The history of the famous Edict of Nantes containing an account of all the persecutions that have been in France from its first publication to this present time : faithfully extracted from all the publick and private memoirs, that could possibly be procured / printed first in French, by the authority of the states of Holland and West-Friezland, and now translated into English.

THE HISTORY OF THE Edict of Nantes. BOOK IV. (Book 4)

The CONTENTS of the Fourth Book.

The Massaker at Chataigneraye, excepted by Letters Pattents out of the Acts that were to be comprehended in the Amnesties. Ar∣tifices to perswade the Reformed to deliver up the Prince of Conde. Interests of the Prince of Conti, and Count of Soissons. Duke de la Trimouille suspected by the King. The Princess's Process removed to the Parliament of Paris. whether Pisani carries her with the Prince her Son. Precautions taken for the Princes Reli∣gion; ill observ'd. Justification of the Princess. Deputies of the Assembly at Saumur attend the King; paid with general Pro∣mises. War declar'd with Spain. League with the Queen of England, who would needs have one Article inserted in favour of the Reformed. Marshal de Bouillon opposes it. Discontents of

the Reformed; the Effects. Whence the King's Coldness proceeded. Suggestions of the Catholicks. The Popes Address. Different Language from the King; his Desires. Reports of the Reformed being out of Favour; the Original of it. Assembly of the Clergy. Edict of Travercy. Edict in favour of the Duke of Mayenne. Revenge of Henry the Third's Murder neglected. State of the Kingdom and Project to dismember it. Assembly meets at Loudun, with leave. New Suspicions and new Complaints. Deputies sent to the Court. Resolution of the Assembly to defend themselves till a Conclusion; ill taken of the King, who orders the Dissolution of it. Effect of this Rigour. Du Plessis's wise Expedient, suc∣ceeds in the Assembly; is approv'd by the King; who revokes the Order of Dissolution, and promises a Commissioner. Patïence of the Reformed; Continuation of their Instances. Legat in France, revives their Fears. Garrisons retrench'd or ill paid. ••oni's Jea∣lousies. Synod at Saumur. It's Resolutions. Their Letters to the King. Commissioners to the King. Complaints to the King. Constancy of the Assembly; which is translated to Vendosme. Re∣leases upon the Generality of Free Exercise. Obtains by way of Compensation the Second Place of Bailliage; and the right ac∣quir'd by Possession of the Year 1596. The Edict of 1577. ve∣rify'd at Rouen. The Reformed not contented with it. The Pope complains, and D'Ossat appeases him. The Assembly discontented at the Return of the Commissioners; who write to the King the necessity of satisfying 'em. Reciprocal Suspicions and Distrusts. Divisions in the Assembly; which returns to Saumur. Surprize of Amiens; Confusion of Affairs. Proposals of War to the As∣sembly. Motives of de Bouillon and de la Trimouille. The King at a Nonplus. His various manner of writing to the Assembly before and after the Surprize, Answers of the Assembly; which 〈◊〉〈◊〉 translated to Chastelleraud; more numerous then before. Excuses for the Assemblies Constancy in requiring Securities. Their Conduct in respect of the Siege of Amiens. Various Advices. Reformed serve at the Siege. Actions of Bouillon and de la Trimouille Change of Commissioners. The Treaty continu'd. Relaxations in both sides. New Possession acquir'd in 1597. Principle Articles which the Count de Schomberg grants under the King's good plea∣sure. Debate whether they should be accepted with a Proviso, 〈◊〉〈◊〉

definitively. Cavils in Council about the Articles. Interrupti∣ons of the Treaty. Last Instructions. New Cavils, which the King puts a stop to by his Constancy. The Assembly implores the Intercession of the Queen of England and the United Provinces. New Delays, partly Malicious, partly Innocent.

WHILE this Affair was under Negotiation at Rome, the Reformed in France, who perform'd their Exercises at Chastaigneraye, were massacred by the Soldiers of the Garrison of Rochefort, who boasted that they had the Duke of Mercoeur's War∣rant for what they did. The Lady of the Place, who had already signaliz'd her self by other Acts of Violence, observing that the Re∣formed, who assembl'd together from sundry places in the Neigh∣bourhood, carry'd Arms about 'em for their own Defence, because the Garrisons of the League were always scouting abroad, forbid the Meeters, under pretence that she might not forfeit her Gar∣ranty, to come arm'd upon her Ground; and seconded this Inhi∣bition with so many Threats, that the poor People obey'd. And* 1.1 in that condition it was that the Garrison of Rochefort surpriz'd •…•…em met together in the House of one Vaudorè a Reformed Gen∣tleman. There were about two hundred massacred, without sparing either Sex or Age. An Infant also that was carry'd thi∣ther to be Christen'd was kill'd among the rest. Nor could the Innocency of another, who would have given Eight Sols for his Ransom, procure him the least Mercy. And the Reason alledg'd by these Hang-men to excuse their Fury, was, That the Duke of Mercoeur had forbid 'em to suffer any of the Huguenots to redeem themselves: And moreover they were sure, as they said, that the Duke in making their Peace would procure 'em a full Pardon for that horrid Impiety. The Lady of Chastaigneraye, who had contriv'd this bloody Execution with so much Artifice, made it •…•…er Pastime, after the Fact was committed, to be inquisitive af∣ter the Number and Names of the murder'd People, and to in∣form her self, whether such or such, against whom she had a more peculiar Antipathy, were comprehended in the Butchery. This piece of Barbarism put the Reformed into a Ferment equal to the Merit of the Fact. They call'd Assemblies to consider of

it: They arm'd themselves for their Defence against the same Vio∣lences in the Neighbouring parts, or to make the like Returns; and some that were more chaf'd by their Excess of Cruelty, that talk'd of nothing else but of righting themselves upon the Ca∣tholicks. They besought the King never to pardon the Authors* 1.2 of such a Massacre, but to bring 'em to Justice as Robbers un∣worthy to be look'd upon as Soldiers. The King gave out Let∣ters Patents, which declar'd that this same Act of Cruelty should be comprehended in the number of Military Violences, for which Treaties of Peace generally provided an Act of Oblivion: In pursuanee of which La Trimouille and du Plessis caus'd some of these Executioners that fell into their Hands, to be hang'd up. But the Punishment of Five or Six Scoundrels, was not look'd up∣on as a sufficient Reparation for the Massacre of so many innocent Persons. For which reason it was, that the Reformed complain'd above two years after, that Justice had never been done 'em for this, no more then for several other Outrages which had been every day committed to their vast Prejudice in sundry parts of the Kingdom.

Moreover, while the Negotiation went forward at Rome, it was,* 1.3 that they set all their Springs and Engins at work to get the Prince of Conde out of the hands of the Reformed. The Verifi∣cation of the Edict was not sufficient to perswade 'em to a sur∣render of his Person; because it had only serv'd to give 'em new occasions of Complaint: Therefore it behov'd 'em to set new Slights and Stratagems on foot; neither would the King stay to make it his business, till the Pope impos'd a necessity upon him. One of their Artifices to sound their Intentions was, loudly to give out, that they well knew the Reformed would never deliver him up; and to support this study'd Fear of theirs with all the Considerations that could hinder 'em: To which they added Re∣flections upon the Prejudice which would accrew, by their Refusal, to the King's Affairs: Nor did they forget to slip in dexterously by the way, that they should be forc'd at length to take him out of their hands by force. They gave 'em also clearly enough to understand, that they were not to expect either Peace or Securi∣ty, while they continu'd obstinate in their Resolutions to be Ma∣sters of the Person of the young Prince: That their Refusal to

deliver him up to the King would be taken for an apparent Re∣bellion; that they would be look'd upon to have forfeited all the Favours that had been granted; and that there would be a fair Pretence found out to unite with those Foreign Powers against 'em, that so passionately thirsted after their Destruction. These Considerations wrought upon three sorts of People: The Time∣rous, who after Thirty Five Years Wars, which had cost the Re∣formed so much Hardship, Treasure and Blood, desir'd only to live in Repose, and became faint-hearted upon all appearances of a new War. The Courtiers, who never troubl'd their Heads much about the Time to come, provided they had the Liberty of their Consciences, and that their Religion were no Obstacle to their present Fortunes. And lastly, the Wiser sort, who thought there was a necessity of Peace, to settle and preserve 'em in their Stati∣ons; that there could be no end of a new War but with their Ru∣••ine; that it would be a Reproach to their Religion to re-kindle a War in the Kingdom, when it was in so fair a way to be extin∣guish'd; but that on the other side, 'twould be a great Honour to their Doctrine which the Catholicks accus'd of infusing the Spirit of Faction and Disturbance into People, to contradict 'em in an Affair of such important Consequence.

But there were other People to manage besides the Reformed▪ if they intended to have good Success in their getting the Prince of Conde into their Hands. For the Death of the Prince his Fa∣ther was accompany'd with such Circumstances, which had fill'd the Minds of Credulous People full of Jealousies; and the Pro∣secution commenc'd against his Widow, suspected to have contri∣buted to his Death, had perswaded many People, that she had strange Reasons which spurr'd her on to that Extremity. The* 1.4 Prince of Conti, and the Count of Soissons were in the number of those that really thought, or would seem to believe, that there was something in the Birth of that young Prince which did not permit that he should remove 'em from the Crown. More especially the Count, of an ambitious and turbulent Spirit, and one that agreed but ill with the King, was most to be fear'd; and they might well think, that he would might and main ob∣struct what ever should be done to lift the Prince of Conde to the Throne in prejudice of his Claim. There was also another Rea∣son,

besides the general Interest of his Party, why the King s••∣pected Trimouille. His Ambition, and his Courage, made him* 1.5 fear, that the Duke would never consent to the Delivery of the Prince, under whose Name he might one day be Head of the Reformed, among whom he was in great Reputation. He had taken a Journey to St. John d' Angeli, where the Prince was bred up, which had made the Court very uneasie; believing he went to make sure of the Person of his Nephew, and to order it so, that they who had him in their Custody should never deliver him to the Catholicks. But afterwards 'twas known by the In∣formation of du Plessis, from whom the Reformed never conceal'd any thing, that his Journey was only to get the Suspension from the Communion taken off, which the Princess his Sister had been under ever since the Death of her Husband, with whom she was thought to have been an Accomplice. This perhaps might have been a Stop, in order to the going farther in time; but then it prov'd of no effect to prejudice the Designs of the Court. In the main, it would not have been an easie thing to support the Claims of that Prince, whose Mother was suspected even by the Reformed themselves of being guilty of a strange piece of ill Conduct, if the Catholicks seeing him bred up in the Reformed Religion, should have once bethought themselves of fost'ring against him the same Suspicions, to exclude him from the Crown. So that a Head-strong Resolution to keep him in their Power would have signify'd nothing to any other purpose, then to have put the Reformed and his Uncle to a great deal of Trouble.

'Twas thought they might provide against these Inconvenien∣cies by the Care which was taken to justifie the Princess of 〈◊〉〈◊〉. Trimouille was perswaded to come in himself, for the Honour of his Sister, as being in some measure branded by the Sentence which the Judges of St. John d' Angeli had given against her. There∣fore 'twas so order'd while the King was in Burgundy, where Trimouille perform'd great Services both in his Person and by his Courage, that the Kindred should present a Petition to the King, wherein the Judges who had condemn'd her should be expe••'d as incompetent, and a Demand made, that the Information should be cancell'd, and the whole business be referr'd to the Parliament

of Paris, where it was proper for the Causes of the Princes of the Blood to be determin'd. The King receiv'd the Petition, and granted by his Letters Patents, that the Process should be sent back. This done, he sent the Marquess of Pisani to St. John d' Angeli to be near the Person of the Prince, and to find out a way to get him from thence together with his Mo∣ther, under the pretence of carrying him to the Court where he might be present, at the Prosecution of a Process, wherein he was so visibly concern'd. But the Marquess met with many Difficulties. There were several who by no means re∣lish'd the Reasons that were alledg'd, and thought it very im∣prudent to dispossess themselves of so assur'd a Pledge for the Observation of the Edicts. Rochel would not consent, but oppos'd it might and main; but the Intreagues surmounted all those Obstacles; and the greater number was over-rul'd by the Considerations which I have set down; so that the* 1.6 Prince and his Mother were deliver'd up to the King's Dis∣posal. One of the greatest Difficulties proceeded from the Consciences of zealous Persons, who foresaw that if once the Catholicks got him into their Clutches, they would mould him in such a manner, as soon to make him forget the Reli∣gion of his Father and Grandfather. Therefore they were desirous to take some Cautions to secure him the Liberty of his Conscience: And the Court, who were unwilling to break* 1.7 off the Negotiation by engaging in new Difficulties, promis'd to do whatever the Reformed desir'd. But they never re∣member'd their Promises after they had once got the Prince into their power: For a while they suffer'd him to have his Reformed Domestick Servants about him; but they took 'em from him, notwithstanding his Cries and his Tears, when they ••erceiv'd that he withdrew into private places along with 'em to be catechiz'd, to sing Psalms, and say his usual Prayers. After which, they plac'd about him persons, who being of the same Religion which they were desirous to infuse into him, ••oon choak'd the Seeds of that Doctrine which he had learn'd among the Reformed. So that in the progress of his Life, af∣ter he had been a declar'd Persecutor, he became a great

Casuist, and a Converter of others. In the mean time his Mother was fully justify'd; no body appear'd against her; and tho the Prince of Conti and the Count of Soissons were Summon'd, as Persons interested in the Affair, they never made their Appearance; so that the Princess gain'd her Cause with little or no Trouble. 'Tis true, that many People were very lavish of their Tongues against her, and that the Refor∣med spar'd her no more then others. But after she had got the Day, the Princess embrac'd the Catholick Religion at what time the King lay at Rouen, and renounc'd the Reformed Faith, while the Legat, who was arriv'd in France but a little before, held her by the hands. This same Change was deferr'd till then, that it might not be said she had purchas'd her Justifica∣tion at the Expence of her Conscience; as might have been spread abroad, had she quitted her Religion, before she had been clear'd by the Law. But in regard 'twas well known at what time that Reselution was taken, People stuck not to ask the Question, to what Interest a Princess, in whose behalf so many Reasons and Princes sollicited, was oblig'd to Sacrifice her Religion, had she been innocent. I must confess that some part of this Relation belongs to the next Year; but I thought it more convenient to recite it entire in this place, then to break off and return to it again.

