- -1 PQ 1302!e5V22'"i8m'' """^ ''" ™iiSiiSlPM.1i,,ii! chivalric and media 3 1924 027 262 348 LONDON PPINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. NEW-STREET SQUARE PREFACE. WING to a refidence of many years abroad, as well .in the capital as provinces of France, it was my fortune to come by, one way or another, a fomewhat unufual amount of old-world, pleafant, rare, and curious Gallic lore. And fhould there be any little felicity obfervable in the method by which fuch acquirement is now being fubmitted to the reader, it may fafely be traced to an anfwering familiarity with the poets and writers of an age more emphatically known as "The Elizabethian : one ftill retaining much in common, not only in its outer but inner life, with the faft receding " days of chivalry ; " and iv Preface. hence, as on various other grounds, the lateft and only Englijh to which any earlier or contemporary ftandard claffic could, to be don& any fort of juftice to, be brought down to. I had originally intended to have prefixed to the work, flcetches, more or lefs fuccind;, of the various authors therein abftrafted from. But coming to refledt upon the number of excellent biographical dictionaries and lives about, moft of which are, or, at any rate, Jhould be, on the flielf of all pretending to the education of an Englifh gentleman or lady, I gave the idea up. The few pages of Montaigne, little as they may have of " epifode," philofophically viewed, have fo much of " romantic " about them, that, however out of place, out of keeping I am willing to believe they will hardly feem, at leafl: to the more gentle and meditative reader. CONTENTS. Preface. Ordinance of Duels, with tlie Cere- monies enjoined in all cafes of Mortal Combat. Ceremonies attendant on the De- gradation of a Knight. Glimpfe at the Life of a Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. The final Combat between Damp Abbot and the Lord de Saintre. Death of the Count de Buren A grand, and a foblime Apoftrophe A very quaint, curious and pleafant Parallel. The Vow of the Heron . Page iii Fa'vyn — Le Theatre cCHonneur et de la Cheijalerie "Fa'vyn — Le Theatre d'Honneur et de la Che'valerie . Memoir es du Marefchal de Bajfompierre Hiftoire de Jehan de Saintre . Brantome' — Hommes Illuftres Fabliaux ou Contes du xii" et xiii^ Siecles . Brantome — Hommes Illuftres St. Pelaye, Memoires fur Vancienne Che- ijalerie . i8 24. 44 65 71 73 75 VI Contents. The piteous Death, through too long a Concealment of his Attachment, of a Gentleman of Dauphiny. Pauline and her Lover, renouncing the World, betake themfelves to a Monaftic Life. The Prologue to the Chronicles of Froiffart. The Death, and Dying Inftruflions of Charles V. of France. An Account of Two or Three Re- markable Duels. A foniewhat naive Account of the Duke de Sully's Courtfhip. The Birth of Henry the Fourth The Death of Henry the Fourth . Bons Mots and Anecdotes of Henry the Fourth. The Story of Patient Grizzel . Page L' Heptameron . ■ 87 VHeptameron . • 95 Froijfart . . 107 Froijart . . Ill Brantome . • 117 Memoires de Sully ■ 133 Hardouin de Perefixe • »37 Memoires de Sully . 142 Various Sources. • 177 Fabliaux ou Contes du xii' et xii¥ Siecles . Brantome . he Liiire du Che'ualier de La Tour Landry 272 229 The Life of Mary, Queen of Scots . Seleftions from the Knight of the Tower, his Book, for the Inftruc- tion of his Daughters. And firft, the Prologue ...... 272 The First Chapter ....... 277 Of Two Knights who loved Two Sisters . . 278 Here is ftiown, how all Women ought to Faft . . 280 Here it is ihown, how all Women ought to be Cour- teous 2gi How they ought to carry themfelves, without twifting their heads right or left . . ... 283 It is here told of her whom the Chevalier de La Tour dropped, through her too much Lightness . .283 Contents. vu Page Of her who eat the Eels 286 Of Abftinence . .' 287 How perilous it is to meddle with Men of the World ; and of the Lady who undertook to croff-queftion the Marftial de Clermont . . . . . .287 Of thofe who delight to go on Pilgrimages and to Tournaments. ....... 289 Of the Lady who took a Quarter of a Day to Drefs Herfelf . 292 Here fpeaks of Difcovering the Matters of One's Lord 293 Of the Olden Customs A Lament, or Lilt ; written by Richard Coeur de Lion, in his Captivity. Bayard meets with his Firft Love . ■ ^95 Hiftoire litteraire des Troubadours . Berville, Histoire- de "Bayard. Perceforefi Brantome . Memoires de Sully Fabliaux ou Contes dtls xii" et xiii^ Siede Fabliaux au Contes du xii' et xiiv Steele Title and Introduction to Perce- foreft. Introduflion A Royal Airing in the Sixteenth Century. An Unadmirable Crichton Marriage, alias the Farce or Inter- lude of Adam, the Hunchback of Arras. The Crufades, alias the Controverfy between the Knight of the Crofs and the Uncrofsed Knight. The feventh, eighth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth chapters of the Sixth Book of the Memoirs of De Commines. Chapter 7. — How King Louis, by a diftemper, loft the ufe of his fenses and his fpeech ; alternately i-e- 299 301 310 311 318 320 323 327 Philipe de Commines . 3 3+ viii Contents. Page covering and relapfing ; and of how he carried him- felf in his chateau of Pleffis les Tours . . . 3 34 Chapter 8. — How the King fent from Tours for one known as the Holy man of Calabria, thinking he would cure him ; and of the unheard-of things which the said King did, during his malady, for the retention of his power ... . . 347 Chapter 9. — [Omitted] . . . . -351 Chapter 10. — How the King carried himfelf, as well toward his neighbours, as his fubjects, during his malady ; and of all was fent to him, from divers quarters, for his recovery . . . . -352 Chapter ii. — How King Louis, on his deathbed, had his fon, Charles, fent for ; of the ordinances and injunftlons with which he charged, as well him as others . . . . . . . -355 Chapter la. — A comparifon of all the miferies and fufferings undergone of King Louis, with thofe which he inflifted on many others ; with a continu- ation of all he did, and had done to him, up to the time of his end Chapter 13. — A diverfion on all the miferies of the ftate of man ; more efpecially of princes ; as (hown in those who lived in the times of the author ; and firftly of King Louis Conclufion of the Author . A pleafan't Tale of Louis XI. . Brantome . Seleftions from Montaigne That to philofophife, is to learn to die Apology for Raymond de la Sebonde . Notes 358 370 375 378 381 381 403 441 asKg!mg;SErrggs^nwtUT:iTitJiuhUT^^tiaAktLV^ ROMANTIC EPISODES CHIVALRIC & MEDIEVAL FRANCE. oXMo ORDINANCE OF DUELS; WITH THE CERE- MONIES ENJOINED IN ALL CASES OF MORTAL COMBAT. [The following ordinances comprife the fifteen concluding paragraphs of a body of enaftments, drawn up in the year 1306, by Philip the Fair, of France. The iirfl: five are omitted, as no longer offering any fort of intereft to other than the profeflional antiquary.] VI. And iirft, the king-at-arms, or herald, ought to come on horfeback to the barrier of the lifts, and there cry once, before the appellant arrives. Next, a fecond time, when both the appellant and the defendant fhall be entered, and have fignified their prefence to the judge. And thirdly, when they have withdrawn, the final oaths taken, in the forms to be after given. And to begin ; with a loud voice he is to cry, " Hear, hear, B Romantic Epifodes. " hear ; lords, knights, fquires, with men of all de- " grees, what our fovereign lord, the king of France, " commands and forbids, on pain of lofs, of life and " goods ! " That none come armed ; wear dagger, fword, or " other implement whatever ; faving alway the guard- " ians of the field, with fuch as, by licenfe of the king, " are Ipecially permitted. " Farther, the king, our lord, commands you, and " forbids ; that any, of what condition foever, fhall, " during the battle, be on his horfe ; under the penalty, " the gentlemen, of forfeiting the fame ; the common " people, their ear. Farther, the counfellors and allies " accompanying the champions to the field are likewife " on arriving to difmount, and fend their horfes away, " equally fubjeft to the fame penalty. " Farther, the king, our lord, commands, and en- " joins on every perfon, be his condition what it may, " that he feat himfelf either upon a flope, or bank ; or " on the grafs, fo that all may equally fee the fight ; " on pain of the lofs of a finger. " Farther, the king, our lord, commands, and for- " bids, that any fpeak, fpit, make fign, cry, ftart, or " other fignal whatfoever, on pain of lofs of life and « goods." VII. Item ; and in accordance with old eftabliflied cuftom of this our realm of France ; the appellant Law of '-Trial by Mortal Combat. 