% i O .^WEUNIVERS/A _ ^ o <^7133NV-S01^ 1^' ■< o '^AajAiNam'^ ^.OFCALIF0% ^OFCAlIFOflV ^tllBRARYQ^ -^^tUBRARYO^, ^' aOFCAIIF0% ^OFCALIFOft^ ^<3Aavaaiii^J^ >'d?Aiivaaiii'^ ^WEUNIVER% .>.lOSANCElfj> o o ■^/SaaAINH 3WV .\\At:i!r.ivct«/A vvlOSANCElfx> o o ^tllBRARYQ^ ^^^^MIBRARYQ<^ ^OJIIVDJO"^ ^^OFCALIF0% ^OFCALIFOftjk, ^TiiJONVSOl^ %}19AINn3WV^ >&AaV}J8lll^'^ >&Ayvii8ll-l^'^ ^tllBRARY^?/^ ^UIBRARYO^ ^\\E UNIVERSE .vWSANCElfj> m\ im\ 1^1 ifnci t: <: %iJ3/\Wn3WV im ml ^V-lOSANCElfjv. o ^ "^/ia^AiNfi-jwv ^OFCALIF0M<^ ^.OfCALIFOff^ (O/-^ ^^tllBRARYO^ I0>> -^V^OJIIVJJO^ >:lOS-ANCElfj> % ^^..OFCAIIFO/?^ ,^WEUNIVERS//i o ^aJAINHJWv ^lOSANCElfj> o ■^/^aBAlNfl 3WV 4n> ^lOSANCElfj> o ^ %a3AINn3WV ^VlOSANCElfj> o ^ > =3 '^/ia3AINa3UV ^^^HIBRARY^/r^ ^^^l•llBRARYa^ ^^.0FCAIIF0% aOFCAIIFO% .^WEUNIVE "^N^ ^(?Aav{iaiH^'^ -s^lLIBRARYQ^ :l liirr ^WEl)NIVER5•/A v>:lOSANCElfj> OLD PARIS ITS COURT AND LITERARY SALONS Volume I. LADY JACKSON'S WORKS. 14 VOLUMES. OLD PARIS. Its Court and Literary Salons. 2 vols. THE OLD REOinE. Court, Salons and Theatres. 2 vols. THE COURT OP FRANCE in the Sixteenth Century, "5"4='559- 2 vols. THE LAST OF THE VALOIS, and Accession of Henry of Navarre, 1559=1589. 2 vols. THE FIRST OF THE BOURBONS, 1589=1595. 2 vols. THE FRENCH COURT AND SOCIETY. Reign of Louis XVI. and First Empire. 2 vols. THE COURT OF THE TUILERIES, from the Res- toration to the Flight of Louis Philippe. 2 vols. JOSEPH KNIGHT COMPANY, Publishers, BOSTON, MASS. Bnne of Buetria OLD PARIS ITS COURT AND LITERARY SALONS CATHERINE CHARLOTTE, LADY JACKSON " L'esprit de soci6t6 est le partage naturel des Fran<;ais ; c'est un m^rite et un plaisir dont les autres peuples ont senti le besoin " Voltaire In Two Volumes VOL. I. IfflKitf) Jllugtration« BOSTON JOSEPH KNIGHT COMPANY 1895 ColDuial Press. H. Simonds & Co. —Geo. C. Scott & Sons. Boston, Mass., U.S.A. Do 7/3 o iBebicateti to MRS. M. FRANKS BY HER AFFECTIONATE FRIEND CATHERINE CHARLOTTE JACKSON IN REMEMBRANCE OF A PLEASANT RECONTRE, SOME YEARS AGO, IN THE GAY CITY OF PA&IS 471449 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. PAGE Introductory Chapter . . . . . i CHAPTER II. The 14th of May, 1610. — Coronation of Marie de Medicis. — Royal Procession at Saint Denis. — Coronation Fete. — Floral Decoration of Old Paris. — The Bourgeois King. — Popularity of Henry IV. — Henry in his Fifty-seventh Year.— Angelique Paulet. — The King's Coach. — Assassi- nation of Henry IV. — Intense Grief of the People. — A Royal Widow's Weeds. — The Child-king Louis XIII. — The Queen-regent's Favourite . . . .9 CHAPTER III. Paris at the time of Henry IV.'s Death. — The Hotel Saint Paul. — The New Louvre. — The Hotel de Soissons. — Henry III.'s Vow. — Huguenot and Catholic. — Enlarge- ment of the Tuileries. — L'Hotel de Ville. — Le Pont Neuf. — La Samaritaine. — A Capucine Convent. — Saint Vincent de Paul . . . . . . .22 CHAPTER IV. Statesmen and Generals. — Poets and Satirists. — Marie de Medicis. — The Poet Malherbe. — The Joys of Heaven. — Ogier de Gombauld. — Religious Novels. — "Astree," a Pastoral Allegory. — Boileau's Opinion of "Astree." — The lovelorn Marquis d'Urfe. — Diane de Chateaunormand. — A gentle Shepherd and Shepherdess. — Death of the Shepherd. — " Les Amours du Grand Alcandre " . -32 CHAPTER V. Betrothal of Catherine de Vivonne and the Count d'An- gennes. — The Pisani Family. — The Nobles and Clergy. — Educated Women. — Marguerite de France. — Desire for Social Intercourse. — La Folie Rambouillet. — The Old Hotel Pisani. — The Hotel de Rambouillet. — The Salon CONTENTS PAGE Bleu. — The Luxembourg Palace. — The Marquise de Ram- bouillet. — Rising Influence of Rambouillet. — The Mar- quis de Racan. — Armand du Plessis. — The Ladies of the Rambouillet Circle . . . . . -44 CHAPTER VL Louis XIIL — The Brothers D'Albert. — Revels a I'ltalienne. — Le Marechal d'Ancre. — La Perle du Marais. — The Hotel Lesdiguieres. — The Cours de la Reine.- — Statue of Henry IV. — Prevalence of Duelling. — The Queen a Peace- maker. — The Double Spanish Marriage. — Quadrilles d'Arioste. — Marriage P'etes. — The Girl-queen, Anne of Austria. — Marguerite de France . . . • 5^ CHAPTER VII. Revolt of M. le Prince. — Elenora Galagai. — Concini's great Wealth. — " The Accursed Jews." — Assassination of Con- cini.