Chapter XVI: Conclusion (2)

"As soon as his troops had taken up their position, Henry rode along
the line, mounted on a powerful bay charger, clothed in complete
armour, but with his head bare, speaking words of hope and confidence
to the soldiers, and exhorting them to show the same valour here that
they had already displayed in many a perilous enterprise. His
countenance was bold and fearless; but it was remarked, that, moved
by his own words, his eyes more than once filled with tears. He
represented to his troops, that the road to safety, as well as to
glory, lay before them; that the crown of France depended upon their
swords; that there were no new armies to fall back upon in case of
defeat: no other nobles in France to take the field for him, if they
who surrounded him should fail. He then put himself at the head of
the line, where he could be seen by all, and heard by many, and with
his hands clasped and his eyes raised to heaven, he exclaimed: 'I
pray thee, oh God, who alone knowest the intentions of man's heart,
to do thy will upon me as thou shalt judge necessary for the weal of
Christendom, and to preserve me so long as thou knowest I am needful
for the happiness and repose of this land, and no longer.' Then
turning to his own squadron, he took his casque, surmounted by a
large plume of white feathers, and said: 'Companions, God is with us,
there stand his enemies and ours. Here is your king. Upon them! and
if you lose your cornets, rally to my white plume. You will find it
in the road to victory and honour.' During some part of the morning
one of his officers remarked to him that he had provided no place of
retreat, but Henry replied: 'There is no other retreat than the field
of battle.'

"Before commencing the engagement, the King performed one of those
generous and honourable acts, so well calculated to win all hearts,
and carry the love of his people along with him. It would seem that
Schomberg, who commanded the Germans in his service, had previously
demanded the pay of his troops, which was long in arrear, and that
Henry had replied sharply: 'No brave man ever asked for money on the
eve of a battle.' At this moment of peril the King's heart smote him
for what he had said; and approaching the old officer, he spoke thus:
'Monsieur de Schomberg, I have injured you. This day may be the last
of my life, and I would not take away the honour of any gentleman. I
know your valour and your merit, and I beseech you to pardon and
embrace me.'

"'Sire,' answered Schomberg, 'you wounded me the other day it is
true, but to-day you kill me; for the honour you do me will force me
to die for your service.'

"It is probable that immediately after this incident a movement in
advance, mentioned by the king in all his despatches, was made on the
part of the royal army, for, till between ten and eleven o'clock, the
forces of the League were at such a distance, that it was possible
for Mayenne to avoid a battle. The King still apparently imagined
that such might be his adversary's intention, for he says in his
circular letter respecting the great victory of Ivry, that the
enemy's troops having appeared still farther off than they had been
on the preceding evening, he resolved to approach so close that they
must of necessity fight; and having, in consequence, gone to seek
them even to the spot where they had planted themselves, 'from which
they never advanced but so far as was necessary to come to the
charge,' the battle took place. Judging from this adherence to his
position, and from the stillness of his skirmishers, that Mayenne was
determined not to commence the engagement, Henry took advantage of an
error which the Duke had committed in the choice of his ground, and
which exposed his cavalry, scattered over the face of a slope. He
accordingly ordered his artillery to open a fire upon the adverse
squadrons, which was executed by M. de la Guiche with great precision
and effect, nine discharges taking place before the Leaguers could
fire a gun. Nearly at the same time, news was brought that Monsieur
de Humieres, Mouy, and about three hundred horse, were hurrying up to
join the King, and were barely a mile distant; but Henry would not
delay the engagement.

