Volume II Part 14 (2/2)

[158] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. iii. pp. 23, 24. D'Estrees, _Mem_. pp. 398, 399. Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. p. 80. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 40, 41.

[159] Francois, Comte (and subsequently Duc) de la Rochefoucauld, Master of the Wardrobe to Louis XIII, was descended from one of the most ancient and n.o.ble families of France. He died in 1650.

[160] Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mere et du Fils_ vol. i. pp. 204-206.

D'Estrees, _Mem_. p. 399.

[161] This lady, who had commenced her career at Court by the most bitter enmity towards Ba.s.sompierre, was not long ere she became one of his firmest friends; and it was even a.s.serted that, after the death of the Prince her husband, she privately bestowed her hand upon the fascinating Gentleman of the Bedchamber.

[162] Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 40-42. Le Va.s.sor, vol. i. pp. 172, 173.

[163] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. p. 81.

[164] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. pp. 81-87. Le Va.s.sor, vol. i. pp. 174-178.

Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mere et du Fils_, vol. i. pp. 207-209. Mezeray, vol. xi. pp. 42, 43.

[165] _Mercure Francais_, 1614.

[166] Ba.s.sompierre, _Mem_. pp. 88, 89.

[167] Le Va.s.sor, vol. i. pp. 191, 192.

[168] Lingard, _Hist. of England_, vol. ix. p. 271.

[169] Siri, _Mem. Rec_. vol. iii. pp. 50-52.

CHAPTER VI

1614

New anxieties--Disaffection of the Princes--They demand a Reformation in the Government--Cunning of the Duc de Bouillon--Imprisonment of M. de Vendome--He escapes--The Regent suspects the sincerity of Bouillon--Conspiracy of the Ducs de Vendome and de Retz--The Duc de Nevers seizes Mezieres--Recall of M. d'Epernon--Marie de Medicis resolves to resign the Regency, but is dissuaded by her Council--Treasonable reports--Precarious position of the Queen--Levy of troops--Manifesto of the Prince de Conde--Reply of the Regent--Death of the Connetable--Duc de Montmorency--Ba.s.sompierre is appointed Colonel-General of the Swiss Guards--The march against M. de Conde--Marie endeavours to temporize--The price of loyalty--The Prince de Conde leaves Paris--Christening of the Duc d'Anjou and the Princesse Henriette Marie--A temporary calm--The Ducs de Vendome and de Retz excite the Burgundians to revolt--The Protestants refuse to join their faction--They are compelled to lay down their arms--The Prince de Conde marches upon Poitiers--The Church ”military”--The prelate and the populace--A governor superseded--The Prince is compelled to withdraw to Chatellerault--He burns down the episcopal palace--The Court proceed to Poitou--Their reception--The Duc de Vendome makes his submission--The States a.s.semble at Nantes--Enormities perpetrated by the troops of M. de Vendome--Folly of that Prince--Death of the Prince de Conti--A bachelor-Benedict--A _nom de guerre_--Majority of Louis XIII--The Bed of Justice--The a.s.sembly of the States-General is deferred--The King solicits his mother to retain her authority in the Government--Meeting of the States--The early years of Louis XIII--Charles Albert de Luynes--His antecedents--His ambition--His favour with the young King--He is made Governor of Amboise.

The commencement of the year 1614 was productive of new anxieties to the Queen-Regent. The Marechal de Bouillon, whose restless ambition was ever prompting him to some new enterprise, had warily, but not the less surely, possessed himself of the confidence of the Princes and the other dis-affected n.o.bles, and had succeeded in aggravating their feelings against the Court party to such an extent that he experienced little difficulty in inducing them to abandon the capital and to retire to their several governments. M. de Conde had never forgiven the refusal of Marie to bestow upon him the command of the citadel of Chateau Trompette, or the recall of the ministers; and he also deeply resented the desertion of the Marechal d'Ancre from his interests, as well as the wealth and honours to which he had attained; while the Ducs de Nevers, de Mayenne, de Vendome, de Longueville, and de Piney-Luxembourg, together with a host of others, considered themselves aggrieved by their exclusion from power, and were consequently ready to espouse his cause.

Thus Bouillon found it easy to induce them to retire simultaneously from the Court; and it was agreed that they should a.s.semble in Champagne, and collectively demand a reform in the Government.