3 ought to be the firft to prefent himfelf upon the field : the faid appellant before the hour of twelve ; and the defendant before the time of noon. And fliould either be wanting at the faid hours, he is to be held and judged for recreant ; and condemned as fuch ; fhould fo be, that the mercy of the judge be not extended to him, &c. . . . VIII. And to the conftable, marfhals, or marftial, who £hall be there prefent, the faid appellant fliall fay, or caufe to be faid by his counfellors ; and in like manner, after, to the judge, when he fliall be mounted, and in the field, the following words. And to begin with, at the entry to the field. " Right honourable, " my lord, the conftable ; " or, " Sir, the marflial of " the field ; I am So and fo ; " or, " See So and fo " before you, as him who is delegated by our lord, the " king ; equipped and horfed as befits a gentleman " who has come prepared to encounter fuch and fuch " another gentleman, in fuch and fuch a quarrel ; for " a falfe, an injurious, a malicious traitor and murderer, " as he is. And of this, I take to witnefs, our Lord, " our Lady, and my lord St. George, the good knight " — that this day am I come, as commanded was, and " duty is, to make as much in your prefence good. " Farther, I demand at your hands, and as is meet, " my juft partition of the field, the fun, and wind, as " of all other claims, or advantages, neceflary, equit- Romantic Epifodes. " able, or defirable in fuch cafes ; " protefting that, this duty done, on his part, he would, with the help of God, our Lady, and my lord St. George, the good knight, do his. And in addition to what is here rehearfed ; it is enjoined, that he be at liberty to fight either on foot, or on horfe, as he prefers ; as alfo either more or lefs fully armed, whether for offence or defence. That is to fay, that he fliall be permitted either to pick up, or , to throw away, any part of his arms or armour, in the courfe of the fight ; as he may deem for his advantage ; that is, always fuppofing that God may give to him the time and opportunity. Item. That fhould his opponent take with him into the field other weapons than thofe allowed by the con- ftitution of France, he be deprived of them ; nor are any other to be permitted to him in their place. Item. That if his adverfary fhall have brought upon him weapons prepared either by crookednefs, fpell, charm, incantation, lot, or other devilifli contrivance or inftigation, and by which it is evidently feen that the chances of the other were prejudiced, either before or during the battle— or fo as that, even after he had gotten the better, ftill his honour was not fully cleared — that then this hellifli and treacherous adver- fary be puniflied as an enemy to God and man, traitor or murderer, according as the circumftances might be. And farther, it is ordered that on the faid arms, be Law of Trial by Mortal Combat. 5 they charmed, or be they not, the faid adverfary is to fwear. Item. He ought to demand and proteft that, if by the fetting of the fun it had not been the will of God that he fliould have difcomfited and deftroyed his adverfary, (which, with the permiflion of God, he pur- pofes to do,) that fo much daylight may be awarded to him on another day as had been confumed on that one, either with the preliminaries, or through other unavoid- able delay : fuch being the ancient right and cuftom of our realm. Otherwife he might fay, that a full day had not been given to him, which we ought to, and do grant to him. Item. That in cafe his adverfary have not put in his prefence at the appointed hour, and by the king afligned, the laid adverfary fhall not be permitted to enter, but held by the other for guilty ; and as fuch cenfured and condemned. And this, his demand, it is to be at our option to allow or difallow at our difcretion. However, if it was without our permiflion, command, or connivance that the delay occurred, judgment is to proceed. Item. He ought and has perfect right to demand, that he may carry with him into the field fo much bread, wine, or other vi£i:ual as would fuflice for one whole day, as likewife provifion for his horfe, with all other neceflaries befitting fuch a cafe ; that is, if fo be, he may care to haye them. And all thefe proteftations Romantic Epjodes. and demands, whether general or particular, he fhould fee conceded by fpecial inftrument, as by us willed. Farther, we permit that the defendant and appellant can conform alike, and after any regulations drawn up by the defendant ; always fuppoiing that, by mutual confent, they are not later departed from. We alfo will and appoint, that they may engage on horfe or foot ; and either armed at his difcretion, with any kind of weapon, faving only fuch as fliall have been prepared or tempered by any fort of machination, divination, charm, chance, or other devilifli incantation or con- trivance, forbidden as well by the laws of God, as of holy church, to all good men. IX. Item. We will and ordain that all lifts for trial by battle ftiall be of one hundred and twenty paces round ; that is to fay, forty wide by eighty long. And this, all judges are required to fee attended to, and that the fame be kept in the neceflary repair. Item. We will and appoint, that the ftool and tent of the appellant, let his rank be what it may, be at our right hand, or at that of the judge ; and thofe of the defendant on the left. Item. As foon as each of them fliall have rehearfed either for himfelf, or by his counfellors, the aforefaid proteftations and requefts, or ever they enter the field, they are to lower their vizors. Then making through them the fign of the crofs, they are to come to the foot Law of "Trial by Mortal Combat. 7 of the ftand, where their judge or the king, if prefent, is to caufe them to open their vizors again. He will then fay, " Right excellent and moft puiflant prince, and " our fovereign lord : I, So and fo, to your prefence " am come, as to that of my rightful lord and judge, " at day and hour appointed, to do my duty ,upon So " and fo, for the murder or treafon by him committed- " And of this am I fatisfied, that God will be on my " fide, and affuredly with me in the fight." Should, however, the judge only be prefent, he will limply fay, " My much redoubted lord, etc." And when he will have faid all this, or, as nearly as he can, words to the like effect, his counfellors are to hand to him an indenture couched in the faid form ; and which again, with his own hand, he is to prefent to the marfhal, who is to take it. This over, we give him leave to return to his tent. And fhould it have been found that he was unable to retain the words well and in order, then we confent that his counfellors rehearfe them for him. Item. Thefe ceremonies over, the king-at-arms, or the herald, ought to mount upon the rail of the barrier and make his fecond cry, with the five prohibitions, in the form and order following : — Item. First is to come the appellant, all on foot, from his tent, in all his harnefs and his frock, or tunic over all. Next he is to be led by the wardens of the field, and furrounded by his counfel, to the front of the fcafFold 8 Romantic Epifodes. erected at the middle of the lifts, where our majefty may be, or another in our abfence. Then is the faid appellant to fall upon his knees before a chair and table, both richly covered, and on which latter is to be the image of our true Saviour and God — Jefus Chrift upon the Crofs, refting on a handfome cufliion, with the miflal. And on the right hand of the altar, a prieft, or religious, is to be feated, who is to fay to him as follows : " Sir Knight," or " Lord," or " Squire " of fuch a place ; " fee before you here the " indubitable image of our Saviour and true God, Jefus " Chrift, who for our fakes was willing to die and give " His ever precious body for our fouls. Cry you " mercy now to Him, and crave you Him, that this " day He may come to your aid and be on your fide, " according as right and juftice may be with you, for " He alone is Judge. Revolve you well the oath " which you are now about to take, for afluredly " in bitter peril are your life, your body, and your " foul." Thefe words over, the marflial is to take the appel- lant by both his hands, his gauntlets on, and placing his right hand upon the crucifix and his left upon the Te igitur, he is to require him to repeat as follows after him : " I, So and fo, appellant, fwear upon this remem- " brance of our Lord God, Jefus Chrift, as upon the " holy evangelifts who here are, and by the faith of " a true Chriftian ; and by the baptifm which I hold Law of Trial by Mortal Combat. 9 " of God, that I have holy, good, and juft quarrel, and " every right to challenge the defendant. So and fo, for " a falfe and accurfed traitor, or murderer, or perjurer, " (as the cafe might be), and who has no better or other " than a feigned and defperate caufe to defend. And this "will I this day fliow, my body to his, with the help " of God, our Lady, and of my lord St. George, the " good knight." This oath taken, the appellant rifes and returns to his tent, his counfellors about him, and conducted by the guards as before. XI. And next upon this, the guards of the field are to proceed to the tent of the defendant, whom they are to lead before the altar, there to take the oath as under; his counfellors being with him, and he at all points armed, and in all refpedts received, as was the other. And as foon as he fliall have been exhorted by the prieft, the marflial fliall take his two hands, the gauntlets on, and refling them as he had done the appellant's, then addrefs him, " You, So and fo," or, " Lord of fuch a " place," fay after me : " I, So and fo, the defendant, " fwear upon this remembrance of the paffion of our " Lord God, Jefus Chrift ; and on the holy evangeliflis, " here 'before me ; and on the faith of a Chriftian ; " and by that baptifm which I hold of God; that I " both have, and firmly believe that I have, for certain, " fufficient, holy, and jufl: quarrel; and every right to " defend myfelf in this wager of battle, againft So and lo Romantic Epifodes. " fo, who fiendiflily and malicioufly has accufed me, " like a perjurer and mifchievous contriver as he is, " to have branded me fuch. And as much will I this " day bring home to him, my body to his, with the " help of God, our Lady, and of my lord St. George, " the good knight." This oath taken, the faid defen- dant rifes up, and returns to his tent, in like manner as had done the appellant. Item. After this fecond oath, the two are to advance ; the one following the other ; who, to be ihort, are to fwear as under, XII. Item. At the third oath, the guards are to feparate themfelves into two equal divifions, and of which one is to proceed to the tent of the appellant, and the other to that of the defendant, and thence to lead them before the judge, as is the cuftom, their counfellors around them. Each fide to come two and two, and ftep for ftep. And as foon as they fliall be on their knees, before the crofs and the Te igitur, the marflial is to take the right hand of each, and, 'drawing off their gauntlets, place them upon either arm of the crofs. And as foon as they are in this pofition, the prieft, who is to be in waiting, is to come forward, and put them in remembrance of the pafEon of our Lord God, Jefus Chrift ; the certain perdition, foul and body, of him, whichever of the two it were was in the wrong ; of all the terrible oaths which they as well had Law of Trial by Mortal Combat. 