"The battle was now begun by the light horse advancing on the part of
the League, followed by a heavy body of lanzknechts; but they were
met in full career by Marshal D'Aumont, at the head of about three
hundred men-at-arms, and driven back in confusion to the edge of the
wood, called La Haye des pres, where D'Aumont, according to the
commands he had previously received from Henry, halted his small
force, and returned in good order. While this was taking place on the
left of the King's army, a body of reiters from the enemy's right,
advanced against the light horse of Givri and the Grand Prior, but
were repulsed; and having made their charge and fired their pistols,
retired, as was the common practice of the German troopers, to form
behind the men-at-arms. The Royalist light horse, however, had been
thrown into some disorder by this attack, and were immediately after
assailed by a squadron of heavy cavalry, consisting of Walloons and
Flemings, who, with their long lances, bade fair to overthrow Givri
and the Grand Prior, when the Baron de Biron, by a well-timed charge
in flank, broke through their ranks, receiving two wounds in his
advance. Montpensier now moved forward to encounter the same corps in
front, and after having his horse killed under him, succeeded in
restoring the advantage to the Royalists in that part of the field.
Before this was accomplished, Mayenne, with the great bulk of his
cavalry, advanced against the King himself. He was accompanied by
Count Egmont, the Duke of Nemours, and the Chevalier D'Aumale, and
had on his left a body of five hundred carabineers, on horseback, all
picked men, well armed and mounted, who, galloping forward till they
were within twenty yards of Henry's division, poured a tremendous
fire upon it, and then gave place to the men-at-arms. At that moment,
however, the King spurred on his horse two lengths before any of his
troops, and, followed by his whole squadron, 'plunged,' to use the
words of Aubigne, 'into the forest of lances,' which lay before him.
Even that bitter satirist cannot avoid giving way to some enthusiasm
in describing the charge of his royal master. 'By the first strokes,'
he says, 'appeared what quality can effect against quantity.' For
more than a quarter of an hour the struggle was fierce, and the small
squadron of the King was lost to the sight of the rest of the army in
the dense cloud of Mayenne's cavalry.

"At length the Leaguers were seen to waver; some fled, others
followed, and in an instant after, all was rout and confusion amongst
the immense body of horse, which a few minutes before had moved up so
gallantly to the assault. But as the enemy fled from before him,
Henry was exposed to a new danger, and found that the battle was not
yet won. As he issued forth from the midst of the flying masses of
Mayenne's horse, with but twelve or fifteen companions at his side,
and exactly between the two regiments of adverse Swiss, three troops
of Walloons, who as yet had not taken any share in the battle,
appeared ready to charge his little band. D'Aumont, however, with the
Grand Prior, Tremouille, and the gallant Givri, advanced to his
deliverance, and this fresh body of cavalry was routed in a moment.
In the heat of the melee Henry's standard-bearer was killed, and one
of his pages, who bore in his casque a white plume similar to that of
the King, fell beside him. A report had spread instantly that the
King was slain, and a momentary panic had seized the persons round
the spot where he was supposed to have fallen. But when he reappeared
from amidst the dense crowd of enemies, covered with blood and dust,
a loud shout of 'Vive le Roi!' burst from the ranks of the Royalists,
and added speed to the flight of the enemy. Marshal Biron, who had
remained immoveable, watching the progress of the fight, and ready to
act wherever a great necessity presented itself, now joined the
monarch, saying, 'This day, sire, you have performed the part of
Marshal Biron, and Marshal Biron that of the King.'

"'Let us praise God, Marshal,' answered Henry, 'for the victory is
his.'"

Henry's generous temper, and, withal, turn for fun and drollery, is well depicted in the account of his forgiveness of Mayenne, the ablest of his opponents--

"In the meantime, negotiations went on for the reconciliation of the
Duke of Mayenne with his sovereign. His demands were greater,
perhaps, than were justified by his position; but Gabrielle d'
Estrees, who was now with the monarch, exerted all her influence to
render him favourable to the Duke, and Henry consented, at length, to
a treaty, by which it was declared, in regard to the death of Henry
III., that, all things weighed, and the evidence examined, it
appeared to the King, that the Princes and the Princesses of the
League had taken no part in that crime. The Parliaments of the realm
were consequently forbidden to proceed against them. Three places
were given to the Duke in Burgundy and Champagne, as security for six
years, the King burthened himself with the debts which Mayenne had
contracted during the war, and a term of six weeks was granted to the
other Leaguers, who were still in arms, to give in their adhesion to
the treaty of peace.