In the mean time, the Assembly at Saumur having taken* 1.8 their last Resolutions, sent away to the King la Nove, and l•• Primaudaye, who waited on him at Lyon, and there presented to him their Petitions and their Papers, with new Proposals, which they were enjoyn'd to make by way of Addition to their preceding Demands. They accompany'd 'em with a short Remembrance of their Services, which was taken for a* 1.9 kind of Reproach. However the King receiv'd 'em with out∣ward Civilities which concluded in nothing, and of which the Court is never niggardly. They only obtain'd general Promi∣ses from Him. He assur'd 'em he would never forget their Services; and that in a little time he would satisfie their De∣mands; but he declar'd he could not do it then, by reason of

the great Affairs that lay upon his hands. In the mean time he earnestly exhorted 'em to continue their Services on Picardy side, where he had great reason to fear the Attempts of the Spaniards, against whom War had been declar'd but a little before with a great deal of Ceremony; because till then the Hostility between the two Nations had been but indirectly car∣ry'd* 1.10 on, by reason of the League, which they assisted with Men and Money. For the Council thought it a shame to brook any longer that oblique way of attacking France; and therefore that now the War was to be carry'd into the Enemies Country, to hinder the Succours which they gave the French Rebels. The Duke of Bouillon was one of those that press'd this Resolution most home; and the Ʋnited Provinces, who saw a certain Advantage for themselves in declaring a War, labour'd it on their side, as well as Queen Elizabeth. 'Tis true, that Princess appear'd not a little offended, that the King did so little for the Protestants of France; and she grew jealous of those Proceedings that renew'd their Terrors and their Distrusts. She was afraid of being the Victim of a Peace with Spain, and of being abandon'd by a Prince whom she had so generously succour'd in Distress. But to re-establish a Con∣fidence between the King and Her, Marshal de Bouillon was sent to negotiate with her a new League against the Spaniard. Nor was it a difficult thing to obtain it: But in regard the Queen* 1.11 laid to Heart the Affairs of Religion, her Ministers propos'd the obliging the King to grant a favourable Edict to the Pro∣testants of his Kingdom. There was now a necessity to break off the Treaty, or consent to a Promise that would have been attended with dangerous Consequences, partly through the Dis∣gust which the Pope would have taken at it; partly by reason of the great Obligation which a Foreign Power would have laid upon the King's Subjects by vertue of this Article; since they would have been more beholding to Foreign Favour for their Security then to their Prince. But the Duke of Bouillon would never suffer any such Article to be inserted in the Treaty, nor* 1.12 that any separate▪ Act should be drawn up, with which the

English offer'd to be content, for fear it might be imputed to him that he had been employ'd upon their Importunities, and that he had abus'd his Credit and his Plenipotentiary Power, to make that Attempt upon Royal Authority for the benefit of Religion. However the Proposal made it evident, that the Reformed would find Protection abroad, if once they were in a condition to stand in need of it. In the mean time the Queens good Intentions terminated in this, that she secretly sollicited the King to grant all necessary Liberty and Security to the most faithful part of his Subjects; and the Reformed had often recourse to that same Intercession.

But the Enterprize prov'd not so successful as it was just and necessary, and the King lost several considerable Places. And from thence it was he took an opportunity to exhort the Re∣formed to do him new Service, and jointly, with him, to turn their Arms against their Common Enemy. But the Coldness* 1.13 which the Deputies observ'd in the King's Answers, and the In∣oongruity which they found between requiring from the Re∣formed new Services, and referring 'em till another time for the Reward of Services past, produc'd a very great alteration in their Minds. It seem'd to them, that an Affair which re∣garded the Life and Conscience of so many Thousands of good Subjects, was as urgent as any other; and in regard they de∣sir'd no more then only to be treated like true and faithful French-men, they could not brook to be put off till another time for the Examination of their Demands. For their parts they look'd upon it as a flat Refusal of the Security which they desir'd; or at least for a Declaration clear enough, that they requir'd time to cavil upon an Affair of so great Importance to their Welfare. Therefore they thought it not to be endur'd, that they should be invited to shed the Remainder of their Blood against a Foreign Enemy, while they were refus'd Security a∣gainst their Domestick Foes; and that they should be told ab∣ruptly, that the King was not at leisure to provide for the safety of them and their Families. The King also went about to perswade 'em, that the Breaches, made by the Treaties with

the Leaguers, of the Edict in 1577. were not considerable, and that the great Benefit which accrew'd to the State by those Breaches was such, that the Reformed might well sit down by the Loss with Patience; as if it had been just, that they should purchase, at the expence of their Security, the King's Reconciliation with their most implacable Persecutors. For these Reasons it was that they propos'd in the Assembly the having recourse to more effectual Remedies. They also discours'd, among other Expedients, of putting themselves into the same Condi∣tion they were in, before the Truce between the two Kings, and to regulate the Custody of their strong Holds, the Admi∣nistration of the Finances, and the Method of Justice in the same Order as they were at that time. Such a Resolution was enough to make the Court and the Parliaments look about 'em, who each for their own particular Reasons were afraid of no∣thing so much, as to see the Reformed Cantoniz'd: And in re∣gard the Springs of Fear and Interest more forcibly move the Minds of Men, then those of Gratitude and Equity, this irk∣som expedient appear'd to be the best of all to bring the Ca∣tholicks to a reasonable Composition.

However this Coldness of the King proceeded not so much* 1.14 from Nature as Infusion: And therefore he repented of this rigorous Usage, so soon as he saw the bad effects of it. But he was continually spurr'd forward to these affected Severities by the Sollicitations of the Pope and the Catholicks. The Pope would fain have perswaded him to destroy the Reformed Root and Branch▪ but the King would never hearken to that, and stood so positively to the Negative, when they made him the Proposal, that after that, there was no body at Court who durst propound it to him any more. But he listed more willingly to those, who to bring about their ends, fetch'd a larger Com∣pass,* 1.15 and who advis'd him to stay till he was rid of all his other Incumbrances, that he might be in a condition to have the Reformed under his Girdle, and to prescribe 'em Laws like a Soveraign, that acts according to his Will and Pleasure. This

Council flatter'd the King, who in that was like all other Prin∣ces, who believe it more agreeable to their Supreme Autho∣rity, to give what they please, then what is demanded from 'em. But those Catholicks, of which the greater part were Leaguers in their Hearts, or else prepossessed with that false Zeal which breath'd nothing more into 'em, then the Ruine of those they call Hereticks, had other Designs than to advance the King's Power. Their Aim was to hinder him from obliging himself by any Edict, before they had taken all their measures for the Destru∣ction of the Reformed, for fear lest after that they might not be able to perswade him to violate the publick Faith, of the Ob∣servance of which no Prince in the World was more jealous then himself. They labour'd therefore with great Application to put off the Effects of his good Intentions, of which they were not ignorant, and they made use of all the Considerati∣ons to this purpose that might Incense the King, whose Cou∣rage active to excess, and vigorous, easily took Fire. They fought to incense him, by laying before him the Importu∣nities of the Reformed, for recompense of their Services, as an injurious Reproach; as if they had fail'd in their respect to his Majesty, in upbraiding him with a Fidelity confirm'd by long Experience. And Kings are apt to show their Weakness in that particular. They love to be serv'd without Interest, and that after great Services done, they may be permitted to forgive 'em. The more they are pleas'd with the Affection of their Subjects, the more they dread the Reproach. They take it for an Affront, that a Subject who has done no more then his Duty, should think he has any way oblig'd 'em; and many times also when they acknowledge the Services of any one, they would have their Returns of Gratitude rather look'd upon as Favours then Rewards. So that it was no difficult thing to perswade the King, that the Reformed were in the wrong to boast their Services as they did; and that the more deserved the Recompense was, the more injurious the Demand seem'd to be. The Catholicks were the first themselves that were provok'd at these Reproaches of good Services, because

they almost all knew, that it was against them that the Refor∣med had perform'd it; so that the one could not vaunt their Fidelity, but the other were put in remembrance of their ha∣ving been either Enemies or Rebels. Moreover the Catholicks represented the Reformed to the King as a kind of Cabal, that was form'd against his Authority, under the Pretence of Re∣ligion, and who having Oaths of Union, Assemblies, Coun∣cils, Cheiftaines, Strong Holds, and Finances or Exchequers, were a kind of another State set up within his own, and which would prove a Source of Trouble and Confusion, a San∣ctuary for Male-Contents and Rebels, and a Party always en∣gag'd in Domestick Conspiracies and Foreign Correspondencies. The Pretence for these Accusations was, that among the vast number of stout and brave Persons of which the Party con∣sisted, there were some that were turbulent and talk'd high, and some perhaps who had Interests of their own apart by themselves, under the Vail of the Common Cause. But it was a most malicious piece of Injustice to accuse of Faction so many Thousands of peaceable People, that desir'd no more then the Repose and Liberty of their Consciences. Neverthe∣less, because the King's Vivacity render'd him susceptible of suddain Impressions, from thence it came to pass, that he gave the Reformed either Cold or harsh Answers, while his Mind was prepossess'd with a present prejudice against 'em; tho' in the main, he had always a Design to grant 'em part of their Demands.

The Pope on the other side, well knew how to improve* 1.16 his Advantages; and in regard he saw there were many things of Importance wherein the King stood in need of him, he granted him nothing for which he did not make him dearly pay. That Pontiff diligently heighten'd all the Suspicions that were infus'd into him, that the King's Con∣version was not sincere; and all the Discourses upon which those Jealousies might be grounded. 'Twas easie to pick out several Pretences in the King's Conduct, which oblig'd

him to speak and act quite contrary, according to the Cha∣racter of those with whom he had to deal. To 〈…〉〈…〉 the Catholicks, it became him to shew a great Disgust against the Religion of the Reformed. On the other side, to sa∣tisfie the Reformed, there was a necessity of telling 'em sometimes by way of secret Confidence, that he had always a kindness for their Religion. His principal Allies were Pro∣testants, and it behov'd him that his Ministers Resident among 'em should let 'em know as much, to refix that Assurance in their Minds, which his Reconciliation to the Roman Church and the Pope had almost quite eradi∣cated. They were afraid that another Religion had caus'd him to espouse other Interests. Therefore he order'd his Agents to excuse, to his Consederates, his outward man∣ner of Proceeding, and to assure 'em, that only the ne∣cessity of Affairs oblig'd him to dissemble; and that he had al∣ter'd his Conduct, but not his Sentiments. The Pope, who was inform'd of every thing by his Spies, believ'd, or else seign'd to believe that this was true. And therefore he extorted from the King many things under that Pretence, as Di∣monstrations of a sincere Conversion: And fain he would have drawn him, by these study'd Distrusts, into a League against the Protestants. But the King, who could not con∣fide so well in any but the Protestants; refus'd to hearken to those Propositions: And when he call'd to his remembrace that he had been bred among 'em, and faithfully defended by the Protestants, or that he had been so well assisted and serv'd both by Them and Foreigners in so many Dangers, he could not without Horror hearken to the Council that was given him, for their Extirpation. Of all the Ten Things which he had made the Objects of his Wishes in his Life-time, one of* 1.17 the most ardent was; That he might be in a Capacity to establish the Reformed Religion which he then professed. Therefore when he saw himself the Umpire of his Wi••e, the Success of which depended upon his Will, he could not resolve to destroy a Religion, the Advancement of which he

had so much desir'd and favour'd. However, there must be something done to pay the Pope. For which reason the King enhanc'd the value of the Changes which had happen'd at Court, as so many Effects of his Sollicitations, his Acts of Kindnesses, or his Example. Sometimes he acted the Con∣verter, and disputed against such as presented themselves before him, to the end he might boast at Rome the Bene∣fit and Sincerity of his Cares for the reducing of all his Subjects to one and the same Religion. He assum'd to himself also the Honour of the Decay and Ruine into which some Reformed Families fell, and of the Advance∣ment of some Catholick Houses; as if it had fallen out through his preferring the one above the other; whenas, for the most part, neither the one nor the other proceeded from any other Cause then the Ingratitude and Capricio of the Court, among whom there is as little Justice in the Refusal, as in the Distribution of Favours. Certain it is however this way of proceeding drew upon him some∣times most cruel Reproaches; and if we may judge of his Inclinations by the Satyrs of the Time, no body will be∣lieve that Gratitude and Liberality were his over-ruling Ver∣tues, in regard they always represent the most ancient and most faithful Servants of this Prince as buried in Obli∣vion and Miserable, while on the one side, the Ministers of his Pleasures, and on the other, his Enemies, and they who had the Courage to render themselves formidable, were loaded, and became wealthy with his Favours and Re∣wards.

But the most effectual of all the ways he took to con∣tent the Pope, was the Harshmess of his Answers to the Re∣formed, while his Mind was prepossess'd with the Jealou∣sies infus'd into it; and Rome never fail'd of having Ad∣vice of it, as of a Proof that the Reformed were no lon∣ger Sharers of his Good Will. In a Word, they had taught him from that time forward to make a Distinction▪ be∣tween

the Religion and the Cabal; on purpose that they might accustom him to hear their Distruction discours'd of without Offence, since they only talk'd to him of ru∣ining the Cabal that wounded his Authority, without medling with Religion, in the Exercise of which he was re∣solved never to make use of Force.