-^ His Wife burnt as a Sorceress. — The Queen-regent Exiled. — Armand du Plessis. — Marie's Return. — The Luxembourg. — Rubens' Twenty-four Paintings. — " The Day of Dupes." — Escape of Marie of Brussels. — Riche- lieu rules France. — Marie in Poverty and Exile . -71 CHAPTER VIIL Richelieu's Patronage of Literature. — Richelieu, Chapelain, and " Le Cid." — The Rambouillet Circle. — Its Discordant Elements. — Social Savoir-faire of the Marquise. — De- pravity of the Court. — The Queen and Madame de Haute- fort. — Richelieu and Anne of Austria. — Mademoiselle de La Fayette. — Louis XIIL as a Lover. — An Evening at Rambouillet. — The Fiery Calprenede. — " Le Grand Epis- tolier." — Cardinal de la Valette. — Eaves-dropping. — " Tel Maitre, tel Valet." — Gaston d'Orleans . . .83 CHAPTER IX. Boisrobert. — M. le Prince. — The Mysterious Oublieuse. — Her Lute and her Song. — La Belle Angelique Paulet. — Her Music and Dancing. — The Jealous Nightingales. — A Presumptuous Bourgeois. — Patriotism, Religion, and JLpve. — A Noble Lover. — Galants et Honnetes Hommes. : — Social Supremacy of Woman .... 9^^ CHAPTER X. The Urbanity Question. — Printed Discourses and News- Letters. — The Alermre and Gazette de France. — Romances CONTENTS PAGE of D'Urfe and Calprenede. — A Rival in the Field. — Made- leine de Scudery. — Georges de Scudery. — Julie d'An- gennes. — Madeleine at Rambouillet. — Madeleine as a Poet- ess. — The Flays of Georges de Scudery. — Georges a Virtu- oso. — An Address to the Gentle Reader. — Success of " Le Prince Deguise." — Georges popular at Rambouillet . 109 CHAPTER XI. The Plague of 1631. — Terror of the People. — Wretched State of the City. — The Chateau de St. Germain. — A Royal Cook. — The Queen and her Ladies. — Anne and Louis at Thirty Years of Age. — The Rage for Dancing. — Richelieu's ostentatious Pomp. — The Regulation of Costume. — Mortification of the Noblesse. — The Right Divine. — The Plague at Rambouillet. — A Miracle . .122 CHAPTER Xn. The Due de Montausier's First Visit to Rambouillet. — Love at First Sight. — A Constant Lover. — Vincent Voiture. — His Sonnets and Letters. — His Letter to Madame de Sainctot. — Voiture Reengcndre. — De Chavigny's Im- promptu. — Voiture's Presumption. — Voiture in Love. — A Wager. — Two Sentinels. — A Privileged Buffoon . 134 CHAPTER XIII. Conrart's Petite Academic. — The Cardinal's Secretary. — Admitted to the Salon Conrart. — Received as Tenth Mem- ber. — French Academy founded. — " Le Cid " of Corneille. — The Academy invited to decry it.—" Le Cid " first read __ in the Salon Bleu. — Le Dictionnaire de I'Academie. — Ua^ Bureau d'Esprit. — The Vicomte de Combalet. — The Widowed Madame de Combalet. — Becomes la Duchesse d'Aiguillon. — The rival Salons. — The Salon Bleu still bears the Palm . . . . . -145 CHAPTER XIV. Contrasts and Changes in French Society. — The World and the Cloi ster. — Vinceat^ a, J \)pul ^ar C onfessor.-^Hejiet ires to the Oratoire. — Preceptor to the Sons of De Gondy. — Spiritual Director of Louis XIII. — Successful Appeals for Alms. — The Sisters of Charity. — L'Hopital des Enfants Trouves. — Le Commandeur de Sillery. — Story of Vincent's Earlier Life. — The Captive Greek. — Vincent a Friend to the Poor . . . . . . .158 CONTENTS CHAPTER XV. Debut of Mdlle. de Bourbon-Conde. — Her Toilette and her Cilice. — Her Desire to take the Veil. — Her Parents refuse their Consent. — Introduced at Rambouillet. — Armed against Satan's Assaults. — Anne of Austria. — The Cilice admonishes in Vain. — -Anne de Bourbon converted. — The New Star and her Adorers. — The Chateau de Chantilly. — Its Gardens and Grounds. — Amusements of the Guests. — The Letter-Bag.— A Letter from Voiture. — Tossed in a Counterpane. — Marriage of Anne de Bourbon. — " The Cook's Daughter." — The Marquise de Sable. — Beauty of Madame de Longueville. — An Attack of Small-pox . 169 CHAPTER XVI. War with Spain. — Louis's Love of the Camp. — Birth of the Dauphin. — A second Enfant de France. — Le Grand Conde. — Marries Richelieu's Niece. — Morbid Fancies of Louis XIII. — Death of Marie de Medicis. — Sympathy of the People. — Richelieu's failing Health. — Cinq Mars. — Provokes the King's Anger. — His picturesque Appear- ance. — Un mauvais quart d'heure. — Death of the great Cardinal. — If a great Minister, but a poor Poet . .187 CHAPTER XVIL Louis once more is King. — Economy the Order of the Day. — Le Seigneur de Montauron. — Converts a la Montauron. —Profuse Hospitality. — Corneille and his Patrons. — Death of Louis XIII. — Anne appointed Regent. — Paris at the Death of Louis XIII. — The Cardinal's Improve- ments. — Oases in the Desert. — Numerous Convents. . 