"This having been settled, and Mayenne feeling deeply the clemency of
the monarch, who had thus, in fact, loaded him with favours, when he
had nothing to expect but disgrace and punishment, set out to make
his submission in person to the King, who was then at Monceaux with
the fair Gabrielle. When he arrived, Henry was in the beautiful park
of that place, attended only by Sully, and on his approach the
monarch advanced to meet him. Mayenne knelt before the King, and
embraced his knees, assuring him of his fidelity for the future, and
thanking him for having delivered him 'from the arrogance of the
Spaniards, and the cunning of the Italians.' The King then hastened
to raise him, and embraced him three times with the utmost
cordiality, after which, taking him by the hand, and changing the
subject, he led him through the park, pointing out the changes and
improvements he intended to make. The King walked with his usual
rapid pace; Mayenne, who had become excessively fat, and was troubled
both with gout and sciatica, followed with difficulty, panting,
limping, and growing red in the face. With good-humoured malice,
Henry continued this exercise for some time, whispering to Sully, 'If
I walk this great body much longer, I shall avenge myself without
much trouble;' and then, turning to Mayenne, he added, 'Tell the
truth, cousin, do I not go somewhat fast for you?' The Duke replied
that he was ready to expire.

"'There is my hand,' replied the King, embracing him again; 'take it,
for on my life this is all the vengeance that I shall ever seek.'"

A most imperfect idea of Henry's character, however, would be formed, if his gallantry in action, conduct in war, and generosity in victory alone are taken into view. His pacific administration, and plans of social improvement, are also worthy of the very highest admiration; and his premature death is, perhaps, chiefly to be lamented, because it prevented so many of them from being carried into full effect. They are thus sketched by Mr James on the authority of Sully, the King's prime minister:--

"It is difficult to arrive at any precise notion of Henry's ultimate
views; and the want of full information has induced many writers to
disbelieve the fact of his having entertained any of the definite and
extensive schemes attributed to him by contemporaries; but the
concurring testimony of those who knew him best, leads me to believe,
that a favourite project, of a comprehensive and extraordinary
character, occupied many of his thoughts from the moment that he felt
himself firmly seated on the throne of France. Sully seems to think
that the scheme was perfectly practicable; but whether the object was
limited, as some have asserted, to reducing the power of the house of
Austria, or whether it extended to the partition of Europe into
fifteen great monarchies, and to the establishment of a 'Christian
Republic,' (by means of a general council, representing those powers,
and sitting permanently,) as others affirm--whether the one design
was a fixed and clearly defined resolution, and the other merely a
brilliant but evanescent fancy, it would be very difficult in these
days to ascertain. Certain it is, that Henry demanded from his
minister Sully various written schemes and statements, as steps to
the execution of some very great and difficult design, which would
require the whole resources of France to be economised for many
years; and, from the plans thus formed, issued a number of most
beneficial projects, few of which, unhappily for posterity, were
carried into effect. In the joint labours of the King and his
minister, new objects, new regulations, presented themselves every
hour; memorial brought forth memorial; one scheme branched out into
half a dozen others; institutions were conceived; laws were drawn up;
and a completely new organisation of society, founded on notions of
transcendent excellence, such as the world has never seen, appeared
as visions to the eyes of the monarch and his friend.

"To afford some idea of the vastness and also of the visionary
character of these designs, I will give, in a somewhat abbreviated
form, part of the account furnished by Sully himself, of the contents
of a cabinet to be prepared for the King in one of the halls of the
Louvre, which were to comprise, arranged in drawers and cases, all
the memoirs and reports about to be collected. 'The labour required
was immense. To obtain a notion of it, without repetitions, let one
imagine every thing connected, immediately or remotely with the
finances, with war, with the artillery, with the navy, commerce and
police, with the coinage, with the mines, and, in a word, with every
part of government, interior and exterior, ecclesiastic, civil,
political, and domestic. Every one of all these parts had its
separate place in this state cabinet, so that all the documents
concerning it would be found ready to the hand at a glance, in
whatever quantity they might be. On the side appropriated to the
finances, were seen the collection of different regulations, records
of financial operations, changes made or to be made, the sums to
receive or to be paid, and an almost innumerable mass of statements,
memorials, totals, and summaries, more or less abridged.

"In regard to military matters, besides the accounts, details, and
memorials, marking the actual state of things, there would have been
found the edicts and state papers, works upon tactics, plans, maps,
and charts of France and other parts of the world. Large copies of
these maps, mixed with various pieces of painting, were to be placed
in the great gallery. The idea also was entertained of appropriating
one of the large halls below, with the floor above, to the purposes
of a museum of models and specimens of all the most curious machines
destined to be used in war, the arts, and different trades, and in
all sorts of exercises, noble, liberal, or mechanical, in order that
those who sought; perfection might come and without trouble instruct
themselves in this silent school. The lower story would have served
for the heavier things, and the higher for the lighter. An exact
inventory of both was to have been amongst the documents of the
cabinet of which I am speaking.