He look'd upon the Dukes of Bouillon and de la Tri∣mouille as the Heads of that Party: And he would some∣times say to his Confidents, that one of his Wishes was, That he might have 'em at his Mercy, to the end he might more generously pardon 'em. But la Trimouille stood too well upon his Guard to expose himself; and de Bouillon would never trust to his Generosity, as it fell out in an Affair wherein he was engag'd some few Years af∣ter. Neither did Rochel stand fair in the King's good Opi∣nion; and it is reported that when he was at the Siege of la Fere, that when he beheld the Oyse overflowing the Streets of that City, he whispered one of those that stood next him in the Ear, That if he could bring as much to pass in Marseilles and Rochel, he should think himself absolute in his Kingdom. This Resentment against Rochel proceeded from an old Affront which he received there during his Protectorship, and which he always retain'd in his Me∣mory.

'Twas only to perswade Rome, that he had absolutely* 1.18 abandon'd the Reformed, that toward the end of the next* 1.19 Year a Report was spread abroad, that he was highly incens'd at a Petition which they had presented to him, wherein it was said, That the Catholicks had only his Bo∣dy, but that they possess'd his Soul and his Affection; that he had return'd 'em a threatning Answer, telling 'em that he would join with the King of Spain to their Destruction; and that if they did not keep themselves close to the Terms of his Edicts, they should not have 'em so cheap from Him as from his Predecessors. 'Tis said, that he receiv'd this Petition at la Fere, and return'd 'em this harsh Answer.

But if we may believe Monsieur D' Aubigney, he had too deep a* 1.20 sense of Religion to treat those severely who perswaded him to maintain it. This Historian tells us, that at that time the King was afflicted with a Distemper which he believed mortal, and that he then underwent great Conflicts of Mind, because he was afraid that his return to the Roman Church was the Sin against the Holy Ghost, which is never pardon'd. The like Discourses also were spread by the Duke de Mercoeur, who had a design it shou'd be thought that the Wars of Religion were about to re∣vive in the Kingdom, and that he was in a condition to make his interest thereby as the last of all the Patronizers of the Catholic Religion.

Yet, at the bottom, the King was not so displeased with the Reformed, but that he sometimes gave the Romish Clergy cause of complaint against him. It was then an authorized Custom to give Priories, Abbies, and even Bishopricks, to the Laity, whereby they pleased themselves with the Name of an Ecclesiastic Confi∣dent; and the Reformed under this Reign shared the Benefits of this nature with the Roman Catholicks. It happen'd every day that Affairs of this kind were promoted in all the Jurisdictions of the Kingdom, where they were generally carried according to the Contracts of Confidence, until there was offer'd to the Pri∣vy-Council an Act which gave a Bishoprick to a Woman in pur∣suance of some act pass'd with her Husband according to this confidenciary possession. This was an abuse that the Ecclesiasticks had a great deal of difficulty to reform.

In the beginning of the Year their Deputies were permitted to* 1.21 assemble together. And on their part there was an Harangue made to the King at Folembray: He that undertook it cou'd not forbear speaking something of Religion, but he behaved himself very moderately on the Subject, and only proposed to advance the Catholick Religion by Doctrine and Example, whereas War or Pu∣nishments had been the only Expedient preach'd up formerly. He exhorted the King to issue out an Edict to invite his Subjects to return to the Catholic Religion, which, said he, wou'd be to imitate Constantine, who invited the Subjects of his Empire to embrace the Christian Religion by his Example; and also of Re∣carede King of the Goths, who being converted from Arianism,

obliged all his Subjects to turn with him. But, continued he, I de∣sire not this Conversion to be procur'd either by Arms or Vio∣lence.

He acknowledg'd likewise, that the King might not perhaps be so well assured of many Towns and Persons which were return'd to his obedience, that therefore such Measures were requisite to be taken as might prevent any new Troubles arising in the King∣dom.

In a second Harangue the Deputies of this Assembly press'd these Matters a little farther; and to take away all suspicion which any persons might have, that the Edict of Invitation tended to a renewing of the War, they declared that they had need of Peace themselves, and would only have this Edict to dispose the Reform∣ed to receive their Instructions more easily. Nevertheless, they had made an Address, upon which they obtain'd an Edict at Traver∣cy, that was very favourable to them. The Reformed, who su∣spected* 1.22 this Assembly of their Enemies, did all that in them lay to hinder any ill consequences, and the Clergy also complain'd, after they had consented to this Edict, that the King had not pro∣vided for the most important Articles of his Demands. There were nevertheless some in this Edict which had respect to Reli∣gion. The First ordain'd the re-establishment of the Mass through∣out all the Kingdom, the Ninth forbad Burial in Church-yards and other Sacred Places to such who did not die Catholicks, altho' they had the right of Patronage or any other title of pretence. The Tenth permitted the selling of Relicks or Church Ornaments out of the hands of the Trustees and other Detainers, and to in∣form against the Spoilers of Holy Places, at least upon a Civil Account, for the recovery of things that were taken. This Clause of Civil Account, had a reference to the reform'd, who look'd not upon the Catholic Relicks or Ornaments of their Churches as ho∣ly things, and it wou'd have made a great noise if they had been prosecuted as criminal for Pillages of this nature: whereas the Catholicks very far from being treated civilly upon such ac∣counts might in pursuance of the Canons be prosecuted as guil∣ty of Sacrilege. The Thirteenth commanded the restitution of all Ecclesiastical Goods of what nature soever, and forbad the de∣taining of them, even under the pretence of Reparations, Amend∣ments,

or any thing of the like nature: and gave a Grant of Pos∣session of the Livings belonging to the Bishops of Dags, Bayonne, Tarbes, and Aize, which had been seized of in Bearn. This Article might interest many of the Reform'd, who were very pro∣bably entred upon the possession of these Goods on the credit of the Attachment. But this was the main Design of all the Attempts the Clergy had made. In their Harangues nothing was so much press'd as the restitution of their Livings: and Charity was not the Motive that induced them to desire Peace, but a Fear, that instead of regaining what they had already lost, they might yet lose more in a new War.

These Intrigues of the Clergy continued near half a Year:* 1.23 but in the beginning of them the Traty with the Duke of May∣enne was concluded, which had been put off for so long a time; in which the Duke had proposed an Article of being exempted out of the Enquiry that might be made into the Murder of Hen∣ry the Third, whether it was, that he knew himself too nearly concern'd in it, which made him willing to secure himself from the Prosecution of the Queen Dowager; or that he look'd upon it as a reparation of the Death of his Brothers, whom the late King had caused to be slain at Blois, to leave those unpunished that had revenged him, even upon the Person of the King. The Parliament had much ado to pass this Article, and perhaps it was the only one amongst all that was agreed between the Leaguers upon which there was so great a contestation. They wou'd have oblig'd the Duke to have clear'd himself by an Oath, that he had no hand in the Parricide; or upon his refusal to have ratified the Article with this Modification, That it was agreed to because of the ur∣gent necessity of Affairs. The Attorny-General, who had inno∣cently introduced into Henry the Third's Chamber the Monk that assassinated him, thought himself obliged to bring the guilty to punishment, and form'd great difficulties, which the zeal of the Parliament seconded very briskly. But in the end it was pass'd, and the Orders of the King were so strong, that they confirm'd the Edict without restriction. The King was obliged by many Reasons to prosecute the Revenge of Henry the Third, besides the common interest of Kings, who ought to their utmost to pre∣serve the glorious Priviledges of their Persons; he ow'd this

Revenge to his own Glory, to the end that he might not ap∣pear to have advanced himself at the expence of his Prede∣cessor's life; and he had also engaged himself to do it by formal Promises to the Queen, and to the Officers of the former Court. But the present Affairs made him forget both his Duty and his Promises; and the Death of Henry the Third was not re∣veng'd. Upon which one thing may be observ'd worthy the Reader's attention: Henry the Fourth was also basely assassinated as his Predecessor had been; but there was so little care taken to revenge his death, that even those were punished that endea∣voured to discover the Authors of it. And in these two ca∣ses only the Executors of both these Parricides were put to death; for they did not what they ought, or what they might have done, either to punish or to discover the accomplices. So that Henry the Fourth had the like respect shew'd him after his death, as he had shew'd to him that reign'd before him. This Remark is in the History of the Reform'd, for there was none in the Kingdom which complain'd lowder than they did, that revenge was not taken on the Murderers of their preserver. But to return to the Duke of Mayenne, who only demanded the exclu∣sion of the Exercise of the Reformed Religion for six Years in those Towns which he gave up to the King; and he was indeed after his reconciliation one of the most equitable of the Court, when it was in dispute whether such an Edict shou'd be granted as might comprehend the Reform'd.

Nevertheless they saw nothing which cured their distrusts; not only the remembrance of what had passed gave them just fears of what was to come, as Impartial Historians acknowledge; but they gave them every day new occasions, which made a Secre∣tary of State ingeniously confess to du Plessis, in a Letter which he wrote to him, that they continually gave them too much sub∣ject of complaint. But still Prudence wou'd not let them push their Patience to the extremity, in a time wherein it might have been the cause of strange disorders. Throughout the Kingdom there was almost none less powerful than the King; the Go∣vernours* 1.24 look'd upon their Places and Provinces almost as a Possession that belonged to them by propriety; they were only made obedient by the power of Caresses and Benefits: So that

the State seem'd remiss in the same point it had formerly been when the House of Cartienna began to decay; upon which some unquiet and ambitious Spirits built a like Project to that which brought Hugo Capet to the Crown. This Prince bestowed part of his Kingdom upon those which had assisted him in the gaining it, and gave the Dukes and Earls a Propriety to such Countries as they were Governors of; keeping to himself, with that Country which belong'd to him by Inheritance, only the Sovereignty and Homage of all these Lords, with the Condition of Reversion to the Crown in certain Cases. This same Method was proposed to the King, as a good Expedient to pacifie the Kingdom. The* 1.25 young Duke of Mompensier was ingaged in this Project, and was to tell the King of it; but the King's Answer so cast down this young Prince, as made him sensible it was a slender experience had engaged him in this undertaking; but this did not put an end to the design, for it yet continued in the minds of several persons; and if the Reform'd had but stirr'd then, many with∣out doubt wou'd have taken an advantage of the occasion. There were strange Intrigues carried on in France. The Duke of Mer∣coeur had already retired into Bretagny; and Du Plessis had stopt a Courier of the Arch Duke's, who was carrying Letters to this Prince, which discovered very strange things to them; the great∣est part of the Catholic Lords were interested therein. Even Bi∣ron, who afterwards suffered himself quite to be corrupted, was ingaged in this Conspiracy; and it was plain enough, that what∣soever fomented the Troubles at home proceeded from a strange inspiration. If the Authors of these Intrigues cou'd but have forc'd the Reform'd to some desperate Attempt, they wou'd there∣by have found a pretext of making War against them, which wou'd have been a fine occasion for them to have taken better Measures to dismember the Kingdom than they had done by the League, the success of which made them observe the de∣fects.

But the Reform'd only continued their Assemblies; and after* 1.26 the ill success of their former Deputation, they agreed to meet at Loudun, the First of April, to consult about the safety of the Churches. The King permitted them because he had considered the consequences of his cold Answers, and he was used upon all

occasions to repair a harsh treatment by one more sweet and compliable. The Deputies at their arrival found new cause of* 1.27 inquietude, in that it was not long before the Cardinal de Joyeuse was to return from Rome, whom they believed commission'd to make the first Overture of Peace between the Crowns under the pretence of uniting them to make War against the Turk. But the Reform'd were not ignorant how the Court of Rome had a∣bused these holy Leagues, and on how many occasions these Croi∣sades against Infidels had been turn'd against the pretended He∣reticks, and therefore were apprehensive, that the Catholicks, un∣der this pretexs, intended to ruin them, and that in effect they wou'd imploy against them the Arms that in appearance were taken up against the Ottoman House. In this Assembly they were wearied with Uncertainties and Delays, and repuls'd by the Ri∣gour of the Parliaments, in many of which, as well as in the inferiour Courts, they still executed the Edicts of the League, without considering the later Edicts which had revoked them. The King had promised the Deputies at Lyons to send Commissioners unto the provinces, to cause those Declarations which he had made to be executed, and to re-establish the Edict of 1577, with all its Consequences. But this Promise had been so ill perform'd, that it was delay'd, and so very little effect came from the Proceedings of the Court, and from some Commissioners, which were sent into some of the places, that the condition of the Reform'd was no ways bettered; besides, that they cou'd no longer be content with the re-establishment of this Edict, but de∣manded* 1.28 a new one more ample and more favourable to them. The small advantage the Commissioners promised or sent to the Reform'd soon appear'd in the Parliaments, in which, during the same time, the Assembly offer'd up a Complaint of their Rigours; that of Burdeaux made an Act which extended to the ruin of a great number of their places of Exercise. It was enacted in fa∣vour of the Marquess of Trans, who had great Possessions, that they shou'd not Preach within the limits of his Jurisdiction: so that, besides the places where this Act absolutely put an end to the Exercise of the Reform'd Religion, it produced in them great Fears both of the Example and Consequence. The Catholic Lords, in whose Possessions they had preached until then, might

probably in imitation of the Marquess, obtain Prohibitions for their continuing so to do: And as all Roman Catholicks are very near equally prejudiced against all other Religions, so there was no room to doubt but they wou'd signalize their Zeal by the like Prosecutions. The Parliament of Tholouse, who by Articles of Capitulation with the King had banished the Exercise of the Re∣form'd Religion four Leagues from the Town, demanded that they shou'd not place within the Walls the Chamber of Justice which they promised to the Reform'd for Languedo••, passing an Act which required all the Officers of Justice shou'd be received in the Parliament, and not in the* 1.29 Mixt Chambers, which ma∣nifestly excluded the Reform'd from all inferior Offices of Judi∣cature, and from all subordinate Charges; since the Parliament took such measures, as to admit none which wou'd not take an Oath to live and die Catholicks. But the Parliament of Aix out∣did all the rest, and forbad the Publick Exercise of the Reformed Religion throughout its Jurisdiction, on forfeiture of Life: And when the Duke of Guise, after his reconciliation with the King, had the Government of this Province committed to him, there was again renewed the Names of Papist and Huguenot; which plainly shewed the Spirit of the League still reign'd amongst them, since they thus revived the Names of the Parties, which the prin∣cipal Authors of this Faction had formerly given to them. And what made the thing more odious was, that the Duke of Guise had been introduced into the Province and confirm'd in his Go∣verment by the Reformed: And that the Acts of Parliament were pass'd two or three Months after that he had been deliver'd by Lesdiguieres from the servitude of the Espernonists, and that he had confess'd, that this Lord had taken the Yoak from off his Neck. It will appear plain, upon what this acknowledgment was found∣ed, to any one that reads the History of the Divisions of this Pro∣vince.