1 1 taken, as were about to take ; how the fuccour of God could only ftand with one, with him who had the right ; and, laftly, counfel them, rather to throw them- felves upon the mercy of their natural and their earthly prince, than to expofe themfelves unto the wrath of God in heaven above, or yet the vengeance of the enemy in hell. And for the following oath, we ordain it to be the laft of the three, by reafon of the deadly, mortal, and inextinguifliable hatred which is between the two ; and only when thus confronting one another face to face, and either clafping other by the hand. Then fhall the marfhal finally require of the defen- dant, " You, So and fo, as appellant, are you prepared " to fwear ? " and then add, " If you will even yet " repent, and, confeiEng, difb'urden your confcience, as " becomes a good Chriftian, we extend to you our " mercy;" (or, our judge, before whom he is, will do fo) ; " prefcribing and requiring penalty, reparation, in- " demnity ; or, otherwife proceeding as we find fit." If he repents, we defire that they each be led back to their tents, and that neither ftir therefrom till our farther command be known, orthatof the judge before whom they are. But if the appellant be willing to fwear, and fay " Yes," then the marfhal is to put the fame ,to the defendant. And if he too perfifts, then is he to turn to the appellant, and bid him to lay after him, " I, So and fo, appellant, fwear, on the true image " of the paflion of our Lord God, Jefus Chrifl, and on 12 Romantic Episodes. " the holy evangelifts, now here prefent ; and by the " baptifm which, as a Chriftian man, I hold ; and by " the true God ; by all the higheft joys of paradlfe, and " which I all renounce, and for the direft pains of hell ; " by my foul, upon my life, and on my honour ; that I " have holy, good, and juft quarrel to fight with this " treacherous and accurfed traitor, murderer, perjurer, " and liar. So and fo, whom I now oehold before me. " And for the truth of this, I appeal to God, as to my " true judge, our Lady, and my lord St. George, that " good knight. And that all I do is done in loyalty, " and in obedience to the oaths, by me taken ; I farther " fwear,that I neither bear about me, nor on my horfe, " writings, herbs, ftones, charms, amulets, divinations, " charadters, or other devilifli contrivance, or forcery ; " that, in no other art do I place my confidence, or " look for help, than in the Grace of God, a rightful " caufe, my proper perfon, my harnefs, and my horfe. " In teftimony whereto, I now kifs this true crofs, the " holy evangelifts, and am filent." After this oath has been taken, the faid marflial is to draw near to the defendant, whom he is to require to fwear after a fimilar manner. And when the defendant fliall have kifled the crucifix and the Te igitur, ftill farther to difcover on which fide the truth lies, he is to take both parties by the right hand ; and when he has warned them, he is to defire the appellant firft to repeat after him, and looking his adverfary fteadlly in Law of Trial by Mortal Combat. 13 the face :,"0 thou, whofe right hand I now hold, " know, by all the vows I now take, the caufe for " which I have accufed you is a right caufe. Where- " fore had I juft and rightful ground to challenge you, " and this day will I finifli you. Your caufe is " naughty ; nor have you any right to fight in fuch a " one, or to oppofe yourfelf to me. You know it well. " And in truth of this, I call to witnefs God, my lord " St. George, the true knight ; counterfeit, traitor, " murderer, perjurer, and liar, as you are ! " This done, the marfhal fliall fay to the defendant, that he repeat after him, and addrefling himfelf to the defendant : " O thou, whom I now hold by the right hand, know, " by all the oaths that I have fworn, the caufe upon " which you have challenged me is falfe and bafelefs. " Wherefore I have juft and good right to defend " myfelf in it, and to oppofe myfelf to you this day. " Your caufe is faulty, and no occafion had you to have " defied me, or reafon have you to fight me ; and well " you know it. Wherefore, and of fuch, I call God, " our Lady, my lord St. George, the good knight, to " witnefs ; evil and falfe one that you are,!" And as foon as the faid oath fhall have been admi- niftered, and defiancy exchanged, they are to kifs the crucifix anew ; and then, at the fame moment, each is to rife and return to his tent, there to prepare to do his duty. They gone, the prieft is to take up the crucifix, with the Te igitur, as the table on which they fhood. 14 Romantic Ef if odes. and remove the whole out of the courfe, and then with- draw entirely himfelf. And then, as foon as the courfe is clear, the king-at-arms, or the herald, is to make the laft of the three cries, in the form which follows : — XIV. Item. As foon as the king-at-arms, or the herald, fhall have cried, " Let all be feated, nor another " word fpoken ! " and admoniflied the champions to be ready to fulfil their duties, then, at the commandment of the marfhal, is the faid king-at-arms to proceed to the middle of the lifts, and there cry three times — " Do your duties ! " And as foon as they hear thefe < words, both combatants are to iflue out of their tents, and, with the aid of their chairs or ftools, get upon their chargers, which are to be in waiting, and take their refpective arms wherewith they propofe to defend themfelves ; their counfellors being ftill with them. Then, as foon as they are ready, the tents are to be on the inftant ftruck, and the whole thrown over the rails. XV. When the whole has arrived at this ftage, the marfhal, who is to be on a fcafFold, facing the middle of the courfe, and carrying the gage in his hand, is to cry three times, " Let them go ! " and at the third time, he is to caft down the glove. Then is it for each either to mount upon his horfe or to remain on foot exactly as he pleafes. And on the inftant, the coun- fellors on either fide are to be gone, leaving with each Law of Trial by Mortal Combat. 15 a bottle of wine and a loaf wrapped up in a cloth. Then is it for each to look to himfelf, for need will he have. XVI. Item. We will and ordain, that the wager of battle is not to be final, faving on one of two conditions. That is to fay, firftly, when one of the two parties con- fefles his fault, and has furrertdered. And, fecondly, when either fliall have forced the other out of the field, alive or dead. But whether living or dead, the body is equally to be given up by thejudge to the marfhal, who is either to retain it, or let juftice take its courfe, at his or our good pleafure. But fhould, however, the breath be ftill in him ; we defire that he be delivered to the heralds, and kings-at-arms, by whom he is to be ftripped of his armour. His points are to be cut, and his armour is to be broken and fcattered in pieces about the place ; and he himfelf laid upon his back, and on the ground. And Ihould he even, Contrary, be dead, he is ftill to be ftripped and left there, till our final word be taken, and pleafure known, whether it be for pardon, or that judgment proceed to extremity. In any cafe, the hoftages of the conquered party are to be held till fuch time as full compenfation fliall have been made to the other fide ; and the remainder property of the faid conquered is to be confifcated to his prince. XVII. Item. We will and ordain, that the con- 1 6 Romantic Epifodes. queror retire from the lifts honourably, efcorted, and with the fame formalities with which he entered ; that is, fuppofing him not to be prevented upon fufEcient grounds, as lofs of blood, difablement, or other hind- rance of his perfon. And in his right hand he is to carry the weapon wherewith he had defpalched his opponent. Farther, his hoftages and pledges are at once to be releafed and remitted to him. And for the vindica- tion of the faid quarrel never is he again to be called upon to defend himfelf, let what will come to light ; nor is any juftice or other to interrogate him, or in any way moleft him, faving always with his own allow- ance. Item. We will and ordain, that his horfe, capari- foned as he ftands, as well as the arms which he brought with him into the field, whether foughten with or difpenfed with, become, as cuftom is, the perquifite of the conftable, marfhal, or marflials of the field, who are to take them there and then. And now, to end, we make our prayer to God, that He will guard the right to him who has it, and that all good Chriftian men will well bethink them or ever they commit themfelves to fuch ordeal or extremity. For afluredly of all the perils into which a man can fall, that of the wager of battle is the moft fearful to be thought on, and many is the noble man who has found his reckoning to be out therein, had he right or had he wrong, through too much confidence in his prowefs, his Law of Trial by Mortal Combat. 17 cunning, or his ftrength ; or blinded and led on by paflion, or overweening felf-fufficiency. Others again, either out of fear, or encouragement of the world, refufe peace, or reafonable compromife or concefEon ; and for which, as for old fins, they bear about on them, and to their dying day, an anfwerable penance, having difre- garded and made light of the jufl: judgments, warnings, and offerings of God. Finally, to end the matter, let him that is wronged nor can any juftice find from man, feek it of God. Should, however, the cafe be fuch, that, as of an overruling neceffity, he is compelled to irn- peril himfelf in fuch a ftrife, and his caufe be righteous, certes let him do it. But let it be in fobernefs and in lowlinefs ; divefted of all heat, and pride, and paflion, and then- fliall not any power on earth have maftery on him, for God, our Lord Jefus Chrift, that day will be with him in the fight, his fupporter, his right arm and his fhield. — Favyn : Le Theatre d'Honneur et de la Chevalerie, CEREMONIES ATTENDANT UPON THE DEGRADATION OF A KNIGHT. HE juftices defignate this ceremony ex- au£iorare ; that is to fay, injignia militaria detrahere, which, in our language, an- fwers to the word degrade ; inafmuch as fuch proceeding takes pi ace by degrees ; the arms and honours of him who is to be deftituted being ftripped from him, and annulled fucceffively, one after the other. Among ourfelves, the oldefl: ceremonies on record, attendant upon the degradation of a knight or gentleman, were thefe : — As foon as, by commandment of the king, the indiftment had been drawn up againft the prifoner charged with the felony, the faid indidtment was laid before a counfel compofed of the eldeft, moft vene- rable, and experienced knights of the court ; af- fembled to the number of fome five and twenty, or thirty ; who condemned the accufed to lofe his life, On the 'Degradation of a Knight. 