father 
 Cotton, which it was eafy to do, with the affiftance of fome letters he 
 knew 1 had received from him, we accordingly compared them, and 
 found them exaâly the fame : the following is a tranllation of it, for 
 it was in Latin, and contained along lift of queftions which the jf.fuit 
 defigned to ask the devil, when he exorcifed a certain perfon who was 
 poffefled, and who made much noife at that time-f-: the reader will 
 
 •James Gillot, counfellor-clerk in the + Her name was Adriana de Frefne, ftie 
 great chamber of the parliament of Paris. was born in the village of Gerbigny, near 
 
 find
 
 534 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXHI. 
 
 1606. find quftions of every kind in it, thofe merely of curiofity, fome tri- 
 fling, and even ridiculous, and others upon fubjeds which it is not fit 
 for me to examine into : the writing begins thus. 
 
 ♦' By the merits of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, apoflles ; of Saint 
 *' Prifca, the virgin martyr; of Saint Mofes and Ammon, martyred 
 " foldiers ; of Saint Antenogenus, martyr and theologian ; of Saint 
 •• Volufien, bifhop of Tours; of Saint Leobard the monk, and of 
 " Saint Liberata the virgin." 
 
 After this follow the queftions which the exorclft defigns to afk 
 the demon ; they are without method or connexion, the author hav- 
 ing, no doubt, juil thrown them on paper as they occurred to his 
 mind ; and fome are exprefled in fuch a manner, as makes it impof- 
 fible to ofuefs what he would be at. 
 
 *' All that God permits me to know (obferve that it is father Cot- 
 " ton that fpeaks) with regard to the king and queen; with regard to 
 " thofewho live at court; with regard to public and private admoni- 
 tions; with regard to the news of life, and the right way ; with re- 
 gard to thofe who converfe with princes; with regard to Laval, di- 
 vine fervice, the knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew tongues, vows, 
 the ceremonies of confecration, and cafes of confcience, the conver- 
 fion of fouls, and canonization : and if it may be permitted me to infifl 
 
 Amiens ; afterwards fhe fettled at Paris, 
 in Saint Anthony's-ftreet : fhe drew to the 
 convent of Saint VicSor, where flie was 
 exorcifed, almofl as great a concourfe of 
 people, as Martha Broffier had done to 
 Saint Genevieve. De Thou, who did not 
 iufter this piece of hiftory to pafs unno- 
 ticed, fpeaking of father Cotton as one of 
 her principal exorcifts, according to his 
 cuftom, treats that father's curiofity on this 
 occafion with great leverity : he further ob- 
 ferves, that Henry IV. earneilly defired the 
 duke of Sully to prevent this writing from 
 becoming public ; and that the contrary, 
 either through imprudence, or by Ibnie 
 other means, having happened, he pretend- 
 ed to treat the thing as a matter of no mo- 
 ment before his court; although inwardly 
 he was much difpleafed with father Cotton. 
 De Thou, book cxxxii. 
 
 Mention is alfo made of this writino; 
 
 of father Cotton by L' Etoile's Journal ; 
 
 " which became, fa) s he, the ordinary 
 
 " iubjeâ of conierlation in ail company." 
 
 The author of father Cotton's life, after 
 
 having given a detail of every thing in the 
 
 hiftory of Adriana de Fiefncy, which has 
 
 any relation to him, book ii. pag. 90. thus 
 
 coivcludes : '' It appeared father Cotton 
 
 ' had never fpoken to the perfon who 
 
 ' was charged with having pu liflied the 
 
 ' vvriting ; he was a counlellor of the par- 
 
 ' liament, and' it was faid that he found it 
 
 ' in a book wJuch father Cotton had bor- 
 
 •• rowed of him: bcfides, the perlons skilled 
 
 ' in the comparifon of hajids, to whom this 
 
 ' paper, which was pretended to be the ori- 
 
 ' gina! of all the relf:,wasfhewn, an<l which 
 
 ' wasfalfly afi'ertcd to be figned with father 
 
 ' Cotton's own hand, attefted, after hav- 
 
 ' iiig compared it with fome of his letters, 
 
 ' that it had never been wrote by him." 
 
 " farther.
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 *' farther, with regard to the war againfl the Spaniards and heretics, 
 " the voyage to New France, and all the coafts oppofite to America; 
 '* and with regard to the means I ought to ufe, in order to perfuade 
 " men with efficacy, fo as to induce them to relinquifh their Tins. To 
 " know from the devil what danger it may be in my power to pre- 
 " vent, and that he would inform me what .... If the perfon pof- 
 •' fefled hath been baptized ; if Ihe be a religious ; if any foul play 
 " hath been meditated, by the malice of Clarençal, againft Mary de 
 *' Valence *, or againfl: the foul of La-Faye. To aiTc the demon when 
 " Clarençal will go from home, the time, and the means, and if it 
 " will be at night; if I have any concealed danger to apprehend; if 
 " languages are inTpired from God ; by what means Chamieres-Fer- 
 " rier .... by what means, or by reading what books, we may ren- 
 " der fermons moft ufeful ; what is my greateft danger ; what reftitu- 
 " tion his majefly is obliged to ; what he (the demon) would have 
 " me fay to dame Acharia -f, Du-Jardin, and the brothers and lifters ; 
 *' what was the apparition that was feen in Languedoc; if it be conve- 
 " nient that mother Pafithea J fliould come, and fifter Anne de Saint 
 " Bartholomew go to Pont-a-Mouffon ; and if he would inform me 
 " what I ought to know, with regard to the king and M. de Rofny; 
 *' what hopes may be formed of his converfion ; what proteftants at 
 ** court are moft eafily converted ; if no danger may befal him who 
 ** is proteéled by demons ; if I am not threatened on that occalion 
 •* myfelf ; what hinders the foundation of the college at Poitiers ; what 
 *' are the duties of a niece ; what paflage of fcripture is moft clear and 
 " moft efficacious to prove purgatory, the invocation of faints, and the 
 " power of the pope ; where the animals drank in Noah's ark ; what 
 *' fons of God loved the daughters of men ; if the ferpent walked on 
 " feet before Adam's fall; how often our fathers had been in heaven 
 " in the terreftrial paradife ; what fort of fpirits ftand before the throne 
 " of God ; if there is a king of the arch-angels ; what ought to be done 
 *' to eftablifh a folid peace with Spain; if God will be pleafed to in- 
 " form me when the hereiy of Calvin will be extindl ; of my father 
 " and his condition ; of my brothers John and Anthony ; how many 
 " paflages of faith have been corrupted by heretics ; of the Geneva 
 " plagiary ; of the voyage of the father general in Spain ; of the brief, 
 •' and father general, with regard to Baqueville, and the young 
 '* man who lives near Notre-Dame ; when animals firft migrated into 
 
 * One of father Cotton's devotees. + Another devotee of father Cotton's. J A 
 nun, who will be mentioned again in thefe Memoirs. 
 
 «* the
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIII. 
 
 " the iflands ; and when the iflands were firfl: inhabited by men ; where 
 *' is the terreftial paradife; how the king and queen of England, and all 
 ** the Englifli nation, may be moft eafily converted; how to conqixerthe 
 " Turk, and make converts of infidels ; what part of the angels fell ; 
 " what adoration the cherubims pay to the Supreme Being, and what 
 " are his ideas of it ; how I may corred: my errors of writing, printing, 
 *' and preaching; what embarralTes the demon and his companions in 
 *' the ceremony of exorciling ; what hath lb often occalioned the pre- 
 " fervation of Geneva; what he knows touching the king's health; what 
 " may unite the grandees of the realm with him ; how one may affilt 
 *' the fieur de Verdun, and what his motives of aftion are ; on the 
 " hoftage towns; on Lefdiguieres and his converfion; on the honour of 
 " my relics ; on the letters written to madam de Clarençal ; to be more 
 " than commonly particular with regard to that lady ; what obftrudls 
 " the college of Amiens and Tours; of the duration of hereiy." 
 