The Assembly complain'd of these Injustices, of which they had Memoirs sent them from all Parts; and of the small assistan∣ces that the Reform'd found from the King's benevolence, who, when they remonstrated to him all these Oppressions, he return'd

the Deputies words without effect, and tiresome delays. It was not long before they put up their Requests to the same effect as the former, only a little illustrated with new Expressions and Additions to the like purpose. It was almost the same method that the latter Assemblies observed, who, as to the material Points, demanded as the precedent Assemblies had done, only giving a little Explanation to prevent Frauds and Equivocations, and to take away all pretexts of Disputes whatsoever. Vulson,* 1.30 whom the Parliament of Grenoble perplex'd on the account of his having obtain'd the Place of a Counsellor, was deputed to go to the King to demand of him the performance of his Promise made at Lyons to the Envoy of the Assembly of Saumur. Du Plessis writ by him to the King, to shew him the importance of this Journey, and the necessity of sending him back with some satis∣faction. He particularly advised him to send to the Assembly some peaceable Catholic, qualified with sufficient power, to the intent that they might treat with him to some purpose. But the Catholicks which were near the King possessed him with quite different thoughts. Vulson was received in the accustomed manner, with a friendly Countenance and fine Words, but ob∣tain'd nothing more than the rest had done before him. The Pro∣mises were oftentimes reiterated, and as oft found vain, and which in the end were reduced only to the Edict of 1577; and some Promises of compensation for what the Treaties with the Leaguers had retrench'd, which cou'd satisfie no Man: But there was a Conclusion from the Answer which Vulson made, that put an end to all their reasoning and patience. The Assembly had given him order to tell the King, that they expected his Answer at Loudun; and this was explain'd by the ill-minded Courtiers as an injurious Menace to the Royal Authority, and with a Bold∣ness of Rebels, who wou'd make the King to understand that they staid there to take new Resolutions, if they were not con∣tented with the Answer he shou'd give their Deputy. Passionate Historians make every thing on this side as odious as they can, altho' the intention of the Assembly was much more innocent. The Deputies were accustomed, after having put up their Re∣quests, and named those which shou'd carry them to the King, to return again and expect the effect of their Solicitations; and

contenting themselves with meeting together, if affairs required it; but this were an endless trouble. There were already two Years past since the Assembly of Saint Foy had been going back∣wards and forwards, and yet had obtain'd nothing; and when those which were sent to the Court received any Answer, there was so much time lost in communicating it to the Churches, to the Councils of Provinces, and in naming Deputies for a General Assembly, that it was impossible to avoid tediousness. There∣fore to bring things to a more speedy issue, the Assembly of Lou∣dun resolv'd not to depart, until they saw some conclusion of the Affairs for which they had met together; and what they had order'd Vulson to tell the King, was only a simple Declaration of the resolution they had taken. And indeed this might confound the Council, who found matters went more according to their minds in the preceeding Conduct, because the Year was run out before another Assembly cou'd deliberate upon their Answers; and this method served to gain them time, and to defer them to a Conjuncture wherein the King might bring Affairs to such a pass, as he might treat with the Reformed more at his pleasure; whereas now they perceived that the Assembly were resolved not to part until they had brought things unto some certain con∣clusion; and this, without doubt, hastened things more than or∣dinary, and also hindred the ill-minded Courtiers from an oppor∣tunity of finding out new Illusions to amuse them. But the King having taken the thing according to the sense his Council had re∣presented to him, was resolved to answer this Declaration of the Assembly by a Mark of absolute Authority; and therefore com∣manded the Assembly to break up, and to depart every one to his own home, assuring the People of the good-will of the King, whereof nevertheless they carried no other Testimonies than ge∣neral Promises. Such a Command, made with a sort of a me∣nacing Air, rendred all these fine words suspected: The Prote∣stants doubted not but the secret design of this separation was to deliver the Court from these importunate Solicitors, who too strongly demanded the effect of those Promises which they had no mind to perform; and it is not to be wondred at if this An∣swer displeased the Assembly, since some of the Council, who was not so very severe, had no hand in it; and even Lomanie,

writing upon this Subject to Du Plessis, confessed to him, that he knew not why the Secretary of State had conceived it in such terms, and he did not doubt but that he himself was offend∣ed, and that he had some secret reservation.

The Assembly therefore was very much offended with this An∣swer; and believing they ought to defer their breaking up, until they had consulted together what was necessary to be done in* 1.31 this unfortunate Conjuncture; they concluded they were no longer to expect any assistance from the Court, but henceforth to seek it in their own strength. The Deputies were authorised by the Provinces to do whatsoever shou'd be judged useful for the common Cause; so that the Assembly was ready to depart▪ ha∣ving resolved to put the Reformed again into the same condition they were before the Truce with the two Kings. But Du Plessis,* 1.32 who feared the Consequences of these desperate Resolutions, and the Effects of the Resentments that the Deputies might stir up in the Provinces, did an act worthy his Wisdom and the Fidelity he ow'd to the King. He went to the Assembly, and was so far from advising them to break up, that he proposed the fortifying themselves with a great number of considerable Persons, and to enter into a Mutual Promise, not to separate any more till they had obtain'd an Edict with sufficient security. This they agreed to, and invited such persons to them as were fitly qualified, to strengthen their Assembly by their presence: All that were in the neighbouring Provinces came to them; La Trimouille, who had never assisted before, appeared there with the rest. But the Cou∣rage of many Persons failed, when they came to sign the Union that Du Plessis had proposed, because they expected no relief from the Court; therefore he signed first, upon which all the rest resolved to follow his Example. Thus Wisdom prevailed with them, and altho' their Patience was tired, yet it was not quite spent; they gave Du Plessis time to write to the King, and to re∣present to him the disorders that might proceed from a separa∣tion of the Assembly. He plainly told him what the Deputies had reason to complain of; the Rigours of the Parliaments, the Injustices of the Officers, which forbad paying the Garrisons of the places; their Fears, Distrusts and Suspicions, and the Propo∣sition of bringing themselves again into the same condition they

were in before the Truce: And to appease all these Disturban∣ces, he again renewed his Advice to the King of sending a Com∣missioner on his account to treat with the Deputies; he nomina∣ted the President of Thou, because he lookt upon him to be a lo∣ver of Peace: He applied his Advice to the Example of Henry the Third, who sent Bellieveure to Montauban, in 1584. to treat with the Reform'd; and he begged the King not to believe the affair of small importance, because every person amongst them was resolved to see what was to be expected for their security. He∣sperian, who carried the Letter with more particular Instructions upon the Subject, in which was contained the Reasons the Re∣formed had to be afraid, with an Account of their Complaints, and the Motives that ought to oblige the King to yield to the de∣sires of these alarmed persons.

As the King's coldness was caused by the displeasure the Catho∣lic* 1.33 Zealots had made him conceive against the Proceedings of the Reformed, so it was not very difficult to change his thoughts, when they gave him better Reasons for it; therefore, whether he was touch•• with the Remonstrances of his faithful Servant, or that the effect of his harshness had convinced him, that his Counsellors had made him take wrong Measures, he gave pressing Orders that the Assembly shou'd not break up: He promised to send somebody to treat with them, and fixed a time when he wou'd send him; and strongly enjoyn'd the staying the Deputies until the arrival of his Commissioner. Thus the Mischief that the zealous Ca∣tholicks had done, was very near repaired by the wise Advice even of those whom they had offended; and the Reformed by this Expedient were hindred from any ill effect their despair might have produced. Yet without doubt there was some difficul∣ty in making every one patient, and especially when they saw the time past that was prefixed, without any one being sent to the As∣sembly from the King. Du Plessis was even told sometimes, That they ought not always to exercise Patience, after so many Injustices and so many Delays; the most peaceable were ready to answer, that they were weary, after seven Years sufferings; having seen the King neglect them whil'st he was of their Religion; and turning from them and adhering to the Catholicks, treating to their prejudice, contrary to his Word, and the Promises signed

with the Princes and Lords of his Court, with the Members of the League; agreeing with the Pope, and it may be engag'd to destroy the Reformed, to please him; and, after all, no answer to their Solicitations, but vain words; and their Services were like to be no otherwise recompenced, than by endless Delays. Yet, how∣ever, they waited the time the King desired, without taking any certain Resolution. This Patience might very properly have past* 1.34 for a great piece of Service, since the only Motive with them was an unwillingness to trouble the State, in a very unfortunate Juncture, wherein the least disturbance might have confounded all, and in which, perhaps, the King might have found himself to have had a less share of the division than any of those that shou'd have rent the Kingdom. But as they were jealous of the glory of their Services, so they wou'd not be corrupted; and they appear'd always very much afraid of being esteem'd Au∣thors of the ruin of the Crown. Their Enemies have very ill interpreted, what they spoke either by their Deputies or Requests, that if they were not assisted by the King in their pressing Neces∣sities, they shou'd seek a Remedy from themselves; as if by that they had threatned to take up Arms. That was never in their thoughts, they never dreamt of forcing him; but only purposed to have stood up in their own defence, if the King abandoned them to the Injustice and Fury of their Enemies. And to make it a Crime for Men, (whom they had treated near 35 Years with so much Perfidiousness and Cruelty) to be careful to avoid the like treatment for the time to come, is, to speak rationally, a Proof that they wou'd not spare them, and that they seemed to inti∣mate, they ought to suffer themselves to be oppress'd, without making any defence.

Altho' the Catholicks rallied them bitterly sometimes, because they had not known how to take their time, and make use of advantageous Conjunctures to have prevailed in, they suffer'd them to pass this upon them, since they were able by their Arms to make them agree to whatsoever they wou'd. They yielded, even all of a sudden, upon one of their most important Demands; and it appeared, by the conclusion of the Treaty, how much their desire of preserving the State was more powerful with them than the consideration of their own Interests. Those amongst them

that were inclined to have things carried quietly, had two power∣ful Reasons to command their Minds. One was, the Reproach they shou'd deserve, if, by a Civil War, they encreast the King's Troubles. The other was, the consideration of what might one day happen, if they shou'd gain any thing by force, as the state of Affairs then were. They very well foresaw, that their quiet wou'd not be very durable, if obtain'd at such a price; that the King wou'd retract these extorted Favours, as soon as he was in a condition to resent them, and that he wou'd reduce them again more than ever under the discretion of the Catho∣licks. Wherefore they contented themselves with continu∣ing* 1.35 their Solicitations, by Assemblies, Deputations, Requests, De∣mands, and Complaints. If these Solicitations are lookt upon as importune, it must be remembred, that the King liked the ad∣vice of Du Plessis, and that to have an excuse to the Catholicks and to the Pope, he was not sorry he was importuned; so that these Importunities cou'd not be criminal, since they were neces∣sary and tacitly authorised. It may be an offence to Princes, when they are vigorously pursued to force something from them they are not willing to; but Importunity is not amiss when it serves for an excuse to such persons as they wou'd not offend, yet care not to yield to.

The arrival of a Legat, that the Pope sent to France, obliged* 1.36 them to be more and more earnest in their Importunities. This Legation gave the Reformed new cause of distrust, because they doubted not but the Legat was ordered to use his interest against them, and they were afraid the King might be prevailed on by his Solicitations, or that at least the credit of this new Enemy wou'd put a new stop to their Affairs; and the reason of this Fear was too apparent. Altho' it was promised them, that the Bull and the Power of the Legat shou'd be verified with great Exceptions, yet they did not stick to do quite the contrary; for they confirm'd his Power to the utmost, altho' they thereby in∣jured themselves in many things. They continued likewise to retrench the Garrisons of the Reformed in Poictou and Saintonge; they suppressed that of Thouars, on purpose to disoblige La Tri∣mouille, who was Lord thereof, and to take away from him a place of strength. The pretext of these Proceedings was, that

the Mony arising from this Suppression was to be made use of in the War against the Low Countries; but it wou'd have turn'd to so small account, that it was easie to perceive their chief end was to perplex those that had an interest in the management of these Garisons. Roni, who began to dispose of the King's Re∣venue,* 1.37 might easilier have rais'd that Fund upon others than those of his own Religion; but as he was friend to none but himself, and perhaps the King, to whom his Fortune engaged him, so he was very jealous of all those that had any reputation amongst the Reformed; and he was not sorry to have them far distant from the Court, that their Merit might not stand in competition with his; therefore he contributed what he cou'd to their ruin, and he was not displeased, when they had occasion to make any advances, which might procure them the ill will of the King. He hated the Marshal de Bouillon, who had a very acute Genius in the management of Affairs, and who was ca∣pable of prevailing with the King, who had an high esteem for him. He loved not Lesdiguieres, who wou'd have no dependance on him, and whom he was obliged to have a great regard for a∣bout the Affairs for Dauphine; but above all, left his Merit and great Services might bring him to a higher degree of Authority, La Trimouille disturbed him, being a Man that was no slave to Favour, and with whom in time he was like to fall out. As for Du Plessis, he was insupportable to him, as a Man that was the King's Confident; and who, if he had been at Court, wou'd have been able to have attain'd to the highest degree in the King's favour, because of his honesty and intelligence in all Affairs. Wherefore he kept him always as an Exile at Saumur, where the Fortune of this wise Lord, who deserv'd a better fate, was limi∣ted. The occasion of his discovering his Jealousie, will be made to appear in the Sequel of this History.