201 CHAPTER XVIII. Recovery of the Young Duchesse. — She reappears in the Beau Monde. — Chapelain's " Pucelle." — The Duchesse's Opinion. — La Guirlande de Julie. — Tallemant des Reaux. — Les " Historiettes." — Nicholas Rambouillet. — Madame de la Sabliere. — La Haute Volee and the Financier. — Funeste Distraction . . . . . .211 CHAPTER XIX. La Bonne Regence. — Exiles recalled. — Captives set Free. — The Bishop of Beauvais.^ — The Due de Beaufort. — Cardi- nal Mazarin.^ — His affected Humility. — Indolence of the Queen-regent. — Evenings at Court. — The Wily and " Beau CONTENTS PAGE Cardinal." — Laurels and Bays. — Voiture, a Royal Favour- ite. — An Impromptu . . . . .221 CHAPTER XX. War with Spain continued. — Rocroi, Thionville and Cirq. — Public Rejoicings and Fetes. — Silly Practical Jokes. — The Young Hero and his Family. — Portrait of the Hero. — M. de Feuquieres' Protege. — An appropriate Text. — A Sermon at Rambouillet. — Debut of a great Orator. — Un Charmant Homme. — A Fashion able Abbe.-T-.TJafi._Abbe^Ctfeaee&-.a- Rival . — The Abbe attempts a Sermon. — Interrupted by a Nervous Lady. — The Congregation disperses . . 231 CHAPTER XXI. Old Paris. — A Leader of Fashion.— Reappears on the Cours. — Mdlle. Ninon de Lenclos. — Returns to the World. — Grief for the Loss of her Mother. — Representative Women. ■ — Ninon's Accomplishments. — Soon Weary of Rambouillet. — The Salon of Ninon. — Theories of the Abbe Gedouyn. — The Court of the Marais.- — The Queen's Order to Ninon. — A Pa\'ilion at the Grands Chartreux. — A Lady of very high Merit. — Ninon strives to make a Convert ....... 245 CHAPTER XXII. The Convent of Val Profond. — XIt^ Abbpy r.f Ya] dp Gra,rp. — Mansard's Original Design. — Education of the Young Princes. — Lamothe Le Vayer. — A Princely Education.— Two Terrible Turks. — The Duties of Piety. — The Royal Brothers. — The Court at F^ontainebleau. — The Swedish Ambassador. — The Daughter of the " Ice-King." — Car- tesian Philosophy. — The Ambassador FerpTexed. — His troubled Spirit Soothed . . . . -259 CHAPTER XXin. Musical Art in its Infancy. — The Band of Les Mousquetaires. — A Promenade Concert. — Celebrities of the Court. — De la Rochefoucauld. — The French Navy. — Les Beaux Mous- quetaires. — Le Comte de Coligny .... 273 CHAPTER XXIV. The Mysterious BilletsDoux. — To Whom do they Belong ? — Rival Belles. — A Tale of Turpitude. — 'i'he Lover and the Husband. — Public Apology Demanded. — Difticult Diplo- CONTENTS PAGE macy. — A Doubtful Peace. — Dispersion of " Les Impor- tants." — Coligny Challenges De Guise. — A Duel on the Place Royale. — Death of De Coligny. — "Argentan et Ismanie." — Triste Renown of the Duchess . . 280 CHAPTER XXV. Preparation for the Public Fetes Suspended. — A Defeat, a Victory and a Death. — Constancy Rewarded. — The " Carte du Pays de Tendre." — Woman's Social Equality Recognized. — Rambouillet on the Wane. — Claire Ange- lique d'Angennes. — A Duel by Torchlight. — Salons of Madame la Princesse. — Sevigne at Rambouillet . . 293 CHAPTER XXVI. Victories of the Due d'Enghien. — The Court Envious and Alarmed. — " Veni, Vidi, Vici." — The Duchess received by Turenne.— Her Conquests at Miinster. — Death of Mon- sieur le Prince. — His Splendid Funeral. — Italian Opera Introduced. — The Queen's Piety Vexes Mazarin. — Made- moiselle de Montpensier. — Louis XIV. and Prince Charles. — The Rival Beauties Reappear. — La Belle des Belles Triumphant ...... 301 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Volume I. PAGE Anne of Austria =..... Frontispiece Henry IV. 32 Peter Paul Rubens ....... 78 CoRNEiLLE ... ... 150 Louis XIII 188 BossuET 238 Duke de la Rochefoucauld ..... 276 Prince de Conde (le grand Conde) . , . 