 The king, when he returned from Sedan, {laid a few days at Pan's, 
 and towards the end of April went to Fontainebleau, from whence he 
 wrote to me, that, by his phyficians prefcriptions, he was beginning a 
 ûnô: regimen, that was to continue for ten days at leaft ; upon which 
 account, he deferred for fo long the ceremony of the feafl: of Whitfun- 
 tide, and fent orders to his council not to attend him for fifteen days. 
 He permitted me to pafs this interval at Sully, provided I fometimes 
 came to vifit him. By this remedy, together with perfpiration, his 
 health was greatly mended. 
 
 The afl^airs of greateft importance, in which his majefty was em- 
 ployed at Fontainebleau, were thofe which related to religion. The 
 clergy of France aflembling at Paris, renewed their folicitations for the 
 publication of the council of Trent * : the public peace being con- 
 
 * In the Merc. Francois, anno 1606, " holding benefices in truft for others, 
 may be feen the remonftraiice which the " let thee who are guilty, by their own re- 
 clergy got Jerome de Villars, archbifhop " formation, fet others an example to do 
 of Vienne, to n:ake to his majefty, with " the like. In the elections you fee my 
 this anfwer to it by Henry IV. " You " manner of proceeding ; I am proud of 
 " have mentioned a council to me, I de- " the footing on which I have placed them, 
 " fire one may be called ; but, as you rightly " which is greatly different from what it 
 " obferve, the confiderations of this world " was," &c. The king, notwithftanding, 
 " frequently clafh with thofe of heaven : in confequence of their complaints, ifl'ued 
 " neverthelefs, I fhall always be ready to two ediifts, prefcribing many ecclefiaftical 
 " fupport the good of the church, and the regulations, which were confirtned, the one 
 " fervice of God, with the hazard of my in 1608, the other in 1609. ^^^ ''"° ^' 
 " blood and life. As to fimony, and the De Thou, book cxxxiv. 
 
 cerned
 
 IBook XXIII. MEMOIRS OF StJLLY, 
 
 cerned in this propofal, as well as in feme others of the fame nature, 
 which it was refolved in the aflembly fhould be made to the king. His 
 majefty oppofed them both with his arguments and authority, and 
 treated the proteflants in the fame manner, who, in imitation of the 
 clergy, feemed difpofed to abufe their privileges. Some provinces wrote 
 to the deputies general at court, to folicit the grant of a petition they 
 fent the king for holding a national fynod, while at the fame time in 
 other provinces, they laboured to procure particular affemblies to be 
 held, wherein it wasthecullom to appoint the deputiesof the fynod, and 
 to draw up inftrudlions upon the affairs which were to be treated there. 
 Henry had fent me orders by Villeroi on the 22d of March, to take 
 proper meafures on this occafion in conjuudion with my fon, to whom 
 he allowed me to give a Hiare of almoft all my bufinefs ; and that I 
 iliould afterwards confer with Servian the deputy from Dauphine. He 
 wrote to me himfelf from Fontainebleau, defiring that I would fend 
 for the deputies-general, and oblige them to declare what were the in- 
 tentions of the proteftant body, and to render their projedl ineffedual. 
 I made him entirely eafy on this head, by affuring him that, if I could 
 not hinder the fynod from being convoked *, I would at lead contrive 
 to have fo many faithful fervants of his there, as fhould render them 
 mafter of all the debates. It appeared neceflary likewife to ufe this 
 precaution in the particular aflembly of Dauphine ; and to fatisfy the 
 prefident Parquet that he might not fuffer his office, which he was déli- 
 rons of refigning, to be filled by any of the fadious party, I fent Bul- 
 lion into Dauphine, and Efperian into Guyenne, with proper inilruc- 
 tions how to ad;. 
 
 Des-Ageaux dying this year, his pofl of king's lieutenant of Saint- 
 John-d'Angely, was immediately folicited for by feveral perfons, and 
 among others by Beaulieu and La-Roche-beaucourt; the former had 
 had a brevet for it before Des-Ageaux, but the duke of Epernon, Pa- 
 rabere, and all the burghers of Saint- John, uniting in favour of La- 
 Roche-beaucourt, his majefly ordered me to fend for him, and to give 
 him all the neceflary inftrudions for the faithful execution of this 
 office, which he had determined toentrull to him. I took care not to 
 fpeak for the duke of Rohan, Soubife -f- and he at that time not fi:and- 
 
 * In the royal MSS. fee the original of of the duke of Rohan, both of them fons 
 
 a letter from M. de Sully, dated the 2Cth of of René duke of Rohan, and grandfons of 
 
 May i6c6, direéled to the proteflants of John de Parthenay-Soubiie. The duke of 
 
 the province of Burgundy, by which he Soubife was one of the principal leaders of 
 
 «■ndeavours to dilTuade them from this no- the calviniftical party in France, during 
 
 tion of holding a fynod at Rochelle. the religious wars in the following reign. 
 
 f Benjamin dc E.ohan- Soubife, brother 
 
 Vol. If. Z z z 
 
 in;
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. IBook XXIIL 
 
 ing well in his majefty's opinion, on account of fome fteps taken bjr 
 them, which others perhaps would tax only with imprudence, but I, 
 who on fuch occafions am not accnftomed to manage my terms, fliall 
 not fcruple to call dilbbedient. Rohan applied to me to re-inftate him 
 in his majefty's favour, asfoon as he fliould have returned to Paris, to- 
 wards the clofe of the year. The king, to whom I wrote, had the 
 goodnefs to give me hopes that he would pardon the duke, and even 
 furnillied me with the means of improving this pardon, by bringing 
 the criminal to him, after having firft inftrufted him by my fon, either 
 at his own or fome other houfe, in all that he was to do to render his 
 fovereign favourable to him, provided that Rohan did not put off till 
 then a public acknowledgment of his fault, and forrow for having 
 committed it. As to the manner in which he fhould treat him, and 
 how he fliould for the future expedt him to aft with the proteftants, 
 he deferred explaining himfelf till he came to Paris. With regard to 
 Soubife, as he had demanded the king's permiifion before he went to 
 Flanders, his majefty confented that he ihould wait for him at Paris>, 
 or come to him at Fontainebleau. 
 
 At La-Rochelle new quarrels arofe between the proteftants, and 
 the Roman catholic clergy of that city, upon the extent and exercifc 
 of thofe privileges, which the latter were to enjoy there. Both par- 
 ties made reciprocal complaints of each other ; the ecclefiaftics, that 
 their adverfaries often attempted to do themfelves juftice by force of 
 arms, which was always forbidden ; the proteftants, that the clergy 
 conftantly fupprefled the arrets of council, to authorife their encroach-^ 
 ments -, and both defired a decifive arret. The king, conceiving that 
 an arret would increafe their animofity, infifted on my undertaking the 
 office of mediator upon this occafion. I began by fhewing them fe- 
 parately, what were their real interefts ; and, after I had affured my- 
 lelf of their obedience, didated to them the following articles of ac-^ 
 commodation, which will explain the caufes of their difputes. 
 