But to return: These Tricks put upon the Reformed about their Garrisons, had an effect that was not foreseen at Court; for after they had used their best interest for a redress thereof, they were forced at last to follow the advice given in the Acts of the Assembly held at Saintefoy, and accordingly stopt the King's Mony in some places of Poictou, which they employed to∣wards the maintaining of their Garrisons. All this happening

about the time of the Legat's arrival, the Reformed were afraid, that, if he demanded it, the Court would make him more Sa∣crifices, as new Marks of Honour; insomuch, that they thought it a necessary Precaution, for preventing new Injuries, to press the King hard, nay, to be more importunate with him than ever. Besides, they might well see, that the Legat's presence was like to put the King to new perplexities, and restrain that good will, of which they had daily fresh assurances. It was not likely that any thing could be done for them, but it would offend the Pope, if done in his Legat's presence, unless there was some plausible excuse ready at hand. Therefore the only Remedy was to de∣mand importunately, that the King might not want an Answer whenever the Legat complained. But this Prelate was not the hardest of all to be satisfied with reason, and those Commission∣ers who managed the Edict of Nants, from the Month of July, of this Year, to April 1598, found him more easie and tractable, though a Cardinal and an Italian, than a great many French Ca∣tholicks. The President de Thou himself being charged before him with too much favouring the Reformed, when he was one of the King's Commissioners to treat with them, was obliged for his vindication, to give him an account of the whole Nego∣tiation. The Legat rested satisfied with it, and referred all the Interest of the Catholic Religion to the Wisdom of the King's Commissioners.

In the mean while another National Synod was held at Sau∣mur,* 1.38 which opening at the same time with the Political Assem¦bly, and so near the place of their sitting, gave the Court fresh occasions of fear. They were afraid, that these two Councils debating the same things, their Resolutions should be more ef∣fectual, and that the Ministers would carry along with them to their respective Churches, that Spirit of Eagerness and Discon∣tent which they saw prevalent in the Assembly. The Consisto∣ry-men were more dreaded at Court than the rest, because the subsistence of a great part of them depending upon their Reli∣gion, it was thereby become their only and darling interest; so that they were firm and inflexible upon it, and could easily by their Eloquence draw in their People to their Opinions. But* 1.39 Du Plessis assured the Court, that Ecclesiastical Matters only

would be treated of in the Synod. And indeed, they did even take there a Resolution which could not but be very pleasing to the Court, since it allowed the Ministers to assist in the Assem∣blies where the preservation of the Churches was treated of, only because of the present necessity; that is, that this necessity being o∣ver, they were ordered to keep themselves within the bounds of their Ministerial Duties. Whether the Motion whereon this Reso∣lution was taken, sprang from the tenderness and scrupulousness of some conscientious Men who were unwilling to meddle with the Affairs of that Government, or that it was inspired by the Court's Intrigues, it is certain at least, that it had mighty Con∣sequences in another Reign, and in several things gave an advan∣tage to the Enemies of the reformed Religion.

However, the Synod wrote to the King on the general Affairs,* 1.40 and sent Deputies to him. They thanked his Majesty by their Letters for those fresh Assurances of his good Will, brought to them by de Serres, which they ascribed partly to his Natural Goodness, partly to the remembrance he had of the good Af∣fection and great Services of the Reformed, whereof he himself was a witness. They complained next, that their Grievances were misrepresented to the King, who was made to believe, That they were used almost as well as their past Services deserved, and according to his good Intentions, which hindred him from more earnestly thinking of their relief; whereas, on the contrary, they had every day new Wrongs done them all manner of ways: That the Catholic Party would have them be contented with the Edict of 1577, and the Conferences that followed it, though it was in a manner made void by the Edict of Reduction; by vertue whereof they were treated in most Parliaments according to the Edicts of the League, all that the Rebels demanded being granted them to revive the same: That the Reformed had reason to think it strange, that they, who had served the King from his very Youth, and whose Services had, against all humane appea∣rance, been blessed by God, were in a worse condition in his Reign, than under his Predecessors, whose mind was influenced against them with Prejudices baffled by the event and time: At last they excused themselves for troubling his Majesty with their Affairs, at a time when he had such weighty ones in hand, by ad∣ding,

that being the Reformed were such a considerable part of his Subjects, and of the most Faithful too, their Concerns could be none of his least important Business. The Synod wrote also to the Lord High Constable upon the same Heads, but for all this they then could get nothing else but a renewing of wonted Promises. But, in fine, the King having resolved to appoint* 1.41 Commissioners in order to treat with the Assembly, he followed exactly the advice of du Plessis, and offered the Commission to the President de Thou, a Man of a known Integrity and Hone∣sty all the World over; but he refused it, fearing the Conse∣quences thereof, because he was unwilling blindly to follow the Zeal of the rigid Catholicks, whose strictness he did not like, and whose reproaches he feared, if he chanced to yield any thing to the Reformed. Upon his refusal, Vick and Calignon were entrusted with the same. The first was a Catholick, and the other of the reformed Religion. The Assembly was offended at Calignon's accepting of a Commission to dispute and trifle with his Brethren upon their demands, and to bring them such An∣swers from the King, as did not satisfie their hopes. In short, their Powers went no farther than to grant the Reformed the execution of the Edict of 1577▪ with a kind of Compensation to make up what the Treatises of Reduction might have altered therein; so that they were thought insignificant by the Assem∣bly; and this first Journey of the Commissioners did not pro∣mote the Work. The King had, both in the Instructions, and* 1.42 by his Commissioners, made some Complaints to the Assembly of their stiffness in their Demands, and▪ above all▪ of their seeming to mistrust his Promises; but had joined to it a kind of an Excuse for the Answer made to their Deputies, which he thought would have been satisfactory to them, considering what Circumstances he was under when he made it. Whereupon he mentioned the loss of Calais and A••dres, together with the linger∣ing and uncertain Siege of Fere. There was, however, amidst these Complaints, a very advantageous acknowledgment of their Fidelity, when he said, That the Remedy which they sought for their Grievances was very far from that respect and affection they always had for him, that which nevertheless he charged upon some among them, who making advantage of

the bad posture of his Affairs, were thereby willing to make themselves amends for their distaste at his Answers. I have ob∣served before that the very Privy Counsellors had deemed it ca∣pable of producing this bad effect, and thought that the Con∣trivers of it had then some secret Slave to sweeten it in due time.* 1.43 But the Reformed grounded their holding fast to their Demands upon the Answers themselves that were made them, and could not apprehend what kind of publick Good they were required to prefer before their own Preservation, since the whole Matter amounted to no more than the retaking some Frontier Places from the Enemy, which might be done at any time, so soon as all the Forces of the Kingdom were re-united; whereas, now by delaying to do them right upon their just Complaints, many thousands of the best Subjects the King had, were left to the Mercy of their Enemies, Men trained up to Persidy, Injustice and Slaughter.

The Comissioners having given the King an account of the Assemblies Resolution, he gave them new Instructions at Mon∣ceaux, where they met him. These were no larger than the former; but the Commissioners were charged to complain of their seizing the King's Mony in some places, and demand satis∣faction for it, as being a thing the King was much offended at▪ they moved also▪ that the Assembly should remove from Loudun* 1.44 to Vendome, that they might be nearer to the Court; which be∣ing consented to, the Deputies repaired to Vendome, on the Tenth of November, where they waited three Months for the re∣turn of the Commissioners. In the mean while they sent new Deputies to the King then at Rouen, where they presented to him some Articles drawn up upon Proposals made them, wherein they desisted from none of their former Demands concerning their Security; they did not so much as revoke their Orders for seizing the King's Mony to pay their Garrisons, because they were satisfied that their Holds were the only thing, their Ene∣mies did value them upon, and thought themselves lost, so soon as they should consent to the disbanding of their Troops, and the ruin of their strong Towns. They were also inflexible in their Demands concerning the maintenance of their Ministers, and the administration of Justice, for the security whereof they

would have, in suspicious Parliaments, Courts, consisting one half of Protestants, the other of Catholick Judges, commonly called Chambers Miparties. But they were somewhat loose in* 1.45 the point of their religious Exercise, and accepted the Compen∣sation before offered by the King. It amounted to two new Grants, or such at least that looked so. By the First, they were allow'd to continue the exercise of the reformed Religion in all places, where it had been publickly made ever since the beginning of the then instant Year. The Second, allowed them a second* 1.46 place for Worship in each Balliwick or Precinct, commonly cal∣led Senechaussee, almost the same Conditions prescribed by the Edict of 1577. in a Grant of the same kind. There will be occasion to speak more at large of these Grants hereafter.

The King not being willing to grant them their other De∣mands, held fast to these two Articles; but as a proof of his good Will to them, he would not set out from Rouen, before he saw the Edict of 1577. pass in that Parliament, as it had passed at Paris. This really was of no great advantage, because the Reformed were not contented with it, and would needs have had another Edict. Moreover, this verification of an Edict, which they had so often declared they could not be satisfied with, was but an Artifice to keep up their Patience, by putting an end to those gross Wrongs done them in Parliaments, which oc∣casioned their Complaints: And it was easie to judge through the daily Denials made them of farther Grants, that if they could be prevailed upon to live quiet under the shelter of this Edict, until such time as a thorough settlement of the King∣dom, both at home and abroad, could be made, they would then, doubtless, be made to believe that another Edict was need∣less, since this had proved sufficient to secure them. All that might be granted them over and above this, was to give them some new places for their Worship, in lieu of those that the several Treatises of reduction had taken from them. The Catho∣licks themselves consented to that kind of Compensation, and it seems that the King was resolved never to grant them any thing but under the same pretence, it being a plausible Excuse to the Pope or his Legate for all his Favours to them. It was clear enough, that the Reformed could never be obliged to be content

with less, nay, that they might with good reason hold fast to their Pretentions, since 'twas but just to indemnifie them for the loss of an advantage taken from them without cause, against the express word of a King, and that Promise signed by the Prin∣ces and Lords, which has been so often mentioned by us. But this Compensation was not sufficient to the Reformed, who aim∣ed at more liberty and security than was given them by that means.

This Verification was, nevertheless, ill resented at Rome,* 1.47 whereby it created the King, at least seemingly, a very difficult Work. The Pope made bitter Complaints to d' Ossat, both of the thing and of the manner of it, because, said he, the King had forced it upon the Parliament, over-ruling their opposition. D' Ossat display'd all his skill and ability to pacific the Pope; he* 1.48 inlarged upon the great advantage of Peace, after a Civil War of 35 Years, which could not end but by this Edict; besides, he represented that Peace as necessary for the conversion of He∣reticks, wherein the King did daily make considerable Progress; he exaggerated the great Miseries which the War had brought, especially upon the Church, and the spoil of the Ecclesiastical Revenues, occasioned by it; he shew'd, 'twas not the King, but his Predecessor, made that Edict, when he was obey'd by all Catholicks at home, and assisted by all those abroad; that this was the least favourable of all those ever obtained by the Reform∣ed; that so long as it was observed, their Religion did visibly diminish, and that tho' the King was now opposed at home, and attacked abroad, yet he had done nothing more than the late King, nor even without the advice of the Catholicks of his Party; that this Edict confining Heresie to certain places, re∣established every where the Roman Religion; insomuch that one would hardly have believed that the Reformed, after having so much contributed to the preservation of the Kingdom, and strength∣ned themselves, during the War, with above 50 strong Places, would ever be contented with it, in a time when they might perhaps have extorted more from the King, almost overwhelmed with other Affairs; that the King was very commendable for having so well managed the Interest of the Catholick Religion, or was at least▪ more excusable for his connivence, than his Pre∣decessors;

upon which he brought in the Parable of the Tare, which is left standing, when it cannot be snatched off without spoiling the Corn; he laid a great stress upon the Examples of all other Catholick Princes, and on that of the King of Spain, who tolerated the Moors, and, to bring back the Dutch to their obedience, offered them Liberty of Conscience, and a free Ex∣ercise of their Religion: He made it appear next, that the op∣positions of Parliaments are but Forms, since they know well enough that they must obey at last; and that, after all, no o∣ther Constraint was put upon them but that of the publick Ne∣cessity. Then he hinted at the ill Thoughts the Reformed might have entertained of the King, had he left Rouen before seeing the Edict verified; what would have been their Jealousies, and how well grounded; how cunning the Faction was counte∣nanced by the Spaniards, or what Dangers the Church and the State were like to be brought into by renewing the War: At last he concluded, with putting the Pope in hopes, that this Peace would bring all other things to a State most agreeable to his Holiness. Those that are not well read in the Policy of the Roman Court, may perhaps wonder at this Verification making such a noise there, though at the same time they did not speak a word of the publick Treaty that was beginning with the Reform∣ed, under the very Nose of the Legate, who could not chuse but give notice of it. But 'tis a Maxim of this refined Court's Policy, That Affairs must be handled in a manner like Plays, where the Actors never speak as they think, and know how to distin∣guish what is to be taken notice of, and what to be dissembled. According to this, the Gentlemen of Rome, when they are not able to obstruct an Affair, do, before its conclusion, pretend to be ignorant of it, because it would be an Affront to see it con∣cluded, after having vainly opposed it; but when 'tis past Re∣medy, then they fall a Murmuring, to shew their dislike of it. Thus the Pope delay'd his complaining of the new Edict that was preparing, until it was fully concluded; because then the noise he made about it could do no harm to France, but might allay the Murmurs of the Spanish Faction.