"Lists of all the benefices of the kingdom, with their denomination
and just appreciation, reports of the whole ecclesiastical body,
secular and regular, from the highest prelate to the lowest clerk,
with the distinction of native and foreigner, and of both religions,
would not have been amongst the least curious documents of those
referring to the ecclesiastical government.

"'This labour was the model of another affecting the police, by which
the king would have been able to see, to an individual, the number of
the nobility of the whole realm, divided into classes, and specified
by the difference of titles, estates, &c.; an idea the more agreeable
to the King, as he had been meditating for a long time the plan of a
new order of knighthood, together with that of an academy, a college,
and a royal hospital, destined for the nobility alone, without this
useful and honourable institution being chargeable to the public or
burdensome to the finances. It was proposed at the same time to form
a camp or permanent corps of six thousand infantry, a thousand horse,
and six pieces of artillery, completely equipped. Twelve ships and
twelve galleys kept in good order, corresponded in the naval
department to this new military establishment.

The close of this glorious and beneficent reign is thus described:--

"Certain it is that Henry's mind was filled with gloomy anticipations
which neither business nor pleasure could banish; for the moment he
was unoccupied dark and bitter meditations fell upon him, from which
he found it impossible to rouse himself. Intimations of coming
danger, too, were frequent; a courier from France carried news of his
death to Germany eight days before it happened. On the altar, at
Montargis, was found a paper, announcing that in a few days he would
perish by the hand of an assassin. Public prayers were offered up in
some parts of the Spanish territory for the success of a great
enterprise to be carried on in France; and many warnings were given
to Henry himself. The monarch, however, would pay no attention to
them, notwithstanding the presentiment with which he himself was
filled; and it is said that when, on the day of his death, his son,
the Duke of Vendome, came to tell him that La Brosse, the astrologer,
had predicted that great danger menaced him that day, Henry merely
laughed, saying, 'La Brosse is an old fox who wishes to have your
money, and you a young fool to believe him. Our days are counted
before God.' Perhaps more attention might often have been paid to
astrologers by great men if they had recollected that such
intimations may sometimes come from other sources than the stars, and
that many of those persons looked upon it as a part of their trade to
obtain intelligence of meditated designs in support of their
pretended science.

"The coronation of the Queen passed off without any accident; and her
ceremonious entrance into Paris was appointed for the 16th of the
month. The troops of the crown were already assembled on the
frontier, fifty pieces of artillery had been sent on to wait the
coming of the King, and he was to set out immediately after the
approaching pageant, in order to put himself at the head of his
troops: but, to the surprise of all, Spain and the Low Countries
remained in a state of the most perfect tranquillity; no preparations
for resistance were seen, no movement was made to turn away the
coming storm. This is the only circumstance which could throw the
slightest suspicion on the Archduke of taking any part in the crime
about to be perpetrated. On the 14th of May the King showed himself
restless and uneasy, but nevertheless he went, as usual, to hear mass
at the church of the Feuillans, and returned in safety to the palace.
The Queen, frightened by the predictions of the astrologers, besought
him not to go out any more that day. Henry laughed at her fears, but
still showed himself gloomy and disquieted, walked in an agitated
manner into the gardens of the Tuileries, talked more than once of
death: and when Bassompierre represented to him the immense
prosperity to which he had attained, and asked him what he could
desire more, he replied, with a deep sigh, 'My friend, all this must
be quitted.'

"He twice cast himself upon his bed to seek sleep, but in vain; and
about four o'clock demanded his coach, to proceed to the arsenal, in
order to confer with Sully, who was unwell. As soon as the carriage
was ready, he descended to the court and entered the vehicle,
accompanied by the Dukes of Epernon and Montbazon, with Roquelaure,
Lavardin, and La Force, giving some orders to Vitry, captain of the
guard, before he set out. He was followed by a small troop of
gentlemen on horseback, and the carriage was surrounded by a number
of running footmen.