 That the proteftants fliould not prohibit the ecclefiaftics from vifit- 
 ing the hofpitals and prifons, or from hearing confefllons, provided all 
 this was done without any pomp, efpecially that of carrying the facra- 
 ment to thofe places : that the clergy had no right to affift at burials 
 and public ceremonies, to carry the crofs there, or attend criminals to 
 the place of puniftiment : that the ecclefiaftics fliould receive no bad 
 treatment either in word or deed, when they pafi!*ed through the ftreets 
 in the habit of their order : that the proteftants (hould not make any 
 
 oppofition
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Gppofition to the building of their church there; nor to the commif- 
 lioners appointed by them to mark out the place, provided this place 
 Was neither inconvenient, nor fufpedted by the city; in either of which 
 cafes they fhould affign them another, or leave this point to be decided 
 by the king and his council. I regulated likewife fome other articles 
 relating to the police : that the catholics fliould be contented with the 
 fhare they had in the public pofts and offices to which they fliould 
 be raifed by a plurality of votes, and the ufual methods; but with re- 
 fpetl to mechanic trades and corporations, as there was no reafon why 
 they flîould be excluded from them, the proteftants, by driving away 
 their youth from the ffiops of the catholics, had fet an example of 
 violence to thofe cities where the catholic party was the ftrongeft. 
 
 In the mean time, at Paris, great preparations were making for the 
 ceremony of the baptifm of the Dauphin, and the two princefles of 
 France*. The duchefs of Mantua, who was to have the principal 
 part in this folemnity, fet out from Italy with a train of two hundred 
 horfe, and two hundred and fifty attendants. She arrived at Nancy 
 on the beginning of June, and from thence her train and thofe belong- 
 ing to the duke of Lorrain, fent to know of his majeity if, at the end of 
 eight days, which flie propofed to flay at Nancy, flie might continue 
 her journey. This requiring fome confideration, Henry wrote to me, 
 for i was then at Sully, to come to Paris on the fourth or fifth of June ; 
 adding, that he would come thither himfelf the latter end of May, 
 and till I arrived make fome fliort excurfions to Saint-Germain to fee 
 his children, and likewife that he thought it neceffary to fend fome 
 perfon to Nancy with his orders. A kind of debate arofe upon the 
 manner in which the duchefs of Mantua fliould be received, which 
 was at length decided in the queen's favour, who alledged, that this 
 princefs coming into France only to oblige the king, and do honour 
 to an extraordinary ceremony, too great refpeft could ns3t be paid her. 
 Accordingly nothing was omitted ; ihe had the precedence not only of 
 all foreign princes, but alfo of the princes of the blood, at which the 
 latter were fo difgufted, that they refufed to allitl at any ceremony where 
 flie was prefent, alledging, that it was a very extraordinary thing for 
 princes of the moft auguft houfe in Europe, to be preceded by a duke 
 of late date, defcended from a citizen of Mantua, who, after killing 
 Bonnacolfy his lord, procured the adminiftration of Mantua, to be con- 
 
 * Eleonora de Medicis. eldeft daughter of Francis de Medicis, grand duke of Tuf- 
 cany, and wife of Vincent de Gonz^ue duke of Mantua. 
 
 Z Z Z 2 fided
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIII. 
 
 £ded to him, and afterwards ufurped the fovereignty of it. But not- 
 withftanding all that could be urged, the king would not make the 
 fmalleft conccfTion on this point, confidering only in the duchefs of 
 Mantua, the title of an ally to the royal family, and eldeft fifter of the 
 queen. 
 
 The duke of Bouillon fought to take fome advantage of this exam- 
 ple, but he was not regarded ; he had been appointed to carry the re- 
 galia in the ceremony, and would have taken place of the dukes, claim- 
 ing this privilege as duke of Bouillon and prince of Sedan, and ap- 
 pealing to the examples of fome of the princes of Sedan to whom he 
 had fucceeded. He was told, in anfwer to thefe pretenlions, that the 
 difference between them and him was, that they were really defcended' 
 from fovercign princes, a quality which in effeâ: gave them the firft 
 rank, while he was only defcended from a private gentleman*. 
 
 On the 2oth of July, the duchefs of Mantua arrived at Villers-Co- 
 terets, where ùie found the king, who waited for her. From thence 
 they were to go by Monceaux to Paris, where I was employed in 
 caufing fcafFolds to be built in the church of Notre-Dame in the palace, 
 and in the fquare of the manufactures, and in making all the other pre- 
 parations, when we were informed that a contagious difeafe had broke 
 out in that vaft city -f- ; for which reafon the king, after confulting the 
 duchefs, refolved that the ceremony of the baptifms fhould be per- 
 formed at Fontainebleau, The tournaments and all the fhews and di- 
 verlions, which were to have been exhibited at Paris, were fet afide by 
 this new plan, which took in only the ufual expences for the baptifm 
 of the children of France, and the robes of his majefly and the royal 
 family. The nuncio waited upon the king at Fontainebleau, as did alfo 
 queen Margaret. The chapels of the caftle being too fmall for fuch a. 
 ceremony, and that of the monaftery unfinifhed, I propofed that the 
 floor of the latter fhould be fpread and the walls hung with tapeftry, 
 or that they fliould make ufe of the great faloon | for that purpofe. 
 
 * To fhew how little reafon the duke of tion, and contradifted by all other hifto- 
 
 Sully has to fpealc in this manner of a houfe rians. 
 
 fo illuftrious as that of Bouillon, we need % It was performed in the court called 
 
 ©nly have rccouri'e to the genealogifts in ge- Cour du Donjon, which had been prepared 
 
 neral. for the purpofe. The cardinal de Joyeufe, 
 
 t " The plague, or rather the king's the pope's legate, reprefented Paul V. ay 
 
 " thriftynefs, fays L'Etoile malicioufly, god-father, with the duchefs of Mantua as 
 
 " deprived the city of Paris of this ho- god-mother to the dauphin. The eldeft' 
 
 *' nour;" an afiertion without any founda- Madame of Franc* was called Elizabeth^ 
 
 The
 
 Book XXin. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 541 
 
 The king himfelf took the trouble to examine the palace of Fleury, 
 and caufed it to be prepared for the reception of the dauphin when 
 the ceremony was ended; for the contagion in Paris, inflead of ceaf- 
 ing had fpread itfelf into fome of the neighbouring places ; nor was 
 Fontainebleau entirely free from it. Henry* wrote me word, the lat- 
 ter end of September, that of lix perfons who had been feized with 
 the diftemper, only one had recovered, but that there were no more 
 taken ill He withdrew the regiment of guards from Melan, where 
 he had been told fome families were infedted with the diftemper. It 
 was about this time, that their majeflies, croffing the river of Neuilly 
 in a ferry-boat -|~, were in danger of being drowned, which was the 
 caufe that a bridge was afterwards built there. 
 
 1606. 
 
 after the name of the archduchefs her god- 
 mother, wife of the archduke Albert, and 
 grand-daughter of Henry II. reprefented by 
 madam d'AngcuIeme wichout a god-father ; 
 and the youngeft Madame of France had 
 for god-father the duke of Lorraine in per- 
 fon, and for god-mother the ^:rand duchefs 
 of Tufcany, whofe proxy was Drince John 
 de Medicis ; fhe wùs called Chriftina. See 
 in the Merc. Fran, anno 1606, and in P. 
 Matthieu, vol. II. b. iii. the defcription of 
 the manner of performing this ceremony, 
 and the magnificence and rejoicings which 
 preceded and followed it. See alfo vol. 
 9361 and 9364 of the Royal MSS. 
 