The Commissioners came to the Assembly but at the begin∣ning* 1.49 of February, who immediately after their arrival protested,

that the King could grant no more than what was set down in their Instructions, for which they gave only the reason of the bad posture of the King's Affairs, that permitted him not to do bet∣ter, what desire soever he had to favour them. This reason of State was in the bottom nothing else but the Discontents, which the King's favouring the Reformed might give to the Holy league∣men, who not being throughly pacified, might take a pretence from thence to stir up new Wars. The King indeed feared it, and could not put any trust in those so lately reconciled Enemies, who watched him almost as a Slave; nay, the circumstances of the time seemed to render his fears more reasonable, for the Spaniard, who still held an Intelligence with that half-suppressed Faction, had opened the Frontiers in several places. But the* 1.50 Reformed were offended at that reason of State, yet not pacified, for upon the whole matter, they thought the design was to make a sacrifice of their Repose and Security, to the Passion of their an∣cient Persecutors; and, to say the truth, to do nothing in their favour, for fear of giving offence to the League men, was but to tell them plainly enough, that the King had better leave them in their Misery, than displease their implacable Enemies, who might have an occasion to be dissatisfied, if the Reformed were put out of their reach; wherefore that reason of State had no great effect in the Assembly, who could not relish that by a State. Maxim, the interest of so many faithful Subjects should be sa∣crificed to the caprice of a violent Cabal; that their great Servi∣ces should be forgotten, their Persons exposed to new Cruelties, and sufficient Security denied for their Consciences and Lives. Therefore they declared to the King, by one of their Members, that they could by no means be contented with what was grant∣ed them, and that the Oppression the Reformed liv'd under, would at last force them to seek for a relief in themselves. The Com∣missioners, whose Powers were always bounded by certain li∣mits, which it was not lawful for them to go beyond, being sensible that the Reformed were in a discontent, wrote to Court, that they thought it much to the purpose to break the Assem∣bly, but that the Deputies must be sent home with whatever satisfaction could be given them. The Count de Schomberg, and the President de Thou, then at Tours, negotiating a Peace with

the Duke of Mercoeur, wrote to the same purpose, and the Count's advice was to satisfie those People, which he call'd People sick, not with Rebellion and Factious Passion, but with Jealousies and just Fears for what might happen to them, as we have it in the most impartial Historians. It was not doubted in Spain, but that the Reformed would be tired at last with so many Delays, and come to Extremities; and these two wise Counsel∣lors saw well enough through the Artifices and various Shift∣ings of the Duke of Mercoeur, that he waited to see what the Business of Religion would come to, that he might take a Reso∣lution accordingly. Wherefore, they advised the King to pa∣cifie things at home, the better to make War abroad. Du Ples∣sis wrote the same, and the Reformed offered, after sufficient se∣curity had been given them, to imploy their whole force, either to reduce the Duke, or beat back the Spaniards beyond their an∣cient Limits.

Now the words of the Reformed being maliciously construed, as if they had threatened to take up Arms, tho' they did never so much as mention it, and had only declared, they would no longer expect relief from the Court, but maintain themselves as well as they could in case of Oppression: Their Words, I say, brought the Court into an extream Perplexity; insomuch, that the Jealousies increased in both Parties, and the Court feared* 1.51 more mischief from the Assembly, than perhaps the Assembly designed to do; and, on the other hand, the Assembly appre∣hended more harm from the Court than was there prepared for them. Thus, in dubious Affairs, Fear is often mutual, and there is a kind of emulation, who shall shew most Resolution and Courage, when really the Fright is equal on both sides. The King severely complained to the Assembly by his Letters, and laid openly the Fault at the doors of the Dukes of Bouillon and Trimouille; but there happened such Divisions in the very* 1.52 Assembly, as did e'en almost ruin their Affairs. It may be 'twas ••n effect of the usual Intrigues of the Court, who designedly had drawn the Assembly nearer home, the better to have them within the reach of its Caresses and Favours. Not but that it might be also the effect of that Misfortune, commonly attend∣ing the union of divers Persons, differing in Genius, Abilities

and Interest; who, tho' agreeing in a general Design, do often fall out about the choice of necessary Expedients. It is with them, as with that Harmony by which the World subsisteth, through a correspondency of several discording Causes, which might easily break out of that just proportion whereby they a∣gree, if they were not preserved and maintained by an Almighty and Divine Hand. Thus the union of many Men, who aim at different ends, may break of it self, tho' they often have the same Motives for acting concertedly, when each one wou'd re∣gulate the Conduct and Interest of all others, by his own Ma∣xims and Prejudices. The Assembly, who ascribed the Progress of those Disorders to the influence of the Court, to prevent more Mischief, thought it fit to remove elsewhere, and accordingly came to Saumur on the Fifth of March. This removal might be* 1.53 agreeable to both Parties; to the King, to whom du P••••ss•••• might be very serviceable there, in allaying, with his Wisdom, the Heat of the most forward; and accordingly the King had sent for him a while before, and commanded him to go to Vendome, and endeavour to bring them to a better Temper; and it was agreeable to the Reformed also, in that the Authority of du Ples∣sis, his Prudence and Equity might heal their Divisions, and bring them all to an unanimous Effort for the common Cause.

In the mean while Matters went on slowly, and the Assembly being very little satisfied with the Commissioner's delays, which were supposed, by several Members, to be designedly made, they carried their Discontents along with them to Saumur. Nay, on a Report spread abroad, that the King was secretly treating of a Peace with the Arch-duke, their Jealousies increased, and they thought that the Court used so many delays, to the end that, if a Peace could be made before any thing was concluded with the Reformed, the King might be in a condition to grant them only what the Catholicks pleased. But a little while after the Assem∣bly was settled at Saumur, there happened an Accident, which did extreamly allarm all sorts of People; the Spaniards having surprised Amiens, the defence whereof was left to its Inhabi∣tants,* 1.54 they defended it very ill. This Blow made a great noise through all Europe; France was counted lost, the old Ca∣balls

began to revive, and the consternation was so great, that People knew not what course or resolution was best to take; the King himself was disheartened in this Misfortune, and fell from that greatness of Soul he had always been Master of before. In short, one may judge what condition France was thought to be* 1.55 in, by what happed in Britany. Brissac, who was Deputy▪Lieu∣tenant in that Province and a late reconciled League man, cau∣sed an Assembly of the Nobility to be held there in his presence, being therein, as 'twas said, countenanced by Mompensier, and the Dukes of Bouillon and la Trimouille. There they proposed to put themselves under the Protection of the Queen of England, by the Name of the good French People, (bons Francois) taking it for granted, that the King, after that loss, was no longer able to keep his Kingdom, and defend his Subjects against a foreign Invasion. The same accident occasioned great Agitations amongst the Reformed; some were for taking up Arms, and endeavoured to draw to their Opinion all such as were capable to bear them;* 1.56 insomuch that one moved for an Attempt upon Tours, whither some Troops were to be sent in the Name of la Trimouille; others thought, that they ought not to make use of such a dismal occa∣sion, and that it was even more honourable for them to desist from their former Demands, than to make new ones. As for the two Dukes, they pushed on briskly their Proposals, and en∣deavoured to perswade them, that War was the only remedy they had left: But almost all the Churches rejected it; the great Towns, whose example might have drawn in the rest, and the best part of the Nobility, were deaf to it, so that the Project of the two Dukes fell to the ground. It was nevertheless reported abroad, that Discord had alone hindred the Reformed from voting the War, because the Nobility and Consistory▪men renewed their old Quarrel, and fell out about the management of the Money that was to be raised; the Nobility claiming it as their right, and the Consistory▪men being for Commissioners to be appointed by the respective Churches for the safe management of it. But all these Intrigues, as it was given out, miscarrying, through the dissention of the different Parties, every one at Court, after the retaking of Amiens, valued himself for having no share therein, and strove very hard who should make the

first discovery to the King; so that all the odium fell upon the two Dukes, who had been the authors and promoters of the whole matter. From whence it follows, that their misdemea∣nour might be misrepresented, and made a great deal more than* 1.57 really it was, since in Reports of that nature, Men use to say more than they know, and consequently run the hazard of telling more than the truth. As for the Motive of the two Dukes, 'tis not easie to guess at them. The Catholic Writers charge them with designing to make advantage of the Disorders of the State, that they might get by force those Preferments that were denied them; but the President de Thou, who saw the matters nearer than any body else, as being present in all these Transactions, gives us a more innocent Motive of those two Dukes. He ascribeth their Design to Necessity, and the Publick Calamity, because in the General Confusion of the Kingdom every one did almost despair of his own safety, and thought he ought to seek his se∣curity from himself; for the proof of which, he saith, that as soon as Amiens was retaken, they submitted to what Terms the King was pleased to prescribe to them, because then their former hopes of enjoying Peace, under a King capable to defend them, were, without doubt, revived. That is, in a word, that we may reckon these great Mens Motions amongst such things as are qua∣lified by the event; and, indeed, had the King miscarried before Amiens, they had been admired as Master-pieces of State-policy, whereas they have been represented as so many Crimes, because the good Fortune of the King did soon put him in a condition to upbraid their Authors with them. Upon the whole matter, since all this was an effect of some Lords private Passions and Heats, which were repressed by the Patience and Tranquillity of the greatest number, 'tis most unjust to father upon the whole Body the attempts of some of its Members, especially since that the soberest part of them proved the strongest, and, in a manner, forced the rest to lay down their Arms.

The King all this while was reduced to great Extremities, ha∣ving* 1.58 neither Money nor Troops, and not knowing who to trust to, almost all the Lords of his Court having had a hand in the foreign Conspiracies against him, and the League-men lately reconciled to him were still suspected, and Biron himself, who had perswa∣ded

the King to take heart again, and to besiege Amiens, mistrust∣ed these secret Enemies, whom he called New Converts. Besides, the King's Treasurers were so absolutely out of Cash, that they wanted Money even for the Charges of the King's Houshold, so that curing the Siege of Amiens the King did more than once complain to Roni, that he had no Cloaths suitable to his Digni∣ty. This obliged him to stoop a little below the Royal State, and to beg a Subsidy from his Subjects, in a manner a little too hum∣ble for a great King. When he heard that the Assembly was to remove from Saumur to Vendome, he ordered presently Count Schomberg and de Thou to repair thither, and endeavour to bring them back to Vendome, thereby to save Vick and Calignon his Com∣missioners* 1.59 the trouble of going so far. Their Instructions were full with Complaints of the Assembly's Proceedings, but above all, of their authorising the seising of his Revenues, with Menaces that he wou'd not permit them to make new Demands any more, adding withal, that he had rather lose with his Enemies, than be slighted and disobey'd by his Subjects. But the loss of Amiens made him alter his Language; he wrote to the Assembly at Sau∣mur by Monglat, on the twelfth of March, and his Letter con∣tained nothing but gentle Exhortations to content themselves with his Offers, or to put by their Demands to another time; and besides, there were many earnest Intreaties to put an end to their Session, and prefer in this urgent occasion the publick good to their private interests, justifying thereby the sincerity of their intentions. To this was joined a Letter of Lesdiguieres to them, wherein he said, that he was going with all speed from the Court to his Government of Dauphine, to watch the Duke of Savoy's Motions, for fear he should attempt something on that side, whil'st the King was busie in Picardy, and likewise exhorted them not to take occasion from the loss of Amiens to multiply their De∣mands. A little while after the King wrote also to du Plessis in a stile which expressed very lively the great perplexity he was in. This faithful Servant had complained to the King of Count Schomberg's Answer to the Deputies of the Assembly, it being, in his judgment, too cold and insignificant to pacifie their minds, but severe enough to offend them. Therefore the King's Answer to du Plessis was moving and quite of another strain; there he

vow'd, that if the Reformed could but know the state of his Af∣fairs, they wou'd be sensible he could do no more for them. Next he represented his present condition as a great deal worse than it was when he was but King of Navarre, because he had no body to trust to, and none to assist him: then stooping a little below the Majesty of a King, he desired him to prevail so far with the Assembly as to rest contented with his Answer, lest he should be forced to make Peace with the Spaniards.