"The large coaches of that day could be entirely closed by a sort of
door, or blind, which let down from the top: but the day being hot,
and Henry wishing to see the preparations which were going on for the
Queen's public entry, the carriage was left open on both sides, and
he himself remained exposed to the gaze of the people. Passing down
the Rue St Honore, the royal party turned into the Rue de la
Feronnerie, in itself narrow, and still farther straitened by a
number of small shops, built against the wall of the cemetery of the
Innocents, which Henry, some time before, had ordered to be pulled
down. At the moment the carriage entered the street, a cart, loaded
with barrels of wine, was on the right side, and another, filled with
hay, upon the left, so that the coachman was obliged to stop, while
the footmen ran round by the cemetery to remove the obstruction.

"At that moment a man, who had followed the carriage from the Louvre,
put one foot upon the front wheel, the other upon a stone at the
side, and, reaching into the carriage, struck the King a violent blow
with a knife. Henry immediately exclaimed, 'I am wounded;' but
notwithstanding the number of persons who were with him, the assassin
was suffered to repeat the blow, which now pierced the King to the
heart. A third blow was caught in the sleeve of one of the
attendants; and, instead of throwing down the knife and flying, the
man who had done the deed stood with the bloody weapon in his hand,
and calmly allowed himself to be seized by those who ran up at the
outcry which took place. The guards would have instantly put him to
death; but Epernon, fortunately for his own reputation, interfered,
and ordered him to be secured.

"In the meantime Henry uttered not a word, and the report forthwith
spread that the King was killed. His officers, however, wisely
assured the people that he was only wounded, and called loudly for
some wine, while the blinds of the carriage were let down, and the
vehicle turned towards the Louvre. The body was immediately removed
from the coach and laid upon a bed. Surgeons and physicians hurried
to the room; and we are informed by Bassompierre, who was present,
that Henry breathed one sigh after he was brought in. Life, however,
was probably extinguished at once by the second blow; for he never
uttered a word after he received it, but fell upon the shoulder of
the Duke of Epernon, with the blood flowing from his mouth as well as
from the wound.

"Thus died Henry IV. of France, in the fifty-seventh year of his age,
one of the greatest, and certainly one of the most beloved Kings of
France, on whom contemporaries bestowed the title of the Great, but
who was known to his people, and is ever mentioned in history, by the
name of Henri Quatre, a term connected in the mind of every Frenchman
with the ideas of goodness, benevolence, sincerity, and courage.
After having to fight for his throne against the fierce opposition of
fanaticism; after having to contend with the arms and the intrigues
of the Roman Catholic world; after having to struggle with the hatred
of a great part of his people, excited by the wild declamations of
preachers and demagogues, and with the coldness and indifference of
almost all the rest, he had succeeded, not only in obtaining the
crown to which he was entitled, not only in vanquishing his enemies
in the field, in subduing his rebellious subjects, in repulsing his
foreign foes, and overcoming the prejudices of his people, but in
gaining their devoted love, the esteem of all his allies, and the
reverence even of those opposed to him."

The extracts we have now given, will convey to our readers a fair idea of this very interesting and valuable work. We earnestly recommend it to their attention: when once in their hands, it will speak for itself. Several emendations, some in the composition, others in the construction, will, doubtless, in another edition, suggest themselves to the judgment and good taste of the author. There are no arguments to chapters, no index, and no table of contents. These, in a work of history, are indispensable, and should be added forthwith. A novelist who brings five or six characters on the stage, can afford to let them explain their own story; but a historian, who is involved in the transactions of five or six hundred, has need of every mechanical aid which industry can furnish, to enable his readers to follow the complicated thread of events, or turn to them again, when required on reference. It is to be wished, also, that Mr James would intersperse his spirited narrative, especially in the scenes of memorable events, with a few of those beautiful descriptions of Nature with which his novels abound, and which would be peculiarly appropriate in a work on French history, from his intimate acquaintance with the topography and scenery of the places where his story is laid.