 * It is obferved, in the journal of Henry 
 IV. that no more than ufual died in Paris 
 this year, which are therein computed at 
 eight in a day ; whence the author con- 
 cludes, that people gave way to a ground- 
 lefs panic. 
 
 t " On Friday the 9th of June, fays 
 ** the fame journal, as the king and queen 
 " were croffing the water in the ferry- 
 " boat at Neuilly, on their return from 
 " Saint-Germain-cn-Laye, the duke of 
 " Vendôme being with them, they were 
 " all three in great danger of being 
 " drowned, efpecially the queen, who was 
 " obliged to drink a great deal m.ore than 
 " was agreeable to her ; and had not one 
 " of her footmen and a gentleman called 
 " La-Châtaigneraie, who caught hold of 
 " her hair, defperately thrown themfelves 
 " into the water to pull her out, fhe would 
 " inevitably have loft her life. This ac- 
 
 " cident cured the king of a violent tooth-- 
 " ach ; and, after having efcaped the dan- 
 " ger, he diverted himfelf with it, faying, 
 " he had never met with fo good a remedy 
 " for that diforder before ; and that they 
 " had eat too much fait meat at dinner, 
 " therefore they had a mind to make them 
 " drink after it." 
 
 This accident happened, according to 
 the Merc. Fran, becaufe as they were going 
 into the boat, which probably had no rail 
 work round it, the two fore-horfes, draw- 
 ing towards one fide, fell over-board, and 
 by their weight dragged the coach, in 
 which were the king, the queen, the duke 
 of Vendôme, the princefs of Conti, and the 
 duke of Montpenfier, whom the rain had 
 prevented from alighting with them. " The 
 " gentlemen who were on horfeback, fays 
 " that hillorian, threw themfelves into the 
 " water, without having time to take off 
 " either their cloaths or fwords, and haf- 
 " tened towards the place where they had 
 " feen the king, who, being faved from 
 " the danger, notwithftanding all the en- 
 " treaty that could be made to the con- 
 " trary, returned into the water to affift in 
 " getting out the queen and the duke ot 
 " Vendôme. As foon as the queen had re- 
 " covered a little breath, fhe gave a figh, 
 " and asked where the king was. She teili- 
 " fied her gratitude to La-Chàtaigneraie, 
 " v^hom fhe had obferved to be particu- 
 " larly inilrumental in faving her, by a 
 " prefent of jewels, and a yearly penfion." 
 ^nno 1606, De Thou, b. cxxxvi.
 
 542 M E M O î R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXIII. 
 
 1606. I STAID longer this time at Sully than ufual. The king, who was 
 
 Informed that I continued indilpofed at Briecomte-robert, wrote to 
 mc on the 29th of Auguft, and defired to know the ftate of my health. 
 This prince made me captain-lieutenant of the company of gendar- 
 mes, which was formed in the queen's name, and, at my entreaty, 
 granted a full pardon to La-Saminiere. Thefe favours alone gave him a 
 right to require and expedt every thing from me : he was much af- 
 flidled to find, that the marriage of the fon of Noailles with the daugh- 
 ter of Roquelaure, inftead of uniting thofe two families, proved only 
 a fource of dillord between them. Henry fo often and fo earneftly 
 prefTed me to attempt to reconcile them, that I ufed my utmoft en- 
 deavours for that purpofe. It is the part of a good prince, to keep all 
 who are about his perfon united ; and of a wife one, to efîed: this 
 union rather by the interpofition of others than by his ov/n. 
 
 I WAS likewife well rewarded for my labours in the finances; the 
 contracSlors giving his majefty an hundred and fifty thoufand livres, 
 and the continuance of the leafe of the fait for fix years produced him 
 likewife a gratuity of fixty thoufand crowns. The king difpofed 
 of thefe two hundred and ten thoufand livres in the following man- 
 ner : eighty thoufand livres were fet apart for the purchafe of Moret, 
 and thirty-fix thoufand for fome occafions of his majefty ; the queen 
 had twelve thoufand, the duke of Nemours thirty, Verfenai eighteen, 
 and myfelf thirty thoufand. I likewife received, during the courfe of 
 the year, twice this fum in different gratuities. 
 
 To execute the edidts, the court of aids fent every year a deputa- 
 tion of counfellors into thofe diftriiSs where the excife was levied up- 
 on fait, in order to make a diftribution and regulation thereon ; to lay 
 fines upon thofe whom they found exercifing the trade of felling fait 
 without licence. Nor was this the only reafon for fending thofe com- 
 miffioners; for the lieutenant-general of Blois fent me word, that two 
 of the commifljoners that were appointed to levy the excife upon fait, 
 and the bther taxes for the different officers of the difi:riâ:, were guil- 
 ty of many crimes in the difcharge of their employment. To which I 
 anfwercd, that he was in the wrong to make a complaint without 
 ipecifying any particulars j but that, however, I had lent him a regu- 
 lation with regard to thofe two points, in order for him to fiiew to 
 the commiffioners ; which if they difobeycd, I promifed to give him 
 
 ample fatisfadtion. 
 
 The
 
 Book XXIIf. M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. 54j 
 
 The import of the regulation was, that the excife upon fait fhould 1606. 
 not for the future be augmented merely upon the diftriâ:s, but that the 
 particular parilhes fhould be fpecified in proportion to the number of 
 chimnies, at the fame time eafing the poorer parirties of an equal fum. 
 With regard to the contraband traders in fait, it was my opinion, that 
 there was a diltincîlion to be made between them j for as thofe who 
 fold the contraband fait could not be puniflied too feverely, fo thofe 
 who only purchafed it from the unlicenfed traders, merely becaufc 
 they got it cheaper than the other fait, deferved to be treated with 
 more lenity, efpecially when they were not taken in the fadl. 
 
 As to the tax upon the officers of the finances, there are two kinds 
 of it, one upon all the officers in general, into which the king had 
 thought proper to confent that enquiries Hiould be commenced againft 
 themj and the other upon the eledls in particular, founded upon the 
 re-eftablifhment of their rights, taxations, and exemptions, of feveral 
 kinds. It was eflablifhed by the regulation, that the firftof thefe taxes 
 fhould not be exadled for the future but by mutual confent; fo that 
 they who ihould declare before the officer that gave them notice of 
 it, and afterwards before the judge or notary of the place, that they 
 did not intend to take advantage of the king's abolition, fliould not be 
 compelled to pay it ; but in that cafe they were fubjed: to a criminal 
 profecution, if they were difcovered to have failed in the execution 
 of their truft. The fécond tax was the fame ; thofe elefts who liked 
 better to give up the privilege of their office, were difcharged from it ; 
 but they were obliged to repay whatever they might have received 
 under that title, contrary to the edidls and eftabliffiments of the king 
 and the fiâtes. 
 
 The commiffioners fent to Rouen gave it as their opinion, that it 
 was but reafonable to ftrike eleven thoufand crowns off the account of 
 the taxes of the province of Normandy, becaufe the treafurers of France • 
 were to write to me upon this head, and had prepared to fend deputies ■ 
 to the king, in order to obtain his approbation of this retrenchment. 
 I anfwered them, that there was no need for their taking this ftep, 
 for that I would undertake to perfuade his majefly thereto, who w'as 
 already fufficiently inclined of himfelf to give them much greater marks 
 of his affeiSion, if the flate of his affairs, and the donations he was 
 obliged to make to a number of infatiable courtiers, had permitted hinl. 
 I further promifed, that I would join with them, in order to eafe the 
 
 pro-
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 provinces of a much greater fum than this, from which the poor could 
 obtain but a very fmall relief. I perceived the reafonablenefs of the 
 promife I had made them, when I faw a fum of two hundred forty- 
 fix thoufand three hundred and eighty-one livres joined to the taille 
 of Provence, though it had nothing to do with it. 
 