The Count of Schomberg being arrived at Saumur with the other Commissioners, gave notice of it to the Assembly, and required them to send some of their Members to him, that they might hear the King's intentions; but the Assembly would not treat with him by Deputies, not out of any contempt to the Royal Authority, or to treat with the King upon even terms, as some slanderers gave out, but because they thought it more safe to treat publickly, than by private Deputations. So they refused* 1.60 to depute, and invited the Count to come to their Assembly, that they might hear what was his Charge to them. He refu∣sed a while to agree to it, because of his Character of the King's Commissioner, but at last he yielded to the Assembly's desire. He sent Vick to them, and by him they knew the King's Proposi∣tions, but they did not like them, and they made the Commis∣sioners an Answer that pleased them not. It was put very near into the same dress as the Commissioners Instructions were, re∣turning Compliments for Compliments; and as all the Terms of the Commission, that were either pithy or obliging, amounted to this, that the King was still resolved to grant them nothing, or to put off their satisfaction so soon as the new service demanded of them was over; so all their Protestations centred in this, that they could desist from none of their just Demands, and that they were ready to employ both their Estates and Lives for the Ser∣vice of the State, so soon as satisfaction should be given them. Their Answer to the King was very near in the same strain; for they expressed therein an extreme sorrow for the taking of A∣miens, and complained of the lingering of Affairs as a cause which kept the Reformed from giving his Majesty new Proofs of their affection to his Service, promising for the rest, that so soon as the state of their Consciences was secured, they would be readie••

than ever to give all that was dear to them for his Service; but next they insinuated, that they could not desist from their De∣mands for the sake of that publick good that was urged to them, because both they and all the Reformed were fully satisfied, that the security of their Religion, of their Persons and Families, was no less a publick good than the retaking of Amiens.

That the King being informed of the Assembly's Dispositions by his Commissioners and by Monglat, who brought him their An∣swer, order'd new Proposals to be made to them, and slackned a little upon some points of small importance, which however could not satisfie them; so that he resolved to try them with a new Letter before he set out for his Enterprise upon Amiens. He had formerly writ to Count Schomberg, and complained of the Assembly, and to affect the Hearts of the Reformed, he had not forgot to make the best of a slight indisposition that he had about that time, concluding he must certainly sink under the weight of his grief, unless they would rest satisfied with his of∣fers. But in the Letter he wrote to the Assembly it self by Mon∣glat and la Force, he spoke much higher. There he laid before them the new Troubles, their Firmness, which he call'd Obsti∣nacy, might bring the Kingdom to, and the great Benefits the Spaniards, already so formidable, and puffed up with their Vi∣ctories, might reap by the Divisions of the French: Next he began to beseech them by that great Affection he had always had for the Reformed, whereof he had so often given them very sig∣nal Proofs, and by that Love they owed to their Country, to lay by all other thoughts at present but that of beating back the Enemy.

To these new Arguments, which were backed by Monglat with all the strength of his Eloquence, the Assembly made the same Answer as formerly; and writing to the King, they desired him to observe, that their Demands aimed at no more than their Ex∣ercise of Religion and Justice; that their Pretensions were not grounded upon any Avarice or Ambition ruinous to the State; that in respect of the present posture of his Majesty's Affairs, their Proposals were fallen very short of what they had been directed to ask by the Instrustions they brought from the respective Pro∣vinces that sent them; and then they did highly commend the

Commissioners sincerity, but bitterly complain of the Privy-Council, declaring that they looked upon those pretended Impos∣sibilities purposely urged against them to elude their Demands, as so many visible marks of an ill will. The Assembly sitting then at Saumur, as I said before, du Plessis, who was Governour there, proved very serviceable to the King towards allaying the Heats of those incensed Spirits, who were very near upon admitting of no other Council, but such as their Fear and Despair might af∣ford them. Whereupon he advised the King, that it would be easier to bring them to a better temper in an Assembly more nu∣merous than this was, because then his Friends might depend upon more Voices to oppose those Members whose powerful Ge∣nius and Authority were to be feared. And, indeed, this was* 1.61 one of the Reasons for removing them to Chatelleraud, whither they came on the 16th of June. The Assembly was more numerous than any before that time, for it was made up of a Gentleman, a Minister, and a Lawyer, out of each Province, besides several Lords of such quality as was required by the Constitution made at Saint Foy, who represented no body but themselves. La Tri∣mouille, who had been the most considerable amongst them in the former Assemblies, was chosen Speaker in this, where he maintained the Interest of the Reformed Religion with so much Zeal, that the Jealousie and Hatred they had already for him at Court was much increased by it.

One of the heaviest Charges laid upon the Reformed of France, is their forsaking the King when he besieged Amiens; for their Enemies would fain perswade the World, that thereby they com∣mitted a Fault sufficient to eclipse the Glory of all their former Services. Two things, say they, are to be blamed in it: First, The Assembly's steady resolution to remit nothing of their Demands, at a time when the Interest of the State seemed to require of them the sacrifice of part of their Pretensions. Secondly, Their refu∣sing to follow the King to a Siege, on the success whereof the safety of the Kingdom was thought to depend. But to this it may be answered, That the Assembly's obstinate Resolution to stick to their Demands was necessary, because being a Body made up only of persons sent by the several Provinces as their Representatives, they were bound to act according to their Or∣ders,

unless they would expose themselves to be disowned by their Principals. Now they were bound by these Orders not to* 1.62 desist from certain Demands which the Reformed thought neces¦sary, to secure both their Persons and Consciences; and had the Assembly accepted the King's Offers, it would have come to no more than a tumultuous breaking of it; and the Provinces being frustrated of the hopes they had grounded upon the Fidelity of their politick Assembly, had, no doubt, taken some extreme Re∣solutions, if they had been betray'd by their own Representatives. In effect the Assembly failed not to give notice to the Provinces of the Court's Proposals, that they might be fully impowered, either to accept or refuse them, and having received at Cha∣telleraud a negative Answer by the Deputies newly joined to the former, they let the King know, that they could not be satisfied with his Offers. But, to judge aright of the Assembly's Conduct, and whether they are guilty of Obstinacy, or deserve Praises for their Constancy, we need but cast our Eyes upon that Horrid Confusion the Kingdom had been in, if the Assembly had been complaisant enough to accept an Edict, which the Pro∣vinces would have unanimously rejected; had not the Reformed in this sad case been forced to begin their Work again, and ex∣pose the Kingdom to a ruinous War? Moreover, the Articles of the Religious Exercise being setled, there was no more left than that of the security; and it was very strange, that the Court, af∣ter having granted Liberty of Conscience to the Reformed, would upbraid them with Obstinacy for not desisting from their De∣mands, in order to secure the performance of a thing promised them. The truth is, the treacherous Methods used in the redu∣ction of the League, wherein their Interests had been sacrificed, contrary to Agreements, even under the Hand of the chief Men at Court, had utterly ruined their confidence in them, and one must be a great stranger to Equity and Justice, who can ac∣cuse the Reformed, as guilty of a crime, for obstinately requiring security of their Promises, of whose Treachery and Double deal∣ing they had such fresh Instances.

As for the Siege of Amiens, their Opinions were divided: Some* 1.63 were for doing fairly this last Service to the King, thereby to co∣ver the Enemies of the Reformed with shame, and make it appear

to all the World, that no Injustice was able to wear them out of their Allegiance; nay, by so doing, they hoped to move the* 1.64 Hearts of the most zealous Catholicks, and work upon them so far, that they would let a People enjoy quietly their Lives and Liber∣ties, who had neglected their most Darling-interests, to run where the Occasions of the State invited them. This was the Advice of Lesdiguieres, to whom the Assembly sent a Deputation, with Offers very advantageous and tempting, which nevertheless he refused; 'tis true, his Advice had the air of a Reproach, from whence one might conclude, that he was less concerned for the Security of his Religion, than that of his Fortune. But the greatest part stoutly maintained, that they had to do with Men who regarded all their Services as necessary Duties; who thought themselves beholding to no body, and would lose the remem∣brance of good deeds, so soon as the occasion was over; that se∣veral amongst them, who most opposed the Reformed, were the very same they had in a manner rescued at Tours from the hands of the Duke of Mayenne; that it was easie to guess what would happen after the retaking of Amiens, by what happen'd every day by the Severities of the Answers sent them, and by the lin∣gering of Affairs. They failed not to observe the vast difference of Stile used with them before and after the taking of Amiens; that, before that accident, the Court began to threaten them, but returned immediately after to cajoling and giving them fair words; whereby the Assembly might well judge, that nothing was to be obtained from the Court, when the retaking of that important place had put them in a condition to refuse without fear. Some there were who minced not the matter, and thought it a meer folly to contribute in the least to an action which might facilitate a Peace between France and Spain, being fully satisfied that it could not be made but at their cost. The Example of se∣veral Treaties made with the League-men caused their jealousie, and the Double dealings of their Enemies, whereby they cheat∣ed them in those occasions, made them fear the worst for the fu∣ture; nay, the King himself added much to their fear, when, to bring them to his terms upon divers points, he threatned them with concluding that Peace; and, besides, they were not igno∣rant, that he hearkned to the Proposals made by the Spaniards

towards it, at the same time when he assured them, he would never do it but by force. Others were for letting the Catholicks alone, and observing how they cou'd get out of this scurvy bu∣siness, and whether they were able to shift without the helping hand of the Reformed, whose small Number and Services they were wont to undervalue. Certainly these last Voters had an high conceit of their Party, and thought it such a considerable part of the State, that the Catholicks could not but be very sen∣sible of their absence; and really they were so, and could not but acknowledge, that upon the great Emergencies of State the Reformed were to be reck'ned something. The King was more sensible than any body else of the great Mistake he had been in, by so long delaying to give them satisfaction, when at the Siege of Amiens he saw himself in the hands of his lately reconciled Enemies, whom he durst not trust, wanting those approved Friends, of whose Fidelity he had such unquestionable Testimo∣nies. Therefore the retaking of Amiens wrought such an alte∣ration in the minds of Men, that an Agreement between the two Religions was universally wished for on both sides, even by such as had most earnestly laboured to obstruct it. The King, indeed, being victorious, and having recovered his almost lost Reputa∣tion, talked higher than before; and the Catholicks did ever and anon upbraid the Reformed with their pretended desertion; but, for all this, the wisest amongst them were more seriously for a Peace, and facilitated it more than ever.

The experience of things past rendred these last Considerations very specious, and even the remembrance of the Massacre at Pa∣ris gave weight to the advice of those who were afraid, that if the Reformed were joined in a Siege with the rigid Catholicks and League-men, these being by much the strongest, might upon so fair an opportunity revive their implacable hatred, and rid them∣selves once more of the Huguenots. This they call'd a Bartholo∣mew Campaign, a Term indeed very fit to renew the Memory of the Paris Morning-Prayer. These Reasons were so effectual, that the Ring-leaders, who were those that might do the King the best* 1.65 service, thought fit to stay at home. However it is false, that all the Reformed did really forsake the King in that Enterprise, for he had both in his Houshold and Army several Officers and

Soldiers of their Religion, and even part of his best Troops was made up of reformed Soldiers. The Regiment of Navarre, which did excellent Service in the Siege, and the greatest number where∣of perished there, was almost wholly made up of them; and the Duke of Rohan, whose Name grew so famous since, made there his first Campaign. The Reformed answered the Charge at that very time, and marshall'd up such of their Brethren who assisted at that Siege, and were kill'd or wounded before the place. True it is, that they did not serve there as a separate Body, and as having Troops depending upon them; but here 'tis strange, that those very Men who would have had the Reformed make a sepa∣rate Body to serve the State, had been three whole Years a grum∣bling, because they made a Body to preserve themselves; as if Men, whose separating in order to secure their Consciences was counted a crime, were obliged to separate for the preservation of their Enemies. Moreover, very few amongst the Reformed were in a capacity to bring Troops at their own charge to the other end of the Kingdom; so that the Charge affected only a small number of the principal Men who might have served in person. Yet the Count de Schomberg and the President de Thou, per∣swaded the Dukes of Bouillon and la 'Trimouille to raise Soldiers,* 1.66 and received the King's Money for it; but the Troops of the for∣mer staid in Auvergne upon some pretence or other, and those of the latter were employ'd in Poictou for repressing the Excur∣sions of some tumultuous League men. The King was so much offended at these Lords coldness, that he could never forget it, tho', perhaps, if they had been less suspected by him, some rea∣son might have been found to have excused them. Certain it is, at least, that the President de Thou, a wise and moderate Man, did what he could, both by Word of Mouth, and by Writing, to vindicate the Conduct of those two Lords, fearing lest the ill-af∣fected Cabal, who cried down that Action, and branded it with the odious Name of Rebellion, troubling the Legat's Head with perpetual Complaints about it, should take advantage of it to thwart the Negotiation of the Edict. But of all those who heard the Case pro and con, there was none so impartial as that Prelate, and who better discovered the Illusion of those Complaints when the true Reasons were offered to him. The state of the King's

Affairs was not so prosperous in Poictou and Britany, which the Duke of Mercoeur had opened to the Spaniards, but he might as well fear to lose some Places on that side, as not to be able to mend the Damage done by the same on the Frontiers. There∣fore as la Trimouille's Troops might be useful in that Country, du Plessis did often represent to the King how important it was for his Interest, and for removing the Jealousies of the Reformed, to give la Trimouille the Command of a Siege in that Coun∣try.