1 9 according to the information before them, and nature of the profecution ; treafon or felony ; at the fame time prefcribing'that, previoufly to the fentence of the said execution and death being carried out, the faid criminal be degraded from his nobility. And this is the way in which it was done. And, firft, two fcaffolds were eredled in a fair and open fpace, fecurely fenced in with pofts- and bars. One of them was covered overhead, and handfomely hung about with tapeftries, and otherwife provided with chairs, tables, and all becoming requirements for the ufe of the knights-judges and of their oiEcers. The other was to be both lower, and bare, and pitiful, for the reception of the condemned knight, the kings-at- arms, heralds, and purfuivants. And, farther, at each end of this fcafFold, were to be fl:ools, or low benches, in number fufEcient, or long enough, for twelve priefts to fit at ; and in the midft of it, the condemned knight was to be {landing, armed at all points ; his Ihield, bearing all his devices and emblazonings, in front of him ; and hanging from a fi:ake driven into the ground, alongfide of the fcafFold. And after that the charge and fentence of the condemned knight had been read, in a clear, audible voice by one of the heralds, or kings-at-arms, incontinent the priefts began to fing, diftindtly and harmonioufly, the vigils and the fervice of the dead, from the Placebo to the Miferere met, Deus. And at the clofe of each Pfalm, as after the Requiem 20 Romantic Epi/odes. aternam, the priefts made a paufe and were filent. And with the firft of the faid paufes, the kings or heralds-at-arms began to diveft and degrade the con- demned knight, commencing with the creft or bunch upon his helmet ; and at the interval between each ftanza, the herald, holding aloft each piece as taken from the condemned knight, proclaimed, with a high voice : " See here the creft, or helmet, of So and fo;" (naming him by his name, furname, lordfhip, or other quality), " knight, attached and convidted of felony, " treachery, murder, incendiarifm, &c.," according as the cafe might happen ; ",and for this caufe con- " demned to fuch and fuch a death and ignominy." Similarly, holding up, piecemeal, to the view of all, he was ufed to announce of the armour, joint by joint, belt, fword, his gilded fpurs and gauntlets ; naming each at fucceflive paufes in or between the Pfalms. And when it came to the fliield, which was ordinarily fwinging from a ftake alongfide the ftand, one of the purfuivants ufed to turn it round, back foremoft, as upfide down as well ; and then announce at the top of his voice : "This was the (hield,and this is the fcutcheon " of the traitor, the perfidious and difloyal knight, whom " now you fee before you all." Then, taking up a hammer, he was to fmafli it into three pieces ; and as foon as the laft Pfalm in the offices of the dead had been fung, the priefts got up from their feats, and clofmg in a ring round the condemned knight, placed On the Degradation of a Knight. 21 their hands upon his head, and in this pofition they proceeded to fing the 109th Pfalm of David, com- mencing with the words, Deus^ laudem meam ne tacueris, in the which Pfalm are fulminated the im- precations and malediftions againfi: the traitor Judas, with all his fellows and his like. And fimilarly, as the fquire who was about to be conftituted of the moft honourable order of knighthood, on the evening prece- dent to the day of his inftallation, was wafhed and bathed, and, farther, bound to pafs the night in watch- ing and in prayer, fo as to be both qualified and worthy, body and foul alike, to receive fo great an honour ; in like manner, the pfalm of imprecation ended, a pur- fuivant-at-arms was to take and place a brazen veffel, filled with tepid water, upon the head of the con- demned knight. On this, the king-at-arms demanded three times, and in an articulate voice, the name, fur- name, quality, and condition of the deftituted knight. To which, when the purfuivant had refponded, equally three times, to the faid demand, the king or herald-at- arms told him, " He deceived himfelf ; for that he " whom he had afked about was other, a man of " honour ; that this man was a traitor, a deceiver, a " murderer, a perjurer, and a liar." And in order to fatisfy all thofe prefent that what he fpoke was truth, he then turned to the knights-judges ; the prefident of whom, through the prothonotary, attefted, that by the majority of the votes of thofe then fitting, he of whom 22 Romantic Epifodes. it was in agitation, and whom the purfuivant had named three times, had been adjudged to be unfit any longer to be held a knight ; and, for his vices and mifdeeds, banifhed from all fuch honourable company, degraded of his nobility, and condemned to fuch and fuch a punifliment and death. This affirmation finifhed, the king, or herald-at-arms, upfet the bafon of water upon the head of the degraded knight. This laft a<3: oyer, the knights-judges came down from their fi:and, decorated and covered with their mourning hoods and robes, and in this equipment pro- ceeded to the neareft chapel. The- degraded knight was at the fame time taken down from his fcafFold, but neither by ladder nor flairs, nor in the manner in which he had gone up ; for he was let down by a rope pafled under his arms. And as foon as he had been lowered he was laid upon his back, and on a bier, or hearfe, covered itfelf with a funeral cloth, and over all were thrown the grave cloths of the dead. And in all this folemnity he was carried to the church, where the knights were already in waiting. And as foon as he was entered, the priefts commenced the ufual fupplica- tionsjwith the fervice for the dead, over the condemned man, and who, as foon as it was over, was there and then committed to the juftice of the Court Royal, or to the prefident of that of High Jurifdiftion, to be executed as condemnation was. However, when the king at any time extended his grace to the condemned. On the Degradation of a Knight. 23 he was mpftly either baniflied for a feafon, or for ever, from the realm. After the execution, the king-at-arms proclaimed publicly, and fo that all might be advifed, the children and defcendants of the dead knight to be deftituted of their nobility ; ignoble, henceforth, peafants, unworthy as incapable of bearing arms ; forbidding them ever to be prefent at, or take part in field, tilt, tournament, fiege, court, camp, or other affembly whatfoever, where kings, princes, nobles, lords, or gentlemen were wont to haunt, under penalty of being purfued and chaftifed, naked, with rods, as attainted, and for villains as they were. — Favyn : Le Theatre cCHonneuret de la Chevalerie. GLIMPSE AT THE LIFE OF A GALLANT OF THE COURT OF HENRI IV. ]OING one day to fee M. the Con- ftable, who had ever been partial to me, and ever fliown it, he told me that on the morrow he was intending to give me a dinner, and on no account was I to fail to come. Accordingly I went. There were alfo invited, MM. d'Efpernon, de Roquelaure, Zamet, and a councillor named La Cave. As foon as we were all aflembled he ordered the doors to be clofed, faying, that he would have nothing to break in oh the harmony, or inter- rupt the fatisfaction which he hoped to find in the com- pany of such valued friends. Nor would he have any one about the place fave only thofe of his houfehold, with Mons. du Tillet, Girard, and Ranchin, his doftor, who had a table laid for them in his dreffing room, in order to be at hand as foon as dinner was over. A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 2^ And when we had all done ample juftice to his good cheer, and gotten up from table, he made us fit down befide him, firft ordering everybody out, and defiring Ranchin to keep the door and deny the entry to all alike. We neither knew, nor had we even fo much as a fufpicion of what he was intending to do or fay. At length, when all was arranged to his fancy, he began : "Gentlemen, it is now fomelime fince'I had de- " termined to get you all together ; you are my neareft, " beft, and deareft friends, and from whom nothing has " ever been referved a fecret, fat it light or fat it heavy " at my heart ; to break to you the matter which you " now fliall hear. Of all the many and memorable graces, " mercies and favours which, in the courfe of a long " and profperous life, I have received at the hands of " God, I need fcarcely tell you. How He had caufed me " to be born the fon of a great and an illuftrious father : " how He has led me by the hand in all my walkings " by the way, and to the fummit of the higheft " honours, ofEces, and dignities. Not but that mid all " thefe fweets He had found good to mingle bitter; to " try me with fore and grievous croffes and perplexities. " And of them all, praife to his grace, none was I " better enabled to undergo, or with greater patience, or " to furmount with greater courage and magnanimity, " than the difafters which befel my houfe towards the " end of the life of King Charles, and during the " reign of Henry HI. And much as they put my 26 Romantic Epifodes. " endurance to the proof, I can thank my God, I and " mine came fcathlefs from them all. In my time I " have had many and fad afflictions : as the lofs of my •' late fon, d'Auflemont, and the death of my wife, " who left me with two little children of tender age upon " my hands. The marriages of my two eldeli: daughters " were