 This fum confiiled of the following articles: Thirty-three thoufand 
 livres for the bridges and caufeways of the whole province, which ex- 
 tended both to Rouen and Caïen: Thirty-feven thoufand five hun- 
 dred livres for the fuppreffion of the edidt on linen-cloth in thofe two 
 diftridls: Twenty-two thoufand five hundred livres for the maintain- 
 ance of the bridge of Rouen, raifed by an affelTment on thofe two dif- 
 trifts ; although on this account lèverai fums were levied upon Paris 
 and other cities : Fifteen thoufand livres for the bridges of Mantes 
 and Saint-Cloud : Thirty thoufand livres for the canal of communi- 
 cation between the Seine and the Loire : And eight thoufand three 
 hundred and eighty-one livres for the grand prevoii of the province. 
 I repeat it again, that all thefe different colleilions were foreign to the 
 taille. And it was not reafonable, that perfons who received no ad- 
 vantage from the public repairs, fhould be obliged to furnifti money 
 for them. For fome years pafl they had confiderably augmented 
 thefe fums, v/hich, in appearance, were defigned for that ufe; but 
 which, in reality, remained in the purfes of fome individuals, with- 
 out one penny being returned to the king. 
 
 I OBLIGED the receiver of Angouleme to be anfwerable for fome 
 money which he alledged was not now in his hands : had that been 
 true, he was not the lefs liable to pay it, becaufe it could not have been 
 legally demanded of him without letters patents from the king. Al- 
 though it might happen that fome things efcaped me, yet Henry let 
 nothing pafs unnoticed ; he had been informed that fome powder had 
 been embezzled, and he defired me to have thofe who were guilty of 
 that mifdemeanor profecuted for it ; it being abfolutely neceffary for 
 the fecurity of the ftores in the magazines, that fuch pradlices fliould 
 "be punifhed, as being a matter of great confequence with refpedl to all 
 the magazines in general. He difcovered that there was carrying on in 
 my abfence a commiflion for recovery of the fums omitted to be re- 
 ceived, and of falfe feizures : he wrote immediately to the chancellor, 
 that the affair fliould be fuperfeded, becaufe, as I muft certainly have 
 been acquainted with it before I went away, I fhould have taken fome 
 
 mealures
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY, 545 
 
 tneafures about it, if I had thought it would have been brought into 1606. 
 queftion. 
 
 His expences this year were as great as ufual, I don't mean in pre- 
 fents of jewels fuitable to fo opulent a prince, for in thefe Henry did 
 not fhew himfelf a prodigal ; as for example, defigning to make a pre- 
 fent of a jewel to an Italian lady, he was dcfirous that it fliould not 
 be mean ; but at the fame time, that the price might not exceed a 
 thoufand or twelve hundred crowns : and he wrote to me to look out 
 for a ring for him, with the diamond cut in the form of a heart ; or 
 in any other, rather than to be cut table-fafliion, becaufe the expence 
 would be lefs and the fliew greater : but his perfbnal expences, and 
 thofe at play efpecially, always made up a very confiderable article. 
 I often received meffages, like that of the 1 ith of December : Henry 
 having loft all his money at play, fent me word in a billet, of which 
 Lomenie's nephew was the bearer, that Morand muft bring him that 
 eveningtwothoufandpiftoles. Ihad thenexceffive large accounts to fettle 
 with Parfait, for the extraordinary expences of his houfliold. On the4th 
 of Odlober he fent me orders to pay eighty-five thoufand five hundred 
 and four livres to mademoifelle Du-Beuil, for which that billet was to 
 ferve for a receipt. He had remitted to Zamet, as payment of the re- 
 mainder of an account he was indebted to him for the year 1602, the 
 tax of two fols, fix deniers, upon three bulhels of fait ; but as this tax 
 did not now fubfift, I was obliged to pay Zamet, this year, thirty-feven 
 thoufand four hundred and ninety-two livres, to which that old ac- 
 count amounted ; and to pay him befides, thirty-four thoufand two 
 hundred and twenty livres, which he had fincelent to his majelly, or 
 difburfed for him. He made La-Varenne a prefent of a thoufand 
 crowns. Villeroi, by his orders, wrote to my ion, that I muft pay a 
 debt which this prince owed to Balbani, who was confined in Fort- 
 l'Evêque j and that I muft endeavour to procure his releafe. 
 
 Among other expences, which did Henry more honour, I take in 
 thofe for repairing the gates of Saint-Bernard, and the Temple, and 
 the fountains before the fefiions-houfe, and the crofsdu Tiroir, His ma* 
 jefty had written to thePrevot des Marchands, that he defired this work 
 might be finiftied before Midfummer. The council, I know not for 
 what reafon, gave an arret afterwards which rendered this order inef- 
 fectual, by applying the money defigned for thefe fountains to paving 
 the ftreets of Paris, contrary to their firft intentions, when, in the con- 
 tra6l with the paviors, it was ordered, that the fum neceffary for this 
 
 Vol. II. A a a a purpofe
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 purpofe {hould be levied upon the inhabitants of the city, according 
 to the number of feet the pavement before each door confifted of; 
 his majefty, however, infifted upon knowing why thefe works were 
 delayed, and upon what account the council had committed this error. 
 
 This prince had often defired me to give him general accounts, 
 which fhould contain a detail of every thing relating to my three prin- 
 cipal offices, of fuperintendant of the finances, grand mafter of the ord- 
 nance, and fuperintendant of the buildings and fortifications. I took 
 an opportunity, when he was at the Louvre, and when I thought he 
 had but little bufinefs upon his hands, to carry him thefe papers : but 
 although it was very early in the morning when I left the arfenal, yet 
 when I came to the Louvre I found that his majefly was already gone 
 out ; I therefore fent all my papers back to the arfenal, exxept a very 
 fliort abftradt, which I intended to fliew him, and went to madame 
 de Guife, to wait his return, (lie having often intreated me to dine witli 
 her. 
 
 It was to make a party for the chace, that Henry had rifen fo early 
 that morning, and he was refolved to dine upon the partridges he fhould 
 take in hawking : he ufed to fay, that he never thought them fo tender 
 and good, as when they were taken in this manner ; and efpecially 
 when he could fnatch them himfelf from the hawks. Towards the 
 middle of the day Henry returned, extremely well fatisfied with his 
 morning's diverfion, and in a gaiety of humour, which his good flats 
 of health, and the happy fituation of his affairs, contributed greatly to 
 increafe : he entered the great hall, holding his partridges in his hand, 
 and cried aloud to Coquet (who waited there for his return, and was 
 talking to Parfait at one end of the hall) " Coquet, Coquet, you mufl: 
 " not complain of Roquelaure, Thermes, Frontenac, Arambure, and 
 " I, for want of a dinner, for we have brought fomething to treat you 
 ** with ; but go immediately and order them to be dreffed ; give them 
 " their fliare, but let eight be referved for my wife and I ; Bonneval 
 " here fhall carry them to her from me, and fliall tell her, that I am 
 " going to drink her health ; but take care and keep thofe birds that are 
 " leaft bit by the hawks for me ; there are three very fat, which I 
 " took from them myfelf, and which they have fcarce touched." 
 