304 OLD PARIS ITS COURT AND LITERARY SALONS INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER !hE seventeenth century, in its literary and social aspects, is regarded by French writers generally as the most brilliant period in the history of their nation. It has been termed "the epoch of the true great- ness of France," — "the true Renaissance of lit- erature and les beaux arts." It is indeed a period of very varied and romantic interest. Woman played an impor- tant part in it — contributing largely towards the reform then achieved in the French language, and in the corrupt and gross manners of the age, and introducing into the social relations of life that peculiar grace, fascinating ease, vivacity, and undefinable charm still vainly sought for in society out of France. "Z« vie de salon,'" says M. Taine, ''nest 2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER parfaite qtieu France.'' And it is true. The social reunions of other nations have generally been formed on that model, and a more or less "frenchified" tone has been imported into them ; yet the peculiar zest of that subtle, incommuni- cable essence of the brain, V esprit de societe, remains still, incontestably, the especial gift of the French. It is a part of the genius of the nation, and the language partakes of it ; none other expressing with equal facility and felicity all that is lively, complimentary, witty, graceful, tender, refined. From the time of Louis XII. — himself a liberal patron of learning, and in whose reign Greek was first taught in the schools of France — there had been occasional gleams of the ap- proaching dawn of a fuller intellectual life. They were, however, but partial and fitful. The young queen, Anne of Brittany, lively and spirituelle, learned, and accomplished for the age in which she lived, was the first royal con- sort of France who bestowed any appreciative patronage on literature, or sought to draw the wives and daughters of the nobles of the land from the seclusion and monotony of the vie de chdtean, and to gather a social circle around her. Those noble dames and damsels were willing enough, when it chanced that their feudal lords and masters consented, to lay aside their spinning- wheels and tapestry-frames at the bidding of their INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 3 queen ; and though very few, probably, could read either Latin or Greek with her, yet their presence enlivened the old Palais des Tournelles and the Chateau d'Amboise, and gave to the royal pastimes new spirit and variety. For this Bre- tonne Queen of France held a separate court, more splendid than the king's, and was attended by a more numerous retinue of courtiers, pages of honour, Breton guards, etc. She was reigning Duchess of Brittany, and, as such, exacted her full meed of homage, which Louis readily accorded her, being rather proud of '' sa Bretonne,'' as he was accustomed to call this learned and rather self-willed royal lady. Jean Marot, the father of Clement, was attached to the court in the quality of her poet, and with the high-sounding title of " Poltc dc la viagnifiquc rcine, Anne de Brctagnc^ * Long years of Italian warfare, though most disastrous to France, enriched the royal library with valuable MSS., and the palaces with many treasures of art, the spoil of the wars ; and Francis I. and some few of his nobles imbibed in Italy a taste for the cJicfs-d' wnvre of sculpture, painting, and architecture. Several of its most renowned artists were prevailed on to visit the French court, but none could be tempted to stay * The splendidly illuminated livre d'heures of Anne of Brit- tany, preserved amongst the treasures of the Louvre, is a work pf exquisite beauty and of the highest style of art, 4 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER there ; though so great, we are told, was the veneration of Francis for learning and the arts, that when any distinguished savants, sculptors, or painters were presented to him, " he graciously made a point of advancing three steps to greet them." But the Italian wars depopulated France ; the heavy burdens laid on the people to exact the sums necessary for carrying them on impover- ished it also. The lands lay untilled, the neces- saries of life were scarcely obtainable, distress in the provinces was great and general. The uncleanly state of the then walled and compara- tively small city of Paris caused frequent outbursts of fever, plague, and small-pox, which considerably thinned the population. The people were grossly ignorant, superstitious, and rough-mannered ; and the court had degenerated since the days of the beneficent Louis XII. and his learned and virtuous queen, — it was without refinement; vice reigned there supreme. Immorality and obscenity, which passed current for wit and humour, were the chief characteristics of the writers then in vogue. The ladies of a literary bent composed " devises d' amour,'' as posies for rings and other jewels, or, when ambitious of higher flights, wrote licentious verses and tales, after the manner of those of Marguerite de Valois, the king's sister.