not, as it has proved, all that I could have " wifhed, notwithftanding I had done all which was in " my power to provide parties for them, fuitable as well *' to them as to myfelf. But in return, God has favoured " and bleffed me with a fon, begotten when well on " in life, who is in every way to my mind, and bids fair " to carry down the honours and fucceffion of my houfe. " And if He has given me this, fo has He, as well, a " daughter nobly born ; and for whom, as fhe has now " arrived at marriageable years, I have been looking " about for fome one to match her with, as well to her " inclination as my own. All my thought has been, to " find a hufband for her in whom her afFe£tions, as " my own befide, might centre. And albeit I could " have the choice of every prince in France, I have not " fo much looked to fee her lodged in eminence as in " contentment ; and in fuch a manner as that fhe fliould " live for the refidue of toy, as all her days, in quiet, " joy and fatisfaftion. And out of the efteem that I " have ever had for the houfe, perfon, fortune, and " other advantages of M. de Baffompierre, whom you " all fee, I have determined to make to him, who A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 27 " leaft expedts it, the offer of a hand which the higheft " and nobleft of the land have afpired to. And this " I wifhed to do in the prefence of you all ; his, as " my, moft fpecial and deareft friends. And I now tell " you, M. de Baffompierre," addrefling himfelf to me, " that having, as long as I knew you, loved you as my " own child, I now intend to convince you of the " fmcerity of fuch a proteftation, by making you fo " indeed, in marrying you to my daughter. In doing " fo, I doubt not but what fhe will be happy with you; " knowing, as I do, your naturally excellent difpofition ; " and flattering myfelf that you will feel honoured, as " happy too, in marrying the daughter and graiid- " daughter of the Conftable, and of the boufe of " Montmorency ; and that I as well would be happy, " for the remainder of my days, could I fee you both " fo, and finding your happinefs in one another. As " fettlement, I will give with her one hundred thoufand " ecus down, on her marriage ; and flie will have fifty " thoufand as well, en my brother's deceafe. And now, " fhould there be nothing interpofing, or that I have " not thought of, I will give orders at once to Girard, " whom you fee, to treat with your people, or your " mother, if fhe is near, of the articles and other " conventions neceffary." By the time that he had finiflied his harangue, the tears were fairly ftanding in his eyes for joy. Whilft as for me, I was fo confounded at this unexpedled 28 Romantic Epi/odes. ftroke of fortune, in every way fo bewitching to me, that I could not fo much as think of any words what- foever, let alone fuch as would be worthy of fuch an occafion, wherewith to reply. At laft I faid, " that the " thoughts of an honour fo great and undreamt of, as " that which his goodnefs had juft difclofed to me a " prolpedi of, had fo completely deprived me of utter- " ance, that I was literally incapable of anything, fave " of wondering at the fortune which was happening to " me. That as fuch a compliment, and an elevation, " were fo much above, not only my wildeft afpirations, " but my merits ; it was only to be acknowledged by " the moft refpedtful fervices, and moft dutiful fubmif- " fion. That my life would be too fhort to requite " them, and all that I could offer was a heart which " would be the continual flave of his every wifli. " That he did not fo much give a hufband to Made- " moifelle, his daughter, as a creature by whom flie " would ever be adored as a princefs and honoured as " a queen. That he had not fo much felefted a fon- " in-law, as a faithful fervant for his houfe, and all " whofe conduct fliould be regulated fo as how fooneft " to anticipate his lighteft wifli. And that if amid all " the vifions of beatitude which he had opened up to " me, I could be reafonable enough to fee anywhere "a cloud upon the fcene, it would be this— that " Mademoifelle de Montmorency would fcarcely be « able to bring herfelf, but with a figh, to forego her A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 29 " claims to the dignity of princefs, which unqueftion- " ably it was hers to command, contenting hen'elf with " that of fimple lady. And that fooner would I die, "and caft to the winds the honour which' M. the " Conftable was deftining to me, than caufe to fo fub- " lime a lady fo much as a fhadow of difappointment " or vexation." Having finifhed, and I had been feated on a chair clofe to him, I fell upon my knee, and feizing his hand, kilTed it ; on which he caught me in his arm§, and held me locked for fome time. Prefently, recovering, he faid to me, "Let not that diftrefs you. -Before " fpeaking to you, I had taken the precaution to found " my daughter ; and as I find her in all things, fo did I " more efpecially in this, the willing gratifier of the " wifhes of her father." Hearing this, MM. d'Efper- non and de Roquelaure at once began to commend the choice that M. the Confi:able had made in me ; and fay- ing muth more in my favour than, I fear, was ftrictly true ; as likewise did Zamet, La Cave, du Tillet, Girard ; all of whom embraced me, extolling at once the difcernment of the Conflable, and my good fortune as well. M. the Conftable then told them that it was not defirable, for the prefent, to broach the matter ; and that it muft remain a fecret till he gave them leave to refer to it ; inasmuch as he was not juft then in the good graces of the king, on account of his refufing to allow M. de Montmorency to marry his daughter, 30 Romantic Epifodes. Mademoifelle de Verneuil. They all promifed to keep it quiet, as did I as well. He then told me to come and fee him in the evening, as Madame d'Engouleme, his fifter-in-law, was to be with him ; and he would openly fpeak with me before her, as his daughter, of the refo- lution which he had taken refpedling us both. This I did. And feeing me, taking me to her, he faid to me, " My fon, fee a wife whom 1 have long been rearing " for you, falute her." And I did fo, kifling her. Then he fpoke to her and Madame d'Engouleme, who expreffed herfelf in every way fatisfied with the choice which her brother had made for her niece. On the next day, my mother begged of Madame, the Princefs de Conte, to accompany her to Madame d'Engouleme's, who, on feeing her, faid, " We two fhall " foon be the mothers of our young efpoufed. I know " not, Madame, are you or I the happier, at this " moment, of the two." From thence fhe went to fee M. the Conftable, who told her that the matter was not yet to be difclofed, but that the families might meet and arrange about the articles and indentures : which they did.* * * And now the report of my intended marriage began to be the theme of every tongue. And the king, out of compliment, went the next day to wait on Madame d'Engouleme, having first feen the Conftable in the forenoon, and to whom he had given the frankeft of receptions. He told her, on entering, " that he had A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 3 1 " come, as my particular friend, to fee Mademoifelle, " her niece, and to rejoice with them both at the " thoughts of feeing her fo foon and happily difpofed " of;" at the fame time recurring with much kind- nefs to me. Well, that very evening M. de Bouillon arrived at court ; and no fooner had the king begun to found him about the affair of his poft, than he told him, that it was that very account which had brought him to his Majefty. I paid my refpects to him, as did I to the others who were prefent ; but I forgot to wait on him the next day, which, I confefs, I ought to have done. Even had he not been the nephew of the Conftable, it was a refpedl owing to him ; and at all this he was naturally nettled. And, befides, he had all his life been emulous of M. d'Efpernon, through whofe machinations, as he fancied, the match had been made up. And fo the next evening, as he was goffiping with the king, who, on the preceding one, had feen Mademoifelle de Montmorency at the queen's, and whom he had found, as, indeed, had everyone, divine, he faid to him, " he could not conceal his " afi:onifliment, how his Majefty had ever come to " allow fuch a woman to marry in the quarter which " he did, feeing that M. the Prince was as yet un- " provided with a fuitable match ; that it was not " defirable to allow him to conneft himfelf out of " France ; whilft that in it, no one now remained for " him, but her and Mademoifelle du Mayne, whom 32 Romantic Epijodes. " he could marry ; that no one who fincerely had his " Majefty's interefts at heart would ever counfel him " to allow the Prince to be united to the latter, feeing " that the dregs of the Ligue were ftill too formidable " to permit of their being headed, or flirred by fuch a " chief; whilft Mademoifelle de Montmorency would " only bring with her alliances already his own, M. " the Prince being the nephew of M. the Conflable." And fo ended, begging his Majefi:y mofl: humbly to weigh the advice which he had given to him, and make his own reflediions on it. The king told him that he would, and then went to bed. The next day the queen began to rehearfe the grand ballet which fhe intended to have danced at the coming Lent. This was on a 16 of January, 1609. She would allow no one to be prefent. However, the king went in to fee them praftifmg, taking only with him M. Le Grand, and Montefpan, his captain of the guard. Seizing the opportunity, the , faid Le Grand, whofe manner it ever was to make the mofi: of all novelties, and particularly of Mademoifelle de Montmorency, who, truly, was worthy of all his admiration, then firft infufed into the mind of the king, unhappily, but too eafily kindled with fuch fuel, an attachment which has fmce led him into fuch lamentable and in- extricable troubles and extravagances. And, un- luckily, the fame night he was overtaken with an attack of the gout, whilft, to make matters worfe, fo A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 