 As Henry was diftributing his partridges, La-Clielle came in, and 
 with him Parfait, bringing in a large bafon, gilt with gold, and co- 
 vered with a napkin : " Sire, cried he twice, embrace my knees, for I 
 
 have
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 '* have brought you a great many, and very fins ones." " See how 
 " rejoiced Parfait is, laid the king, this will make him fatter by an 
 *' inch upon the ribs; I find he has brought me fome good melons; 
 *' I am glad of it, for I am refolved to eat my fill of them to-day ; 
 " they never hurt me when they are good, and when I eat them 
 " while I am very hungry, and before meat, as the phyficians diredt. 
 " I will give each of you a melon before you have your partridges, 
 *' when I have firft chofen out fome for my wife and myfelf, and for 
 ** another perfon to whom I have promifed fome." The king then 
 going to his own apartment, gave a couple of melons to two boys who 
 were at the door, whifpering fomething in their ear at the fame time : 
 and as he came out of his long clofet to go to his aviary, perceiving 
 Fourcy, Beringhen, and La-Font, the latter bringing fomething co- 
 vered up in his hand, •' La-Font, faid Henry to him, are you bring- 
 *' ing me a ragout for my dinner ?" " Yes, fire, replied Beringhen, 
 " but thefe are raw meats, fit only to feaft the eyes with." " That 
 " is not what I want, replied his majefty, for I am excefllvely hun- 
 " gry, and would rather have my dinner than any other thing : but, 
 *' La-Font, what is it you have wrapped up fo ?" " Sire, faid Fourcy, 
 " he has got patterns of feveral forts of flufïs, carpets, and tapeftry, 
 *' which your beft manufadurers have undertaken to make." •' Oh ! 
 " replied Henry, they will afford us fome amufement after dinner; I 
 " will fliew them to my wife, and to another perfon, whofe opinion 
 " and mine do not always agree, efpecially when we are talking of 
 ** what he calls baubles and trifles : I believe, Fourcy, added he, you 
 *' guefs whom I mean ; I fliould be glad to have him prefent with 
 *' my wife when you Oiew us thefe fluffs, it will bring fomething to 
 " my remembrance which I want to communicate to them when they 
 " are together, that I may have their opinions ; he often tells me," 
 purfued his majefty, ftill fpeaking of me, but without naming me, 
 " that he never thinks any thing fine or good, that cofts double its 
 " real value ; and that I fliould be of the fame opinion with regard to 
 " all goods extremely dear : I know what he hints at, and why he 
 " talks in this manner, although I pretend to be ignorant; but we 
 " muft fuffer him to talk, for he is not a man of few words. Fourcy, 
 " go for him immediately ; or that he may be here the fooner, icnd 
 *' ont of my coaches for him, or your own." 
 
 The coachman meeting one of my footmen, whom I had (cnt to the 
 Louvre to enquire if his majefty was returned, he came to the duchefs 
 of Guife's, where I had juft; dined : I furprifed his majefty when I 
 
 A a a a 2 came
 
 548 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book XXIIL 
 
 1606. came in, for he did not expecfl to fee me (6 fooji. " You have made 
 great hafte," faid this prince to me when I entered the room, where- 
 he was ftill at table, " you could not poffibly have come direftly from 
 ** the arfenal." When I told him where I had dined ; " That whole 
 " family being related to you, faid he, and loving you fo much as 
 *' they do, for which I am very glad, I am perfuaded that while 
 " they follow your counfels, as they lay they are determined to do, 
 *' they will never do any injury either to my perfon or ftate." " Sire, 
 ** returned I, your majefty fays this in a manner fo unreferved, that I 
 *' fee you are in a good humour, and better fatisfied with me than you 
 " have been thefe fifteen days." "What! you ftill remember that then,, 
 *' interrupted Henry, I alTure you I do not j you know that our lit- 
 «' tie refentments ought never to laft more than a day : I am very fure 
 ** that yours would not hinder you from undertaking, the very next 
 *' day, to do fomething for my advantage in my finances. I have not," 
 continued Henry, with great gaiety, " found myfelf fo light and fo 
 *' eafy thefe three months as this day ; I mounted my horfe without 
 *' help ; I have had great pleafure in the chace this morning ; my 
 *' hawks have flown, and my greyhounds have run fo well, that the 
 " former have taken a great number of young partridges, and the 
 «' latter three large hares j one of the beft of my hawks, which I 
 '* thought lofl, has been found and brought back to me : I have a 
 •* very good appetite, have eat fome excellent melons, and they have 
 •' ferved me up fome quails, the fatteft and tendered I have ever 
 *' eat. By letters from Provence," continued the king, to fhew me that 
 every thing confpired to his happinefs, " I am informed, that the 
 " feditions in Marfcilles are entirely quelled ; and from feveral other 
 •* provinces I have news, that there never has been fo fruitful a feafon, 
 <' and that my people will grow rich, if I permit them to export 
 *« corn. Saint-Antoine writes me word, that the prince of Wales is 
 *' always talking of me, and of the friendfliip which he promifed you 
 *' he would ever preferve for me. From Italy I am informed, that 
 '* affairs there are in fuch a fituation, that I fhall have the honour of 
 ** reconciling the pope and the Venetians. Bongars writes me word 
 " from Germany, that the new king of Sweden is upon better terms 
 *' with his fubjedts ; and that the landgrave of Hefle acquires every 
 *' day new friends and allies. Buzenval has written to Villeroi, that 
 " both the Spaniards and Flemings are brought fo low, that they 
 •' will foon be obliged to liflen to propofals for a peace, or a truce, 
 " of which I muft neceffarily be the mediator and protedtor : and 
 " thus begin to render myfelf the arbitrator of all the differences 
 
 ** among
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 " among the princes of Chriftendom. And for an increafe of fatif- 
 *• faftion, faid this prince gaily, behold me here at table, furrounded 
 " with all thefe perfons you lee" (for he had with him Du-Laurens, 
 Du-Perron the younger, Gutron, Des-Yvetaux, Chaumont, and the 
 fathers Cotton and Gonthier) " of whofe affefbion for me I am well 
 " afTured, and who, as you know, are capable of entertaining me with 
 " ufeful as well as agreeable converfation ; which fhall not, however, 
 *' hinder me from talking of bufmefs as foon as I have dined, for then 
 " I will liften to every body, and will fatisfy all, if reafon and juftice 
 *« can do it." 
 
 I FOUND, by fome other things his majefty faid, that the company had 
 turned theconverfation upon him in particular, and had alike praifedhim 
 for his great qualities, and congratulated him upon his good fortune. 
 " It will be difficult, I faid, to find better judges then they were." 
 " However, faid Henr)% I did not fufFer all they faid to pafs without 
 " contradidion." And he confelTed, that all their praifes of him could 
 not deftroy his confcioufnefs that he had many faults ; and as to their 
 compliments upon his good fortune, he told them, that if they had 
 been with him from the time his father died, they would have been 
 fenlible that part of thofe compliments might have been fpared, for 
 that his miferable moments had far furpafled his happy ones. This 
 led Henry to a reflexion he ufed often to make, that he hud not yet 
 fufFered lb much by his declared enemies, as by the ingratitude and 
 defertion of many, who, he faid, were either his friends, allies, or fub- 
 jedls. The young Du-Perron, who in thefe laft words found ample 
 matter for his eloquence to difplay itfelf, began to treat this fubje<5t 
 like a theologician or preacher, and even a myftic; " You have deli- 
 " vered your fentiments," faid I when he concluded, " in fo lofty a 
 *' ftyle, that nothing can be added to your difcourfe." I then main- 
 tained to him, as well as to all the company, agreeable to what his 
 majefty had juft faid, or rather to what I had myfelf been a witnefs of, 
 that this prince had enjoyed lefs tranquillity during the peace, than 
 he did in all the troubles and alarms of war. " Rofny, faid the kino- 
 " to me, if you will put a few words upon this fubjei5t on paper, f 
 " will lliew it to fome incredulous perfons." I replied, that it re- 
 quired fome time to do that, and likewife might not be received fa- 
 vourably by every one. To this I added fome other plain truths up- 
 on religion and policy : and the mifery with which France was threat- 
 ened if Ihe fliould lofe her king; which I believe was fl:ill lefs pleaf- 
 ing to the courtiers, than what I had faid before. 
 