_Printed by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh._

Footnotes:

[1] "Gentlemen," said a quondam acquaintance of ours, rising to return thanks to a party of fox-hunters who had proposed his health--"I thank you all for drinking my health, and E. for speaking as he has just done of my riding. You all know that a younger son has not much choice in horse-flesh; but should it please Providence to take my elder brother, you would see me differently mounted, and I might then, perhaps, be able to do something more worthy of your commendation; so allow me to propose in return for your kindness, '_The chances of the chase_.'"

[2] _Out-doors_--because, as we have said in _Birboniana_, it would take years to explore the numismatic and other treasures of the museums.

[3] _Anas Boschias._

[4] In allusion to the ancient name of Paris, "Lutetia,"--from _lutum_, _mud_.

[5] "Invita que Jovi nectar Junone ministrat."--OVID.

[6] Divine honours were first paid to this snake in Rome on occasion of a great pestilence which prevailed during the consulate of Q. Fabius and J. Brutus. His form, rudely sculptured, and much water-worn, is still to be made out on the side of a stone barque, stranded in a Tiber-washed garden belonging to a convent of Franciscans, which convent, rich in Christian as well as these Pagan relics, possesses the complete osteology of two of the Apostles.

[7] See the Affiche of the Parisian _Sage Femme; passim_.

[8] Colubraria insula maris Balearinci colubris scatens, vulg. Dragonera.

[9] Vide _Aulus Gellius_, lib. vi.

[10] _Materials for a History of Oil Painting._ By C. L. EASTLAKE, R.A.

[11] We venture to throw out a conjecture respecting this Ludius, (by the bye, there were two of that name,) as an attempt to throw some light upon a passage in the "Sirmio" of Catullus, which has puzzled and led the commentators into very far-fetched explanations. The lines are--

"Salve, O venusta Sirmio! atque hero gaude:
Gaudete, vosque, _Ludiae lacus undae_:
Ridete, quidquid est domi cachinnorum."

I have adopted the word Ludiae, before it is so in some editions given. Catullus, returning from his profitless expedition into Asia Minor, addresses his home (his villa) with affectionate address of a weary and longing traveller. He speaks of his home delights, his accustomed bed,--and then terminates with the above lines. What were the "Ludiae lacus undae?" May it allude to the pictures painted on the walls of his villa; and very probably by this Ludius--for the word _domi_ would seem to indicate something within his dwelling, and this idea answers accurately to the sort of pictures which Pliny represents Ludius to have painted. Though Catullus is said to have died in his forty-sixth year, B.C. 40, and Augustus, A.D. 14, it is very possible that Ludius, who is said to have lived in the time of Augustus, may have ornamented with his pictures the villa of Catullus. We offer this conjecture for no more than it is worth--it may be at least as probable as many others which have been made.

[12] "Some of the English painters," says Tingry, "too anxious to receive the fruits of their composition, neglect this precaution, (preserving the colours in newly painted pictures before they are varnished, by covering them with white of egg.) Several artists even paint in varnish, and _apply it with their colors_. This precipitate method gives brilliancy to their compositions at the very moment of their being finished; but their lustre is temporary and of short duration. It renders it impossible for them to clean their paintings, which are, besides, liable to crack and lose their colour. In a word, it is not uncommon to see an artist survive his own works."

[13] Van Stry asserted that copal was constantly used by Cuyp--his pictures are remarkably hard.

[14] _Adventures on the Western Coast of South America, &c._ By JOHN COULTER, M.D. London: 1847.

[15] See No. CCCLXXXI, page 21.

[16] _Byways of History, from the Twelfth to the Sixteenth Century._ By Mrs PERCY SINNETT.

[17] See Sismondi's _History of the Italian Republics_, vol. iii. p. 58.

[18] _Life of Henry IV. of France._ By G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. 3 Vols. London, 1847.

[19] See Capefigue, _Hist. de la Ligue et de Henry IV._, iii. 239. He is a Roman Catholic writer, and therefore cannot be suspected of Huguenot partiality, or aversion to the Church of Rome.

[20] Lamartine's _Histoire des Girondins_, vii. 374. We hope ere long to make our readers acquainted with this magnificent work.

Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.

The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these letters have been replaced with transliterations.

Punctuation has been corrected without note.

The following misprints have been corrected:
"for for" corrected to "for" (page 262)
"of of" corrected to "of" (page 349)
"protraiture" corrected to "portraiture" (page 373)

Other than the corrections listed above, inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.