Accordingly the Prince de Conde took his leave of their Majesties on the 6th of January, and retired for a time to Chateauroux, whence he afterwards proceeded to Mezieres. This example was shortly followed by the other chiefs of his faction. The Duc de Nevers retired at once to Champagne, the Duc de Mayenne to the Isle of France, and M. de Longueville to Picardy. In February the Duc de Vendome prepared in his turn to join his friends; but as their purpose had by this time become apparent to the Regent, she caused him to be confined in an apartment of the Louvre; whence, however, he succeeded a short time afterwards in escaping by a door that had long been unused, and which being covered by the tapestried hanging of the chamber had been at length forgotten.

The Marechal de Bouillon, however, upon whom the cabal mainly relied, as his sovereignty of Sedan gave them the a.s.surance of a secure retreat should they be menaced with reprisals, made no haste to imitate his dupes. He had been far too crafty to compromise himself beyond redemption with a party which might ultimately fail; and he had consequently calculated with great care the probable chances of furthering his own fortunes. After the departure of the Princes he formed his decision; and his first act was to wait upon the ministers, and to reveal to them the intentions of M. de Conde and his adherents; a communication which excited more annoyance than surprise in those to whom it was addressed. He then proceeded to the Louvre, where he repeated to the Regent what he had previously declared to her ministers; and although he tempered his information with a.s.surances of the respect and attachment of the self-exiled Princes towards her person, Marie considered the mere fact of such a coalition so dangerous, that even when Bouillon volunteered to exert all his influence to induce them to abandon their design, and to return to the capital, although she accepted his offer, and permitted him to follow them ostensibly for that purpose, she was far from feeling rea.s.sured; and she soon had reason to discover that her fears were only too well--grounded; as the Duke, after an elaborate leave-taking at the palace, publicly declared that he was about to proceed to Sedan in order to avoid arrest.

This fact, coupled with the escape of M. de Vendome, who lost no time in reaching Brittany, where he was joined by the Duc de Retz[170] with an armed force, and took the town of Lamballe, sufficed to convince Marie that no faith must be placed in the professions of Bouillon; and she accordingly forwarded orders to all the governors of the royal fortresses to forbid the entrance of the Duc de Vendome within their walls, and commanded the Parliament to issue an edict for the suppression of levies of troops throughout Provence. This done, she next despatched the Duc de Ventadour to Chateauroux with letters of recall to M. de Conde; but before his arrival the Prince had left that city for Mezieres; and as the letters, which were forwarded to him, remained unanswered, the royal envoy was compelled to return to the capital without accomplis.h.i.+ng his mission.

The next intelligence which reached the capital was the seizure of the citadel of Mezieres by the Duc de Nevers; and as matters daily a.s.sumed a more serious aspect, the Queen resolved to recall M. d'Epernon from Metz, whither he had withdrawn a few months previously, and to conciliate him by reviving in the person of his son M. de Candale the nominal office of First Lord of the Bedchamber, which he had himself held under Henri III; while, at the same time, she held out to the Duc de Guise the prospect of commanding the armies of the King, should it be found expedient to march against the Prince de Conde.

These precautions were, however, far from sufficient to tranquillize the mind of Marie de Medicis, who began to apprehend a renewal of the intestine calamities which had overwhelmed the nation during the preceding reigns; and satisfied that despite all her efforts at conciliation she was personally obnoxious to the Princes, she expressed her determination to resign the regency. Nor did either Concini or his wife, although their own fortunes were involved in her retirement, venture to dissuade her from her purpose, the threats of the disaffected n.o.bles against themselves having convinced them that they had little mercy to expect at their hands should they still further urge the Queen to aggressive measures. From this hasty resolution Marie was, however, with some difficulty, dissuaded by her Council, who represented to her the dangerous position in which she could not fail to place the young King; who, utterly unaccustomed to public business, must prove incompetent to maintain his interests at so perilous a crisis as that which now excited her own fears.

The Regent readily admitted the validity of this argument; but in support of her purpose she informed them that she had just been apprised of a rumour which had spread in Brittany since the Duc de Vendome had retired from the Court, by which she was accused of having attempted to poison the King in order to lengthen her own period of power; and with pardonable indignation she declared that she possessed no other means of refuting so horrible a calumny than that which she had adopted, and that she consequently owed this justice to herself. As she was, however, still entreated to sacrifice her own feelings to the safety of the sovereign and the welfare of the kingdom, she at length yielded; but that she made the concession with reluctance was sufficiently evident.

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