 Thi*
 
 55© M E M O I R S O F S U L L Y. Book XXIIÎ. 
 
 1606. This converfatlon, which from being gay and lively had taken a 
 
 very ferious turn, was interrupted by the queen, who had left her cham- 
 ber, and was going to her clofet. The king, rifmg from table, went 
 to meet her, faying, " Well, my dear, were not the melons, partridges, 
 " and quails I fent you very good ? if your appetite has been as keen 
 " as mine, you have dined extremely well i 1 never eat fo much as I 
 " have done to-day, or was ever in a better humour ; ask Rofny, he 
 " will tell you the occafion of it, and will acquaint you with the news 
 *' I have received, and the converfation we have had." The queen, 
 who was likewife more than ufually chearful, replied, that to contri- 
 bute, on her fide, to divert his majefty, Ihe had been making prepara- 
 tions for a ballet and an interlude of her own invention ; the ballet was 
 to reprefent the felicity of the golden age; and the interlude, theamufe- 
 ments of the four feafons of the year. " I do not fay, added fhe, that 
 " I have not had a little alTiftance, for Duret and La-Clavelle have 
 " been with me the whole morning, while you were at the chace." 
 " How charmed am I to fee you in this humour, my dear, faid Henry 
 ** to her; I befeech you let us always live together in this manner." 
 Fourcy was then ordered to fhew the patterns for the fluffs and tape- 
 ftry. The king defused the queen to tell him her opinion of them ; 
 and turning tome, "I know what yours is already, faid he ; but 
 " now let us fee your abftrads of accounts ?" 
 
 Of thefe there were three, the fame number with the general ac- 
 counts : this is a fimple fketch of this undertaking; in the hrft, which 
 regarded the fuperintendancy of the buildings and fortifications, the 
 king found what was contained in the general account ; ift, a memo- 
 rial of all the fortifications made in the frontiers fince the direction was 
 in my hands; 2d, of all the buildings and royal houfes; 3d, of all the 
 moveables, hangings, gold and filver plate, which I had colledied for 
 him. The fécond compendium, which related to the finances, was 
 an index to the memoirs ; i ft, of the changes and improvements which 
 I had made in all the different parts of the king's finances and reve- 
 nues; 2d, of all the gold and filver money actually in the treafury; 
 3d, of the improvements which I had ftill to make, and of the 
 fums which I hoped to add to the former. The third compendium, 
 which related to the office of the grand mafter, fliewed the particulars 
 of the general account; ift, of pieces of fix different bores, repofited 
 in my arfenal; and of all that related to the cannons; 2d, of the 
 number of bullets, with the means of keeping all the train of artillery, 
 
 and
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 and employing them in good order ; 3d, of the quantity of three forts 
 of gunpowder commonly ufed ; 4th, of the quantity of arms, tools, 
 and inllruments of the train of artillery ; 5th, of the number of fol- 
 diers, as well gentlemen as volunteers, whom the king could fet on 
 foot, reckoned according to the divifion of the kingdom. 
 
 That the reader may the better underftand what has been faid x 
 little higher, with refpedt to Spain and the United Provinces, it is ne- 
 ceiîary to fee what paffed this year in Flanders *. The Spaniards, to 
 whom the army deftined for the expedition of Sedan had given great 
 umbrage, finding that they had nothing to apprehend from that quar- 
 ter, the marquis Spinola fet out from Genoa on the 6th of May, that 
 he might arrive in Flanders on the 19th. The fiege of Rhinberg, 
 which the Spaniards undertook this year, was the only confiderabls 
 adlion performed this campaign : at firft: the befieged defended them- 
 felves with their ufual vigour, and made feveral failles, by which two 
 Spanifh colonels loft their lives ; the name of one of them was Thores, 
 and the other commanded the new terfe -f-, which came from Savoy,. 
 This bold defence made the event of the fiege appear very doubtful,- 
 at beft it was thought that it would be protraded a long time ; Spinola- 
 was of this opinion, and the king fuppofed that Rhinberg would noc 
 Surrender before the 20th of Odlober : however, they capitulated the 
 beginning of this month. If the courier was to be credited, whoj 
 the next day after the rcdudion of this city, was fent by Spinola to 
 carry the news to Madrid, and who pafi"ed through Paris in his way, 
 the befieged had not more than fix tons of powder leftj but, it muft be 
 confefled, that the D-utch did not, upon this occafion, exert the valour 
 they had done in the preceding years ; they were then indeed dif- 
 pirited and weary of the war. The garriibn, which was left by 
 the fenate to its own conduit, were fatisfied with obtaining, that they 
 iliould be permitted to march out with all marks of honour, fuch as 
 carrying away their cannon, &c. They threw all the blame of their 
 furrender upon the prince of Orange, who they faid would neither 
 fuccour the place, nor give any difturbance to the Spanifii army. This 
 reproach was not wholly without caufe ; prince Maurice's reputation 
 fuifered greatly from the inadtion he lived in during this ûsgQ and the 
 whole campaign. 
 
 * Confuk De Thou, the Merc. Franc, in two or three pLices of Sully's Memoirs, 
 anno 1606. and Siri, ibid, on this fubjeiSt. fignifies a batallion, or feveral companies 
 t The word terfe, which is made ule of of foot, forming one corps, 
 
 In^
 
 Brulard, 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. Book X>:III. 
 
 Lntdeed the condudl of the United Provinces cannot be wondered 
 at, if we conlider that they were reduced to fuch extremities, that it 
 was not poffible for them to carry on the war much longer. All the 
 lord of' letters from Buzenval and Berny confirmed this truth; and public re- 
 Berny. port did not exaggerate things in this refpedt. It was no lefs certain, 
 
 that Spain was no longer in a condition to take advantage of their 
 weaknefs. The fieges of Oftend and Sluys, had opened two wounds 
 which they had never been able to clofe. In Flanders a peace was pub- 
 lickly talked of; and thofe who till then had fliown themfelves moll 
 againfl it, were, to their own aftonifliment, infenfibly brought to ap- 
 prove of it. They now left off foliciting with ardour the afliftance of 
 France; or to have tliat reliance upon our promifes as they had for- 
 merly. I am perfuaded, that the ftill recent remembrance of all the 
 obligations they lay under to his majefty, was one of the chief caufes 
 of a delay of a peace or a truce, which, but for that conlideration would 
 have been concluded this year. A mifunderftanding between the 
 prince of Orange and Barnevelt, which divided the council of the States 
 into two parties, contributed alfo to this delay; the former would not 
 hear of a peace, and the latter cried out againil: a war. This oppofi- 
 tion was the caufe likewife that the council of France could take no 
 refolutions with refpedt to the affairs of Flanders, fmce it was not poffir 
 ble to ferve one party without injuring the other. 
 