* * The lines attributed to the young widow of Francis II. — Mary, Queen of Scotland — when leaving France, are pretty: INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 5 Though Francis encouraged Italian artists, favoured Ics belles lettres, founded the College of France, began the rebuilding of the Louvre, and has left a name intimately associated with souvenirs of Fontainebleau, his reign was but a series of calamities, unfavourable to intellectual development and the amelioration of the condition of the people. He had devised measures for the increase of commerce and the improvement of the navigation of the Seine ; but his wretched state of health, the religious dissensions, domestic disturbances, foreign foes, and impoverished ex- chequer prevented their realization. Henry H. formed similar schemes ; but his death, in 1559, from being wounded, accidentally, at a tournament, put an end to them. He had ordered the demolition of that unhealthy royal residence, the old Palais des Tournelles, and soon after his decease its walls were thrown down, and its pestiferous moats filled up. This fruitful cause of disease and death being removed "Adieu, plaisant pays de France, O ma patrie, La plus cherie, Qui a nourri ma jeune enfance ! Adieu, France, adieu mes beaux jours! La nef qui dejoint mes amours, N'aura de moi que la moitie ; Une part te reste, elle est tienne, Je la fie a ton amitie Pour que de I'autre il te souvienne." 6 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER from the too often plague - stricken city, the building of the palace of the Tuileries was begun in 1564. These and other works pro- gressed but slowly amidst the crimes and blood- shed that were the principal events of the regency and reigns of Catherine de Medicis and her sons. Charles IX., whose preceptor was Amyot, the translator of Plutarch, had an inclination for les belles lettres, and when prevented by weather from following his usual open-air sports would send for the poets to amuse him, and especially the poet par excellence — " le prince des poHes,'' ■ — the licentious, vain and intriguing Pierre de Ronsard. Charles even wrote a couplet himself now and then. But the influence of the queen-mother was fatal to her sons. Her crafty, bloodthirsty nature acted as a blight, — destroying every germ of good that appeared in them. After the assassination of Henry HI. the Leaguers, either bribed or worn by their suffer- ings during the siege into submission, opened the gates of Paris to Henry IV. ; persecution then ceased, and after near forty years of civil warfare both Catholic and Huguenot were free to breathe in peace, — peace which the king be- lieved he had permanently secured to the latter when he signed the edict of Nantes. A rough, but gay, gallant soldier, the greater part of whose life had been spent in the camp, and INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 7 who when not making war was with the same persistent zeal making love, Henry was no great promoter of learning or liberal patron of the arts. He, however, very sensibly sent the royal library to Paris, as likely to be more useful in the capital than at the hunting-seat of Fontainebleau, whither Francis I. had transferred it from Blois, where Louis XH. had placed it at the suggestion of Anne of Brittany, since whose time it had been very greatly increased. Henry's especial taste was for building and repairing, and but for the restraining hand of Sully he, probably, would further have extended his works at St. Germain, Paris and Fontainebleau. He added a wing to the Tuileries, built the Pavilion de Flore, made some progress towards connecting the Palace with the Louvre, and carried out several improve- ments in Paris. He employed the poet, Malherbe, to write amatory verses and to extol the beauty of his mistresses. He could dash off pleasant stanzas himself, and very flattering billets dcnix, when inspired by the charms of the reigning belle of his too susceptible heart. The example he set in his own mode of life was little calculated to reform the morals and manners of a dissolute court. But his tolerant spirit, his gay good-humour and apparent frank bonhomie in his relations towards his people, contrasted so favourably with the grinding tyranny to which, as if mere beasts