33 was the Conftable, which prevented him from proceed- ing to Chantilly, there to celebrate our marriage, as had been intended. All this time, I was perfecSly fenfible of how ill- difpofed M. de Bouillon was towards me ; for he had faid to M. de Roquelaure, who repeated it to me after- wards, " that M. de BalTompierre was wanting to get " his poft of firft gentleman of the chamber, yet he " never had had the courtefy to mention the matter to " him ; that he alfo wanted to marry his niece ; nor " had he ever alluded to that either ; but that he " would fee his papers in the fire or ever he fhould " have either his place or his niece." And to make good his threat, he began at once to put his irons in the fire, by propofing to M. the Prince, his marriage with Mademoifelle de Montmorency; telling him " that " here was an alliance which would connedl him with " all the greatefl: houfes in France ; that the relations " of a perfon of his quality muft neceffarily become his " creatures ; and that on . that account, of itfelf, he " fliould profecute fuch a match, even in preference to " one of higher pretenfions as to rank ; that if he let " that chance flip, he would have to remain fingle all " his life, seeing the king would never allow him to " choofe out of France ; whilft in it, there remained " no one fave Mademoifelle du Mayne, and to her the ''■ king would never liften." And fo effectually did he work him, that at lafl: he confented that he fhould go D 34 Romantic Epifodes. to M. the Conftable and propofe the matter to him, whom, however, I had warned, how M. de Bouillon was fworn to upfet and ruin all. But M. the Con- ftable told me " not to be alarmed ; that, let what " party would be preffed upon him, he would refufe it, " intimating that he was too well aware of the malice " of M. de Bouillon to allow him to have any fort of " afcendancy over him." And fo, when he came to him, he received him ruffledly enough, telling him, " his daughter was no longer to be had ; a hufband " had been found for her already ; that he had, as it " was, the honour to be grand-uncle to M. the Prince, " and that this was quite fufficient for him." Whenever the king had the gout it was our cuftom, M. Le Grand to fit up with him on one night, Gram- mont another, and me the third, and fo on in rotation. And during the night we ufed to read to him out of Aftree, which was then all the vogue, or elfe talk or otherwife divert him, in the intervals of reft, when awake and tortured with his feet. It was cuftomary alfo for the princefles to come and fee him ; and of them all, Madame d'Engouleme was more in his inti- macy than any other. With her he was under no fort of reftraint. And whenever Madame d'Engouleme turned to any of us, he would entertain her niece, tell- ing her, " that he would love her as his own daughter ; " that ftie fliould live at the Louvre during the year " that I was to fill the oiBce of firft gentleman of the A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 3 5 " bedchamber, and that he bid her to tell him frankly, " would the match be to her liking ? And if it were " not, that he would manage to get her out of it, " and marry her to M. the Prince, his own nephew, " if fhe pleafed." She told him, " that the match had " been of her father's making, and his whole heart was " fet upon it ; flie believed that flie both could and "would be happy with me." He fubfequently con- feffed to me, that it was this admiffion of the lady's which determined him to break all, fearful that {he might be too fond of me if it proceeded. The night following on when this had paffed, it was M. de Grammont who fat up with him ; nor had he a moment of peace or reft, for love and gout are two things, either of which fmgly, let alone when together, are wondrous apt to keep a man wakeful. On the morning after, he fent for me, towards 8 o'clock, by a page-in-waiting. And as foon as I had got to hin? he afked me, how it came that I had failed to be in attendance on him during the night paft. I told him, it had been M. de Grammont's turn, and that mine came next. He then told me that he had never clofed an eye, and how often he had been thinking of me. Then he bid me to kneel on a cufhion by the fide of his bed, and next went on to fay how he wifhed me well, and was intending to marry me. I, who was expefting nothing lefs than what was coming, plumped out, " Had it not been for the Conftable's gout, I had 36 Romantic Epifodes. " been married already." " Nay, nay," faid he, " but " I was thinking of marrying you to Mademoifelle " d'Aumalle ; and under fuch conditions I would have " been willing to revive the duchy of Aumalle in your " favour." On hearing this, I faid, " Surely to good- " nefs, Sir, you do not want me to have two wives ? " When I had faid this, with a deep figh, he began again, " BafTompierre, I want to fay a word to you as to a " friend. Not only am I in love with Mademoifelle de " Montmorency, but miferably and hopelefsly gone and " lofl: with her. If you marry her, and fhe returns your "afFediion, I fliall hate you. If fhe returns mine, you " will hate me. I befeech you, let not this be the " means of deftroying our prefent excellent under- " ftanding : of my own nature, I both like you and love " you. I am refolved to marry her to my own nephew, "the Prince de Conde, and to keep her about my " family. To fee her will be at once the confolation " and fupport of an old age which ' already is cree^ng " faft upon me. I will give along with her to my " nephew, who is young, and cares a hundred thoufand " times more for the chafe than he does for the ladies, a " hundred thoufand ecus to regale himfelf with. And " I will not look for any other return from her than " fimple refpect and affedtion, nor making any other " fort of pretenfion." And as he told me all this, I reflefted that, fliould I in my anfwer fay, I would not give her up, it would A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 37 only be a ufelefs indifcretion, feeing he was all-power- ful, and his will was law in fuch a matter. So, making up my mind to cede the point with as good a grace as I was able, I faid to him, " Sir, I have long and ardently " longed for one thing, and which at length has come, " though at a time and in a form that leaft had I ex- " pedied. And that was, that by fome fignal inftance, " I might be enabled to fliow to your Majefty,the depth " of the fubmiiEon and attachment which I have for " him, and how faithfully I am prepared to ferve him. " And cartes. Sir, long had I fought, ere I had found a '' more convincing opportunity than this — to abandon, " without a figh or a prayer, fo illuftrious an alliance, " fo perfect a miftrefs, and fo dearly loved by me ; " fmce by this pure and frank retirement and refigna- " tion which I make, in fome degree I contribute to " your Majefty's fatisfaction. Yes, Sir, I give up all my " hopes of happinefs, and for ever, and have only now " to pray, that this new attachment of your Majesty's " may be as fruitful to you of felicity, as it would be of " mifery to me ; did not the recolleftion of all your " Majefty's content therein outweigh in the balance " as well the memory of all the paft with me, as the " hope of all that was yet to come." Finding me thus ready to meet him in his every wifh, he caught me in his arms, and literally wept with emotion, affuring me, " that he would make my fortune, as though I were " one of his own natural fons ; that he would love me 38 Romantic Epijodes. " even more dearly than before ; and, happen what " would, he would never fail me ;" adding, " he was " well aware of all the worth of my friendlhip, as of the " facrifice which I had made." On this, fome of the lords and princes coming in, he bid me rife ; firflr faying, he would marry me to his coufin, d'Aumalle. But I told him plainly that, " though it was perfeflly in his " power to unmarry me, marry me elfewhere, that, he " never fhould." And fo our dialogue ended. Leaving him, I proceeded to dine with M. d'Efpernon, and to whom I related what had palTed with the king in the morning. To which he anfwered, " It is but a paff- " Ing fancy of the king's : it will go as it came, and as " has many another. Do not be making yourfelf uneafy. " M. the Prince will not be long in divining the real caufe " of all this fudden attention on his Majefty's part ; and " confequently will waive the honours intended to him." And that fuch would be the end of it, he fucceeded in perfuading me ; fimply, I fuppofe, becaufe I wifhed it ; and from that time I faid not another word to anyone. It is certain that, under heaven, a lovelier creature than Mademoifelle de Montmorency exifted not ; nor yet of a grace more exquifite, or one coming nearer to perfedtion; fo, little wonder is it that my heart was all on fire about her. But as it was attachment which neceflarily would have to end in matrimony, I am afraid it muft be con- fefled, that I hardly was fenfible of, or regretted the lofs as I fhould. It happened one day after dinner that the king was A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 39 playing at dice, as was his cuftom, at a table which had been rolled to the fide of his bed; and in the courfe of the evening in came Madame d'Engouleme, with her niece, whom he had on purpofe fent for, and with whom he was long in deep talk, at the other fide of the bed. All this while, I kept my eyes riveted on her ; fhe knowing nothing of what paffed between myfelf and the king ; nor could I ever have credited that fhe was to be won upon fo eafily. Having fpoken a moment with the aunt, he turned again to the niece : and on Madame d'Engouleme rifing to leave, Made- moifelle de Montmorency, at l^afl: as it feemed to me, flightly fhrugged her fhoulders as fhe looked at me, as much as to fay. You fee what he has been telling me ! It is no untruth when I fay, that this little movement, to me fo full of meaning, had like to have fplit my heart in twain. I could fland it no longer. So feign- ing to find my nofe bleeding, I hurried away through the chambers and the