 Buzenval returned to Paris the beginning of December, charged 
 with a great number of propofals. His majelly not well knowing 
 what to refolve upon, fent him to the arfenal, where I was confined 
 to my chamber, to confer with me upon them. I confefs I was no 
 lefs perplexed than the king; I faw plainly that, if there was any re- 
 folution to be taken, with refpedl to the peace between Spain and the 
 United Provinces, this was the time for it: but in what manner (hould 
 we aft, or how fécond the defigns of a people without ftrength, without 
 union amongfl themfelves, and fo deftitute of advice, that, as it was 
 plain, not being able to agree upon the choice of the deputies to be 
 lent to his majefty, our own agent to them was obliged to take this com- 
 milTion upon himfelf : (hall we prevail upon thefe provinces to fubmit 
 to the French domination, and fo make their quarrel our own ? But 
 is not this to engage raftily in a war with the whole houfe of Auftria, the 
 event of which would be fo much the more doubtful, as the countries 
 neceflary to be polTefled were at the greater diftance from our own; as 
 we had yet no preparations made for entering the territories of our ene- 
 mies.
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 mies, or vefTels to invade them by fca, but thofe belonging to the States : 
 fhall we be contented with receiving a certain number of towns, either 
 as a fecurity, or in perpetual poffeffion, to indemnify us for what mo- 
 ney and flores we had advanced, as Buzenval offered in their name ? 
 This propofal has all the inconveniencies of the firfl, without any of its 
 dvantages ; we fhould befides have numerous garrifons to maintain, 
 becaufe thefe towns would be doubtlefs upon the frontiers, where the 
 Flemmings would behold us with almofl as bad an eye as the Spaniards 
 themfelves, of which we have a very recent example, in their beha- 
 viour to the Englilh in the like circumflance. In whatever manner we 
 difguife any refolution which neceffarily leads to a war with Spain, it 
 will as infallibly bring England upon us, as foon as we feem dehrous of 
 getting a footing, and making an eftablifhment in the Low Countries; 
 but that we might have nothing to fear either from the one or the 
 other, it was neceffary that our firfl attempt fhould be to make our- 
 felves, by one flroke, maflers of the fea againft the Spaniards, and in a 
 cafe of abfblute neceffity, againft the Englifli likewife. I believe I 
 could then have engaged my head, that, having nothing more to attack 
 or defend but on the fide of the Meufe, Spain would have entirely loft 
 the Low Countries. But what great expences, and what prodigious 
 efforts muft neceffarily be made, ere this could be accomplifhed ? I am 
 flill perfuaded that we might, without giving umbrage to our neigh- 
 bours, and without fuffering any greater inconvenience from Spain, 
 than complaints and murmurs, have ftill continued fecretly to fxvour 
 the States, as we did at prefent : but befides that the fums we advanced 
 for them, muft be increafed in proportion as their power and ftrength 
 diminiflied, all the advantage we could hope for from it, would be 
 merely to retard the peace for fome years. In the prefent flate of 
 things, there was no other alternative, but an accommodation between 
 Spain and the United Provinces, or a war between us and Spain : with 
 refpedl to this accommodation, there were ftill two parts for us to take, 
 either to fuffer it to be made without our interpolition, or to appear 
 to be the mediators of it ; the fécond was the moft reafonable, and this 
 was in the end embraced : but at the time of which I am fpeaking, 
 the king was very far from approving this flroke of policy ; and, in one 
 fenfe, it was that which met with mofl oppofition. 
 
 These were almofl all the refledions I made to the king, who defired 
 to know my opinion of Buzenval's deputation. I put them in writing, 
 becaufe I was not able to wait upon his majefty : it was not my fault, 
 if this paper was not entirely fatisfactory We left it to time to bring 
 
 Vol. II. B b b b matters
 
 554- 
 i6o6. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SULLY. 
 
 Book XXIIÎ. 
 
 matters to a conclufion, but they continued in the fame doubtful flate 
 till the following year. The United Provinces made fome fmall pre- 
 fents by Aërfens to the king and queen,, for which his majefty fent 
 them his thanks, and made a prefent, by the queen, to Acrfens's wife^ 
 of four hundred crowns in jewels. Aërfens, by his mafter's orders, 
 prefented the king with a relation of a voyage which the Dutch had 
 lately made to the Eafl-Indies. 
 
 I HAVE nothing more to fay of Germany than that the duke of 
 Wirtemberg found the good effefts of the king's protedion : Mont- 
 glat was his majefty's agent in that country; for as for Bongars, who 
 was there alfo, and who had written a letter from Metz to me, which 
 Henry read, becaufe it was open, this prince would not permit him. 
 to flay in that city, nor in any other place, h^ faid, where he might 
 preach his do6lriae. 
 
 All England was thrown into a confternation, by the difcovery of 
 a plot *, carried on by the jefuits Garnet and Oldecorne, with feveral 
 
 * A detail of this confpiracy would lead 
 us into a relation of too great length, and 
 has but little connexion with thefe Me- 
 moirs. According to De Thou and the 
 Merc. Franc, it had its beginning in fonie 
 of the latter years of queen Elizabeth's 
 reign J fee thofe hiftorians, arm. 1605 and 
 1606. Ten or twelve Englifli, and two je- 
 fuits, Henry Garnet and Edward Oldecorne, 
 loft their lives on that account : all the 
 crime of the two laft appears only to have 
 been their knowing of the confpiracy and 
 not difcovering it. " The king, fays 
 *' L'Etoile, thought proper to fay to fa- 
 " ther Cotton, when he fpoke to him of 
 " it, I will not believe this of you Jefuits, 
 *' or caft any refleâion on your order in 
 *' general ; there is, however, one jjerfon 
 *' at Rome with his holinefs, who I know 
 *' was not unacquainted with this wicked 
 " plot and confpiracy." anno 1605. 
 
 Father Oldecorne folemnly declared 
 before his death (on the 17th of 
 April, 1606) that he never knew or ap- 
 proved of this gunpowder plot. Me- 
 zerai fays, that this father had maintained, 
 that the attempt was good and cominend- 
 abk ; but on wh^ grouiid3 he, whu makes 
 
 Hall and Oldecorne two different perfons,, 
 though thefe are only two names of the 
 fame man, fays this, 1 know not. Father 
 Garnet was executed the third of May. The 
 judges took great pains to prevail on him- 
 to own that he had come to the know- 
 ledge of it by other means than under the 
 feal of confeffion, which they knew was 
 inviolable amongft catholics. Father Gar- 
 net, according to the account of the ca- 
 tholics, had To little concern in this plot, 
 of which Larrey makes him the author 
 and chief promoter, that he made ufe of 
 all poffible means, even almoft the difco- 
 very of it, to prevent it, inceiTantly ex- 
 horting the catholics to have patience. He 
 had befides got farther Parfons, and father 
 Aquaviva, general of the Jefuits, to write» 
 that the taking any violent refolution fhould^ 
 above all things, be avoided, tTie confe- 
 quences of which muft inevitably be fa- 
 tal to religion. Memoirs fo? the general 
 hiftory of Europe, vol. I. p. 74. Mat- 
 thieu, in like manner, exculpates father 
 Garnet, vol II. b. iii. p. 715. See alfo 
 the book compofed by father Daniel Bar- 
 toJi, an Italian jefuit, intituled, Dell' IJio- 
 ria dilla Campagnia di Gksù d' Inghilterra. 
 
 Other
 
 Book XXIII. MEMOIRS OF SULLT. 
 
 other Engliflimen, agalnfl: the king's perfon ; the confpirators having 
 refolved to blow up his majefty and the chief lords of the kingdom, 
 ^vhen they were all affembled in the parliament- houfe, under which 
 they had lodged barrels, and prepared trains of gunpowder. 
 
 This evidence is fufficient to confute thofe, Oldecorne were conviâed of being partiel 
 
 who, like Bayle (Rep. des Lett. March, in the plot. This father Parfons, or Robert 
 
 1687.) have afTerted, that, according to Perfonio, was a jefuit of great merit and 
 
 all hiftorLins, father Garnet and father knowledge. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
 
 
 
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