Though the Council found Work enough before Amiens, they did nevertheless very seriously think of Religion, which they began to regard as a very important and material Business. There∣fore as the Number of Deputies to the Assembly had been aug∣mented, when the Reformed took a Resolution to labour in good earnest for their Security, so the King doubled also the Number* 1.67 of his Commissioners, when he resolved to think seriously of contenting them. The Count de Schomberg and the President de Thou, had been added to Vick and Calignon at Saumur; but these two being since employ'd in other concerns, the two for∣mer did remain charged with the whole Negotiation, which ended happily in their hands. The Reformed desisted from se∣veral* 1.68 of their old Demands, though they thought them very reasonable and just; but in the present Conjuncture of Affairs, they would insist upon no Articles, although never so just, but such as were absolutely necessary; nay, they did also in process of time yield up several things, which they had former∣ly judged most needful. Such was their demand of Chambres mi∣parties in all Parliaments, and of unsuspected Judges in all Courts of Judicature, but upon this Point they were at last contented with some small matter, besides what had been allow'd them by the former Edicts. The King on his side did the like by de∣grees, and even during the Siege of Amiens, he gave new Instru∣ctions and new Power to his Commissioners, who came thi∣ther to give him an account of the condition the Assembly was i••. He also heard there the Complaints they had ordered Con∣stans, Governour of one of their places to make to him, about his treating a Peace with the Spaniards, by the Mediation of the Pope, being shrewdly jealous, in respect of the Mediator, that

the main scope of that Treaty was their utter ruin. But the King, in his turn, complained to the Assembly, that whereas he expected hearty thanks from them, he saw, to his grief, that they would not accept the Offers made them by de Vick at Sau∣mur, which he had himself reiterated to Constans by word of mouth; that at a time when he was in person before Amiens, the Reformed came not to his assistance, and so deprived him of a considerable Succour, he might have expected from them, and which he never stood in so great need of as now; assuring them however, that no Treaty of Peace would be concluded to their prejudice, and that he had given full power to his Commissioners to put an end to this long and tedious business with them.

But in the mean while, these Powers coming very slowly, the Count de Schomberg made a kind of a Treaty with the Assem∣bly, by which he agreed with them upon the main Articles of their Demands; as for example, that the Right of religious Ex∣ercise* 1.69 should extend to all such places where it was made, till the end of August of the instant Year; that all their Places should still remain in their hands; that a certain Sum of Money should be given them for the payment of their Garrisons, and another to pay their Ministers; and had the Count been sufficiently im∣powered, the business might have been ended by that means: But whether he had a mind to gain time, till the Siege was over, or that he would not go beyond his Instructions, and leave the Council at liberty to disown or approve what he had agreed on, he concluded with the Assembly, with a Salvo, that all these things shou'd be done with submission to the King's plea∣sure.

They imagined that the Council would never review what had* 1.70 been granted; but it was still doubtful whether they should ac∣cept those Articles as a Provision only, or if they should cause it to be passed into a publick and definitive Law by an Edict. The Court had given Examples of those provisional Settlements, by the King's Declaration published at Mantes before his turning Catholick, and by a Treaty made since at Saint Germain with the Deputies of the Assembly of Saintefoy. Some amongst the Re∣formed, who were not satisfied with what was granted to them, were willing enough to rest still in a capacity of beginning

anew, whenever the tranquility of the Kingdom would permit it, and were afraid that by a decisive Edict they should be de∣barred from forming new Pretensions when they would: But others, who longed to see an end of their Affairs after so many delays, thought it best to accept of something, provided they might once know what Laws they were to live under; inso∣much that the matter was consulted at home, and abroad in foreign Countries, where Advice was begged of all such as were thought capable of giving it in such a weighty Case.

Schomberg and de Thou's Moderation was a great help towards a Conclusion; and, on the other side, the Reformed were very sensible of the great Confusion and Troubles of the State, being unwilling to draw upon them the Reproach of having forced the King to a disadvantageous Peace with Spain. But the conti∣nual Delays of the Court marred all that was well done by the Commissioners Wisdom; there they would always review what had already been granted; there they would renew all Que∣stions* 1.71 and Difficulties, without coming to any Resolution; in short, their only business, it seems, was, to abate something of what had been granted; and to that end it was, that the Coun∣cil would always give the Commissioners a limited Power, for fear they might grant too much; and, on the other hand, when the Reformed sent Deputies to Court, they tied their Hands with very precise Instructions, lest that being wrought upon by the Artifices and Intrigues of the Court, they might accept less than the Assembly desir'd; insomuch that both the Court and the Assembly complained one after another, that the Instructions respectively given to the Commissioners or Deputies were too much limited, requiring mutually that they should be mended and inlarged. But that amongst others which the Reformed were most offended at, was the often sending the Commissioners elsewhere on several pretences, and their being imploy'd in other Treaties, whil'st the Affairs of Religion were put off till ano∣ther time; such was the Treaty then on foot with the Duke of Mercoeur, which took up the greatest part of their time. But the Reformed could not endure that preference, either because* 1.72 they thought themselves as good as the Duke with all his Interest in Britany, or because they saw his Treating was but a sham,

whereby he had amused the King several Years together, or be∣cause they thought it easie to reduce him, so soon as the rest of the Kingdom should enjoy a solid Peace; and accordingly they did not fail to offer all their Forces towards that design, provided the Court would first make an end of their business, and not baffle them with fair words, as they had done for eight Years together. That which vexed them most, was the unjust Preju∣dice of the Catholicks, who could not brook, that the King should think of granting a Peace to the Reformed, whil'st there were some Catholicks whom 'twas not yet given to; for they fan∣cied, that the Honour of the Romish Religion was at stake, if the King should treat with the Hereticks, before having satisfied all those who took up Arms for its defence; and had therefore se∣cretly extorted a Promise from him, never to do any thing in behalf of the Reformed, before he had reconciled all such as had a hand in the League; which he deni'd not when he was blamed by some for his delays, endeavouring sometimes to make the Complaisance he had for the Catholicks go for a piece of Pru∣dence advantageous to the Reformed, in that the Edict he would give them, should appear by so much the more voluntary and less extorted by force, that there should be less Troubles and Discontents in the Kingdom; but they took it in a quite con∣trary sense, and were afraid that after all his other Troubles were over, he would force them to submit to his own terms.

In the mean while the Commissioners, at their return from* 1.73 the King before Amiens, had brought Instructions, which con∣firmed, in part, the things granted by the former; but several new Difficulties were started upon some Articles, as, amongst others, about the manner of paying the Garrisons, and re-esta∣blishing the Mass at Rochel, which that reformed City would not consent to. As for the Garrisons, there was so little safety in depending upon the Orders of the King's Treasurers for pay∣ing them, that they demanded, that in case of refusal or delay, it should be lawful for them to cause the Money to be seized in the Provincial Exchequers. But when, after a long debate, they had agreed upon the matter, and removed all difficulties, they must go to the Council for its approbation, which was no easie matter to obtain, several tricks being made use of to oblige the

Deputies to desist, but they stood firm to their resolution; and the King, on his side, commanded his Council to stand to what* 1.74 had been concluded by his Commissioners. He had neverthe∣less been offended at the Assembly's begging the Intercession of the Queen of England and of the Ʋnited Provinces; in short, they had sent some Persons of Quality, as Deputies to these two States, in order to desire their Mediation and Interest, for ob¦structing the conclusion of a Peace with Spain, which they ap¦prehended to be levelled at the utter ruin of their Cause, intreat∣ing them to charge their respective Embassadours to look to it, and advising them besides to draw into the same Precautions all such other States as this Peace was like to be fatal to. Next they gave an account to the Queen how far they had gone in the Treaty of Religion; what they had gained about the Liberty of Publick Worship, and what had been granted in this point over and above the former Grants; of the Concession of miparted Chambers, with the Priviledges allow'd to Parliaments; of the free admittance of the Reformed to all Charges, even of Judica∣ture it self, which Article had been obtain'd with a world of difficulties, and which they were to enjoy by a new Creation in their behalf of six Places of Counsellours in the Parliament of Paris; of the several Sums granted them for paying the Garri∣sons of their places of safety, which they made up one hundred, strong enough to maintain a Siege, and hold it out against a con∣siderable Army; of the Settlement agreed upon for their Mini∣sters subsistence; in a word, of all that had been concluded upon with the King's Commissioners concerning the Liberty and Se∣curity of their Religion. But 'twas no longer seasonable to take notice of those slight Misdemeanors, which the King knew very well were not the effect; of any rebellious Intentions in the Re∣formed, but of their Allarms and Jealousies renew'd every day by his Councils delays and shiftings. The Reformed were cer∣tainly in the right on't, for, by that means, the final conclusion* 1.75 of this affair lingred away even beyond the end of the Year; and there was certainly affectation and malice in some of those delays; which cannot be denied, if we consider that the paying of the Garrisons and repairing of the Places was their greatest business, and the matter whereon the greatest difficulties were

renewed; though Roni was the Man who could do any thing in the Treasury, and was able, had he been willing, to assign as good Funds to those of his own Religion, as he did to the Roman Catholicks. But it must be confessed also, that some of the same delays were occasioned meerly by accident, by sickness, absence, or other excusable impediments of some, whom the King had appointed to view the Articles of the Assembly, and to prepare the Form of the Writs; which being made out by unquestion∣able Proofs, the Reformed did not despond at all, but waited patiently till all these Difficulties were removed by time.

The End of the Fourth Book.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Massacre a•• Chastaig∣neray.
• * 1.2

  Excepted by the Patents out of the Acts which should be compriz'd in the Am∣nesties.
• * 1.3

  Artifices to perswade the Refor∣med to de∣liver up the Prince of Conde.
• * 1.4

  Interests of the Prince of Conti and Count of Soissons.
• * 1.5

  Trimouille suspected by the King.
• * 1.6

  Pisani car∣ries her a∣way with the Prince her Son.
• * 1.7

  Precautions taken for the Prince's Religion ill observ'd.
• * 1.8

  The Depu∣ties of the Assembly at Saumur at∣tend the King.
• * 1.9

  Paid with general Pro∣••ises.
• * 1.10

  War decla∣red against Spain.
• * 1.11

  League with the Queen of England, who would have an Article in∣serted in the Treaty in favour of the Refor∣med.
• * 1.12

  The Duke of Bouillon op∣pos'd it.
• * 1.13

  Discontents of the Re∣formed, and their effects
• * 1.14

  Whence the King's cola∣ness pro∣ceeded.
• * 1.15

  Suggestions of the Ca∣tholicks.
• * 1.16

  The Popes Address.
• * 1.17

  His wishes.
• * 1.18

  1695.
• * 1.19

  Reports of the Refor∣med being quite out of favour, and the Sources of it.
• * 1.20

  1596.
• * 1.21

  The As∣sembly.
• * 1.22

  Edict of Travercy.
• * 1.23

  An Edict in favour of the Duke of Mayenne.
• * 1.24

  The E∣state of the King∣dom.
• * 1.25

  The Pro∣ject of di∣viding.
• * 1.26

  The As∣sembly meet at Loudun, with per∣mission.
• * 1.27

  New su∣spicions,
• * 1.28

  and subject of com∣plaint.
• * 1.29

  Which was a Court for the benefit of Protestants, one half Roman Catholicks, and the other half of the Reformed.
• * 1.30

  Vulson sent to Court.
• * 1.31

  An Effect of this Ri∣gour.
• * 1.32

  A wise Ex∣pedient of Du Plessis to reunite the As∣sembly.
• * 1.33

  Is appro∣ved of the King; who re∣vokes the Order of dispersing, and pro∣mises a Commis∣sioner.
• * 1.34

  The Pa∣tience of the Re∣formed.
• * 1.35

  A conti∣nuation of their Re∣quests.
• * 1.36

  A Legat in France renews their fears.
• * 1.37

  Jealousies of Roni.
• * 1.38

  A Synod at Saumur.
• * 1.39

  Their Re∣solutions.
• * 1.40

  Their Let∣ters to the King.
• * 1.41

  Commissi∣oners ap∣pointed.
• * 1.42

  Com∣plaints of the King.
• * 1.43

  The Firm∣ness of the Assembly,
• * 1.44

  which re∣moveth to Vendome.
• * 1.45

  They de∣sist about a general Exercise.
• * 1.46

  A second place of Exercise granted in each Balli∣wick, and their right acquired by Possessi∣on in the year 1596. confirmed. The Edict of 1577. verified at Rouen, doth not content them.
• * 1.47

  The Pope complain∣eth of it,
• * 1.48

  D' Ossat appeaseth him.
• * 1.49

  1597.
• * 1.50

  The As∣sembly is discoun∣tenanced at the re∣turn of the Com∣missioners.
• * 1.51

  Mistrusts and Jea∣lousies on both sides.
• * 1.52

  Divisions in the Assembly.
• * 1.53

  They re∣turn to Saumur.
• * 1.54

  Amiens surprised.
• * 1.55

  Confusion in the Affairs.
• * 1.56

  A Motion for War in the As∣sembly.
• * 1.57

  The Mo∣tives of the Dukes of Bouillon and Tri∣mouille.
• * 1.58

  The King's perplexi∣ty.
• * 1.59

  His diffe∣rent man∣ner of wri∣ting to the Assembly before and after the taking of Amiens.
• * 1.60

  The An∣swers of the As∣sembly.
• * 1.61

  Which is removed to Chatel∣leraud; more nu∣merous than be∣fore.
• * 1.62

  The Rea∣sons which may excuse the firm∣ness of the Assembly in their Demands about the Article of Security.
• * 1.63

  Their Con∣duct in re∣spect of the Siege of Amiens.
• * 1.64

  Difference in Opi∣nions.
• * 1.65

  The Re∣formed serve the King be∣fore Ami∣ens.
• * 1.66

  The Acti∣ons of the Dukes of Bouillon and la Tri∣mouille.
• * 1.67

  The Com∣missioners changed.
• * 1.68

  The Trea∣ty conti∣nueth, and they slack∣en on both sides.
• * 1.69

  A new Possession acquired in 1597. Articles granted by Count Schomberg with sub∣mission to the King's pleasure.
• * 1.70

  A Debate whether to accept them pro∣visionally, or defini∣tively.
• * 1.71

  The Coun∣cil's Shift∣ings about the Ar∣ticles.
• * 1.72

  The Trea∣ty is inter∣rupted.
• * 1.73

  New In∣structions.
• * 1.74

  Disputes put to an end by the King's firmness. The As∣sembly beggeth the inter∣cession of the Queen of England and of the Ʋnited Pro∣vinces.
• * 1.75

  New De∣lays, partly malicious, partly in∣nocent.