of burden, 8 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER they had been subjected by former rulers or oppressors of France, that they fully atoned in their eyes for all his excesses and shortcomings, which were indeed of a nature — such was the extreme grossness of the age — then generally deemed venial. His reign, though memorable in itself, was but as the first greyness of dawn to the flush of the opening day, the misty fore- runner of an age of intellectual brilliancy and social refinement — "/^ grand sihle littirairc,'' which attained its climax towards the middle of the seventeenth century. CHAPTER II. The 14th of May, 1610. — Coronation of Marie de Medicis. — Royal Procession at Saint Denis. — Coronation Fete. — Floral Decoration of Old Paris. — The Bourgeois King.- — Popularity of Henry IV. — Henry in his Fifty - seventh Year. — Angelique Paulet. — The King's Coach. — Assassina- tion of Henry IV. — Intense Grief of the People. — A Royal Widow's Weeds. — The Child-king, Louis XIII. — The Queen-regent's Favourite. [T was the 14th of May, 1610. Work- men to the number of eight hundred, or more, were employed in decorating the old city of Pari.s for a grand state pageant, arranged to take place on the i6th. Marie de Medicis, the second wife of Henry IV., was then to make her public entry into the capital, as the newly-crowned Queen of France. Her coronation, so long earnestly desired, so long delayed, she had prevailed on the king, after ten years of scolding and coaxing, threatening and entreating, to consent to. The cherished wish of her heart was obtained, and she had been crowned with the utmost pomp and solemnity, on the previous day, at St. Denis, by Cardinal Joyeuse. Little or no sympathy or affection existed between Marie de Medicis and her husband. 9 lO OLD PAA'/S His mistresses — less by their beauty than by gaiety and good - humour — held an influence over him which probably she herself might have acquired, could she have curbed her violent tem- per. But not only did she rave, and rage, and assail him with angry words, it was even some- times necessary to restrain her from the too free use of her hands. And her blows were far from being light ones, for, as Henry once jestingly said, she was "terribly robust." From time to time whispers had reached her of the king's intention to seek a divorce, on the ground that a promise of marriage given in years gone by to the Marquise de Verneuil, invalidated any subsequent union contracted by him. Henry had not a very scrupulous conscience, but these whispered reports originated solely with the intriguing marquise. He entertained, at least, a kindly feeling towards Marie, notwithstanding her attacks upon him, and publicly paid her the respect due to the mother of the Dauphin of France. But her brow had cleared since it had been graced by a crown. She was radiant with delight ; for she had achieved a real triumph, — one especially gratifying to the feelings of a woman of her violent and vindictive character, — the Marquise de Verneuil, the king's mistress, and the Princesse Marguerite de France, his divorced wife, having both been compelled to ROYAL PROCESSION AT ST. DENIS I I witness that triumph and even to enhance it, by joining the train of ladies appointed by Henry to form her cortege. Her dark Italian eyes, which so often flashed with angry indignation on her faithless spouse, were then lighted up with a gleam of proud satisfaction that but few had observed in them before, — Henry, never. The king had taken no part in the ceremony ; he was present merely as a spectator. But when the royal procession passed up the nave of the old cathedral, preceded by archbishops and bishops in their richest vestments ; the queen, surrounded by the noblest and fairest ladies of her court, and arrayed in splendid robes and sparkling gems, that well became her florid complexion and portly figure (she was in her thirty-seventh year), and wearing with dignity the royal mantle, — which, heavily embroidered in fleurs-de-lis of gold and pearls, was borne by pages of honour, — Henry, turning towards his minister and friend, De Sully, exclaimed in an animated tone: ''Ventre Saint Gris ! — Quelle est belle ! " This transitory revelation of beauty, due to the gratified feeling of the moment and the pomp and circumstance of royalty that sur- rounded her, took the king by surprise. " I could throw myself at her feet," he con- tinued, — after he had gazed long and steadfastly at her, and had replied to the proud glance she 12 OLD PARIS cast on him by a more amorous one than he had ever bestowed on her before, — "and worship her as a mistress, if I had not the misfortune to have her for a wife." Henry was at that time preparing for war, and Marie, under the guidance of Sully, was to be regent in his absence. This was chiefly his reason for consenting to her coronation, and for the proposed great eclat to be given to her entry into Paris. The narrow streets of the old city were more than usually thronged on that bright May morn- ing. The Parisians were then, as now, a pleasure -loving people, and while many were busy with the preparations for the fete, many more were amusing themselves by looking on. Public fetes, attended by any great pomp and parade of which the state defrayed the expense, were not numerous in Henry's reign. For the prudent Due de Sully, who held the state's purse-strings, regarded all lavish expenditure of that kind as throwing money into the streets, and in one sense so it literally was. But on this occasion, the enthusiastic people supplied a bountiful tribute of floral decorations to mingle with and to add freshness and beauty to the tapestry and gold of the state and the banners and emblems of the various religious communities. The fine faqades of the new houses in the noble Place Royale and the Place Dauphine, FLORAL DECORATIONS OF OLD PARIS 1 3 then scarcely completed — though fashion had already sealed the former for her favourite abode, and both of which still remain the most interesting of the few souvenirs of the days of Henry IV. that modern Paris affords — were garlanded and festooned as if for a fete to the goddess of Spring. It was the season of flowers ; and flowers and fruit, as an old writer tells us,* then grew in such abundance in the surrounding fields and gardens and orchards, that " they were to be had almost for nothing." In fact, from the Tour de Nesle, where the Institute now stands, to the Porte St. Victor ; from the Place de Carrousel to the Porte St. Antoine ; from the Porte du Temple to the Porte Marceau — • the then extreme limits of Paris, north and south of the Seine — the manifold defects and desights of the old city were covered with a flower-gemmed mantle. The object of all this enthusiasm was the king rather than the queen. The people delighted to honour him. They looked upon him almost as one of themselves ; as a bourgeois king. The vicissitudes of his career had, indeed, often brought him into close companionship with many of the hardships and privations of humble life, and he was r^ise enough to be able to turn this experience to good account. But at no time was there anything of the bourgeois in Henry IV. * Sauval. 14 OLD PARIS He had been a hardy, dashing leader of troops ; gay and roistering, and without much dignity. When he unbuckled his sword, he cast aside for the time being all distinctions of rank, and sat down to be jovial and to enjoy himself with his comrades after the rough manner of the camp. But he was greatly changed since the days of " La belle Gabrielle." He had said that his heart had died with her, and that he could love no more. And perhajis it was true that he had never loved woman as he had loved her, though he had been more reckless and dissolute since her death, and to the crowning folly of his life was about to add its crowning scandal by entering upon a war that might desolate Europe for the sake of another Helen, — the young Princess de Conde, the wife of his nephew. Yet no king of France, not even " le phr de son peiiple,'' the far more deserving Louis XH., had ever been so popular as Henry IV. His disposition was humane ; he was cruel only where the preservation of game was in question ; for that i^urpose his decrees were barbarous, for the chase was a passion with him when the excite- ment of war was wanting. Still, with all his popularity, faction was rife in the country and had never been wholly suppressed. Even then, as now, semi - barbarous as the people were, compared with their present intellectuality and general intelligence, they could never long endure HENRY IN I/IS FIFTY-SEVENTH YEAR I 5 peaceably and voluntarily the yoke of any ruler. And this effervescent spirit the feudal nobles, to a certain extent, encouraged, each being intent on maintaining his own independence. This ever-present source of anxiety, together with other cares of state, domestic infelicity, and the irregularities of his life, had told greatly upon Henry, both physically and mentally, dur- ing the last few years. The gallant bearing, the sprightly jests that once distinguished "the ugliest, but bravest gentleman in France," were things of the past. Now, in his fifty-seventh year, his deeply-wrinkled face had become mea- gre and long ; a careworn expression was almost habitual to it, and the once lively eye was sunken and lustreless. His shoulders were bowed, as with the heavy weight of years ; his hair, once black and wavy, hung lank round his face, and, like his Huguenot beard, was bleached as with the snows of a wintry old age. His whole appearance was as of one who had been buffeted by the storms of life for the full span of the allotted threescore years and ten. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the king was then laying siege to the heart of Made- moiselle Angelique Paulet. And as he was always better pleased, rough soldier though he was, " by a conquest in love than a conquest in war, and from the universal homage he paid to woman still succeeded in pleasing the fair l6 OLD PARIS sex generally," it is probable that, had he lived, the new flame might have abated the ardour of the preceding one, and the meditated war have been abandoned. On the morning of the 14th of May, Henry had visited the beautiful Angelique Paulet. She was the daughter of the state secretary who originated the tax, named after him, " La Paulette." The king, ^^ pour viotiver sa vistte," had with him his eldest son, the young due, Cesar de Vendome, to introduce him to this fascinating young lady. She has been de- scribed as receiving her royal visitors " seated on a sofa of scarlet brocatelle, and wearing a morning-dress of blue silk. Part of her hair, which was of a deep golden colour, was twisted with a string of pearls and a blue riband, and part fell in long curls on her shoulders. The dress was made high, but open at the throat, displaying a necklace of diamonds set in gold, with a border of black enamel. Her sleeves were looped back with blue ribands, and her bracelets were of the same pattern as the neck- lace." This fair damsel, who was but seventeen, had won the admiration of the king by her graceful dancing and exquisite singing, in a ''ballet de la reiiie,'" danced by the court at the Louvre. Mademoiselle Angelique Paulet some years after was one of the celebrities of the Hotel de Rambouillet. THE KING'S COACH 1 7 Later in the day, the king had a fancy to see how the preparations for the i6th were progress- ing. He was accompanied in his coach by the Due d'Epernon, and three or four other nobles. It was seldom he used a coach, owing, it has been said, to a superstitious presentiment of evil likely to befall him in one. But it seems scarcely necessary to assign superstition as his objection to using a coach, when we remember what sort of vehicles the Paris coachbuilders then produced. They were small open rooms (no glass windows),* either set without springs on a frame with four immensely large wheels, or suspended to long spokes by broad leathern bands. Thus, with a fair prospect of dislo- cation to the limbs of the occupant, these unwieldy constructions went jolting or swing- ing over the ups and downs formed by the mounds of dirt that impeded their progress in the wretchedly -paved and unpaved streets of the old city. And it required dexterous handling on the part of the driver to guide the four or six horses attached to these cum- brous conveyances, so as to avoid collisions in the narrow and tortuous thoroughfares. But, luckily, coaches were not yet numerous, and only * Glass windows were not used until the time of Louis XIV., who sent a coach so furnished to England, as a present to Charles II. 18 OLD PARIS the very rich could afford to take an airing in that stately and comfortless fashion.* It was an unexpected obstruction by carts that afforded Ravaillac the opportunity of taking the king's life. Preparations for the/^/;lOSANCnf,: o %il3AINn-3WV ^WEU^IIVERJ/A vvlO$ANCElfj> "^riijoNvsoi^"^ '^/^a^AiNnawv' ^UIBRARYQr ^lLIBRARY6! ^•tfOJITVOJO^ \MEUNIVERJ//i ^lOSANCElfj> ^TiiaONVSOl^ %a3AINIl-3WV >\,0F CALIFOM)^ ^(9Aavaan-i^ ^OFCAllFOMfc "^^^Aavaaii-i^ A>\tLIBRARYQ^ <^>imm\\o/: 5 LI In = S L lln >- v^lOSANGtlfj>