lobbies. At the back ftairs, the valets-de-chambre brought me my coat and hat. My flakes I left all lying about ; and Beringhen kept them for me ; and M. d'Efpernon's carriage ftanding at the door, I made the coachman take me home. I there found my valet-de-chambre, with whom I mounted to my room, forbidding him to allow to anyone that I was within. And there I remained for two days, torment- ing myfelf as one pofTefTed ; nor did I once either eat or drink or fleep. It was only thought that I had gone to the country, as I often made fuch excurfions. At 40 Romantic Epifodes. lalt, my valet, fancying that I would either die, ftarve, or run out of my fenfes, went and told M. de Praflin, who came, and the fame evening carried me to the court, who were all in aftonifhment to find me fo changed in two fhort days ; fo emaciated, ,pale, and altered, that hardly was I longer recognifable. Two days after this, M. the Prince having openly declared his intention to marry Mademoife.'le de Montmorency, meeting me, faid, " M. de Baflbmpierre, I have to alk " you to come to my hotel this evening, and thence to " accompany me to Madame d'Engouleme's, where I " am to pay my refpeits to Mademoifelle de Montmo- "rency." I made him a mofl: profound reverence, but never a flep did I go. However, not to be idle, and in fome degree to confole myfelf for my lofs, I amufed myfelf by coming to terms with three ladies, whom I had been forced to abandon as long as the marriage was in view. One of them was d'Entragues, whom I managed to meet at Madame de Sentenay's. The other two, I came acrofs by accident, fo that I was foon fairly launched again upon the world. About the year 1609 my mother retired to Lorraine. M. the Prince at length married his miftrefs ; and on the morning, as I was with the king, he came to me and faid, as he had done to a number prefent, '' M. de Baffompierre, I have to beg that you will " come here this afternoon, fo as to accompany me to " my wedding." The king, who had obferved him addreffing me, afked me, "What he had been fay- A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 4 1 " ing ? " " Something, Sir," faid I, " that I won't do." " And what?" faid he. " He wants me," I rejoined, " to be prefent at his wedding. Is he not confiderable " enough but what he can go by himfelf ? Can't he " get married without me ? Your Majefty may take " my word for it, if he is to have no one but me to wait " on him, he will have but a fcanty following." To this he faid: "It was his wilh that I fhould go." On which I faid to him, " that I mofi: humbly muft " befeech him not to put fuch a command on me ; for '' go I would not. That his Majefty fhould be fatisfied " with the fubmiffion which I had already fhown, in re- " linquifhing, at his inftance, my own undoubted rights; " with having ravifhed from me, as he had, my wife " and my content ; without compelling me to be ex- " hibited in this way ; as it wer6 led in triumph at a " rival's heels." On hearing me, the king, who was the kindeft and moft forbearing of mortals, only faid, "I fee well, BalTompierre, that you are in a huff"; I " am perfeftly certain that you will think better of it, " and go, when you refleft that it is my nephew, and " the firft prince of the blood who has afked you." And with this he left me, and looking for MM. de Praflin aijd de Termes, told them " to follow and dine " with me, and infift on my going, feeing it was my " duty to do fo, and that I was bound as well by the " commoneft courtefy." I did fo at laft, on their re- monftrance ; but it was with fo ill a grace that I only joined the princeffes at the front of my own door, as 42 Romantic Ef if odes. they.pafled, conducting the bride to the Louvre. * * * The ceremony was performed in the gallery of the Louvre ; and, out of fheer mifchief, the king kept leaning on me the whole time. So that I was necef- farily as clofe as well could be to both the prince and Mademoifelle. Two days later, I fell fick of a tertian ague ; and after that I had had four violent returns ; one morning, and I had juft been taking medicine, a Gafcon gentleman, named Noe, came to me in bed, and told me, " that he wanted to fight with me, as foon as I " was up and well." I told him, " that I was always " well when matters of that fort had to be attended " to." And up I got on the fpot, my phyfick in my ftomach, and went to the rendezvous which we had agreed on, at BilTeflre, in a thick fog, and with two feet of fnow upon the ground. And fcarcely had we reached the place, before two Gafcon gentlemen, with one named Le Fay, came about us, to arreft us. On feeing them, he faid to me, " To another time." But I called to him, to get on his horfe ; which he did : but fo denfe was the fog, that it was only by hallooing that we could, either of us, make out where the other was. And as I was making up to him, Carbon, who was determined to feparate us, took Noe's horfe in the flank, and fairly bore him to the ground. It was awfol rilky for us all ; and I had well nigh killed La Graulas, miftaking him for Noe. At length I went to Gentilly, no longer able to endure my medicine. But fcarcely was I there, till A Gallant of the Court of Henri IV. 43 Regny, La Feuillade, with fome others came, and carried me back, ill as I was, to the court. And as there was a ballet to be danced by all the younger people, at the arfenal, and at which the king, queen, princes and princefles were to be prefent, I did not hefitate to go, feeing I was invited, even in the wretched Hate I was. I remained there all the night, and part of the next day ; and by which I was fo weakened, that I almofl: thought it would have coft me my life. Nor did I ever once get out of my bed, faving only on Mardi-gras ; and that was to go to the arfenal, to fee the running at the ring, for the jewel which Mademoifelle de Montmorency was to give. I did not take any part myfelf, being too feeble to fit my horfe. So the king made me to come alongfide of him, to help him to entertain the lady. I did my part well enough ; but there was fome difputing about a favour which he overlooked, and which Dandelot, without his obferving, gave to M. le Grand, who wore it in his cap, as he ran ; and which I called the king's attention to. The ballet of the queen was danced on the firft Sunday in Lent, and was as well the fineft as the laft that fhe ever got up. After it, the king went to Fontainebleau, and I remained in Paris; where an affair fell out which brought me into fome little fcandal. . . . Memoires du Marefchal de Bajfompierre. THE FINAL COMBAT BETWEEN DAMP ABBOT AND THE LORD DE SAINTRE. LL this while [that is, during the wreftling of Saintre with the Abbot], the two Squires that Saintre had retained about him had like to die with grief and fpite, thus to fee Madame and Damp Abbot twitting and laughing at the Lord de Saintre, than whom, in all the realm of France, there lived not, that day, a gallanter gentleman or a nobler knight. So, as he was coming away, they faid to him, " Our lord, it will be more than human " in you, if you forbear to revenge this day's brutality." But he only faid to them, " My friends, do not be " diftrefling yourfelves. Keep quiet ; never fear, I'll " put all this to rights." Then the Lord de Saintre, who had now for ever extinguifhed in his breaft all love or hope of Madame, indignant at fuch treatment from one whom he had fo paflionately loved and faithfully ferved, feigning to take it all in good part, carried himfelf as though he had not in any way taken his defeat to heart. So, good- Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 45 humouredly, and as if half talking to himfelf, he faid to Madame, " Alas, Madame, it is a thoufand pities " fuch a man as my Lord Abbot, of fuch a build and " ftrength, fhould never have been brought up to " the noble fcience of arms. Such a man fhould have " been defending the marches of our Lord the King. " I much queftion if there are above one or two mep. " in all this realm who would dare to meet him in an " open field." Then Damp Abbot, on hearing fo handfome a tri- bute to his prowefs, fcarcely now knowing whether he was on his head or his heels, turned another great fummerfault, to the no fmall entertainment of Madame and the remainder of the company. Then he fent for wine and cherries to refrefh them all. And while all thefe fine Olympics were going on, word was fuddenly brought to the priors, and othef more venerable ecclefiaffics of the convent, all about the wrefHing, and the taunting- of Madame and of Damp Abbot. And as they had long been fufficiently fcandalized with Damp Abbot's courfe of life, which they well knew to be not only fuch as it were un- becoming a churchman to lead, but as it would but ill become any other man to lead, they came to the conclufion, there and then, that two of their body fhould be deputed to Damp Abbot on the part of the convent, and who were to expoftulate with him as follows : — " Right reverend father in God, and our 46 Romantic Epifodes. " very honoured Lord, the priors and adminiftrators " of your convent, una voce dicentes, with their moft " humble and befeeming duties, accredit us to you, " inftru£ling us to apprife you how they have heard " with pleafure, that on more than one occafion you " have entertained our ever-to-be-redoubted Lady, as " well at dinners as at fuppers, as on other occafions ; " For all which, feeing that fhe is at once our Lady " and our Foundrefs, the convent cannot fufficiently " exprefs its obligation to you ; and this the more, that " it has been the means of procuring for our poor houfe " the honour of the prefence of fuch a Lord as the " Lord de Saintre, of whom common rumour fpeaks fo " loudly, and whom we believe to ftand moft highly " with our Lord the King. But feeing that, owing to " fome provocation on your part, this Lord was, as it " were, compelled to wreftle with you ; and not only " that, but thrown feveral times, and after ridiculed by " you ; condudl but 411 becoming any prelate or any " churchman, under what referve foever, but, leaft " of all, openly,' being a thing forbidden by our rules " and ftatutes : for all this, our convent is exceedingly " difturbed and diftreffed, and fo we have to pray and " befeech of you, that you will endeavour, in fome way " or other, to accommodate matters, and that, before " he leaves, all caufes of jealoufy may be removed, as " well from yourfelf as the convent, in our perfons. " And we have to let you know that if any mifchief. Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 47 " or mifunderftanding whatfoever comes of it, to the " damage either of us or of our houfe, we fhall not " hold you excufed, but will, on the contrary, lay all " the refponfibility to your door. And for this you " will be pleafed to pardon us all." Damp Abbot, having heard all this fermon, and the remonftrance of his convent, replied to them, " Priors, " return to your brethren, and tell them that all I did "was out of pure frolic and gaiety of heart. Say, " they are not to be uneafy, for, before he goes, I will " have made it all right." And after all this embafTy from the convent had been received and difmiffed, wine and cherries began walking round again, and every one was merry and jolly to their hearts' content. And when they all had drunk. Damp Abbot took the Lord de Saintre by the hand, and drawing him afide, faid to him : " My Lord de " Saintre, once, with God's permiflion, I had the ho- " nour of feeing you in my poor hotel, which, if you " would deign to accept of it, fhall be yours. And " this I had long wifhed for, fo much had I heard " of you. And now, as a favour, I have to afk you if " you would again, with Madame, confer a like honour " on me, and dine with me quietly to-morrow. You " will not refufe me, I know : and, indeed, it is a " gratification I fhall not readily forget." To which the Lord de Saintre anfwered ; " My Lord Abbot, for your " firft dinner, and the hearty cheer and reception I 48 Romantic Epijodes. " then met with, as fincerely as I can, I thank you. " And for your fecond offer of a dinner to-morrow, I " do no lefs cheerfully alfo thank you ; and which " nothing lefs than fome affairs to be attended to in the " good town, and which it would never do to negleft, " could poffibly prevent my accepting." " Alas," faid Damp Abbot, " I am forry for this. " Sir, if I did anything, out of mere thoughtleffnefs and " frolic to annoy you, I humbly entreat I may be for- " given. Sir, I have one of the beft and handfomeft " mules in the kingdom, let who will have the fecond ; " I have as noble a falcon, whether for the water, or " the wing, as any man alive ; and I have three thou- " fand ecus. Sir, befides the king and the pope, there "is not the man in Chriftendom, fave yourfelf, to " whom I would part with one of them. As humbly " as I can, I afk, entreat, and implore that, which you " pleafe, of my three offers, you will deign to accept at " my hands ; and that you will pardon me, and we may " part good friends." Having heard him to the end, the Lord de Saintre faid, " My Lord Abbot, as for the mule, it is not exaiftly " the kind of thing which it is my manner to mount. " Your three thoufand ecus, were I in any fort of want " of them, believe me, I would not hefitate one fingle " half-fecond to take them from you. As regards "your beautiful falcon, it is Otherwife. It fhall be " accepted, out of a refped to you. I will not, how- Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 49 " ever, deprive you of it ; ufe it for my fake, and " fliould anybody, at any time, ever happen to afk it " from you, you have only to tell them, that it is the " Lord de Saintre's. One thing, however, in return, " I have to hope, and that is, that you will not deny " me the firfl: requeft I ever make you." " And what is it ? " faid Damp Abbot ; " I am at " your fervice : on my honour, if it is in my power, " you fhall moft willingly be obeyed." " Truth \ " faid the Lord de Saintre. " Yes ; on my falvation," faid Damp Abbot. Then the Lord de Saintre faid to him, " All I " would aflc is the honour of entertaining you and " Madame the day after to-morrow at dinner." "But that!" faid Damp Abbot. "Then that I " can anfwer for at once, for both of us. One thing, " however, you muft engage for : there is to be no " fort of extravagance." Then, the beft friends in the world, and all made up and forgotten, the two of them come together to Madame, and the Lord de Saintre repeats his prayer. But the inftant Madame heard it £he as inflantly demurred, nor would fhe liften, for a moment, to anything Saintre could fay. Then Damp Abbot took her on one fide, and faid to her, " Indeed, Madame, but you muft come. " I have undertaken for both of us, and I have given " him my word ; and you will get me both into trouble " and difgrace, if we fail to keep our word. Befides, E 50 Romantic Epifodes. " Madame, think of how matters ftand between you " and me : our pofition is ticklifti enough. It is the " mifchief to make enemies of thefe cocked-up, fpiteful, " fneaking rafcals from the Court. One ftiould have " a heed of them, as they would of hot iron. And it " was for this reafon, Madame, I faid we would go; " and you muft really come ; for if we do, he will be " conciliated, and all forgotten. Otherwife, he will " never forgive me for having thrown him." Then Madame, who could neither divert Damp Abbot, nor yet refufe him, at laft faid, " Well ; be it, " fince you are fo bent on it." Then Damp Abbot, in great glee, called the Lord de Saintreto him, and faid, " My Lord ; my high and " mighty Lady, whom you here fee, merely refufed you, " fearing that it might have been your purpofe to offer " her fomething altogether too unconfcionable, and oiit " of all bounds. This, fhe was wifhing to fpare you. " However, I have affured her, that evervthing is to " be as modeft as flie could wifh." Then the Lord de Saintre faid, " Let us drop cere- " mony. To courtiers like ourfelves. Damp Abbot, " and Madame, a fine table can be but a poor treat. " Now and then, to rough it, is a pleafant change. " Something folid if we can ; and a glafs of good wine, " at any rate we will manage to provide. I am fure '• Madame will not be difficult for once, but will put up " with it as if it were better." Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 5 1 And when he faid this, the horfes and the cobs were at the door. Then Madame and the Lord de Saintre thanked Damj) Abbot, and took their leave of him till the following day but one. And when they got outfide the gate, as hard as ever her horfe could lay foot to the ground, Madame and her people made home. And as fhe was galloping, from time to time the Lord de Saintre would bring his horfe alongfide of Madame's, and fay to her, " Ha, Madame, what is it I have done to you ? " Is there the man, in this world, who dare affert that " I have not loyally ferved you, or loved you with my " whole heart ?" " Truly, Sir," faid the Lady, " you fliowed as much " when you flrrove with Damp Abbot. You will oblige " me by troubling me no more about fuch matters, and " leaving me to myfelf." The Lord de Saintre, who faw, clearly enough, how matters now ftood ; and who^ neither wifhed to be re- ftored to her good graces, nor would have deigned, even at her entreaty, to be again to her what he had been, in fpeaking to her, had only wanted to let her fee, that he was alive enough to the fcurvy jefi: fhe had put upon him ; though of her new attachment, he might fay nothing. And when they had got to Madame's hotel, and before he was able to alight, Madame faid to him, " Now you " may go, my Lord de Saintre, for I have affairs to attend " to in doors ; and you have after to-morrow's work " before you." Romantic Epijodes. So he got his leave to go, with an " Adieu, till after " to-morrow." Then the Lord de Saintre, whofe head was full enough with all the matter of the paft and coming day, put fpurs to his horfe, and made ftraight for the town, and the quarter where all his people were to be. And in a little time he was with them, finding them all waiting where he had ordered them to attend him. Then he called to him his maitre-d'hotel, and told him, that Madame and Damp Abbot were to dine with him the next day, and that he was to ufe all the dili- gence he could to get together provifions in plenty, and of the befi: fort ; and good drink as well for her as all her people. And he told him that he was to fettle before- hand with the landlord for anything they might have fpent, or would have to fpend. And at the fame time, he gave him ten ecus for the ufe of the varlets and oftlers of the hotel. And he gave orders that in the morning, his horfes and his trunks, with the mafs of his people, were to leave ; fome ten or twelve only re- maining to follow with himfelf. And it was all done. And, after that, as foon as he was in his room, he fent for his hoft, and faid to him apart ; " Good hoft, can " you think of any Gentleman, or citizen of the place, "fomething of the build of yonder great Squire;" pointing to one of his own people. " Yes, my Lord," faid the hoft, " more than one." " But have they armour of the beft, I mean the " primeft quality ? " faid Saintre. Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 53 Then he inquired, " Who it was had the beft ? " and when he was told, he then afked the hoft, " to be " good enough to requeft the perfon named to let the " Lord de Saintre fee him." And fo he did. And when the cit had come and had made his fcrape to the Lord de Saintre, who met him with all the civility imaginable, the Lord de Saintre faid to him, " Jacques, who in this country has the befl: ftore of " armour ? " " My Lord," faid he, " many keep it ; but, without " vanity, I may fay that I have four or five as complete " fuits as any gentleman or townsman of the place." " Then, by the Lord Saint Jacques," faid the Lord de Saintre, " it redounds to your credit. As you have "a fuit, no doubt that fits yourfelf; do you think you " could manage to find another would anfwer to yon "knight ? " indicating one of his party who was about the fame fize with himfelf, Saintre. " My Lord," faid he, " I can fupply you ; and they " fhall be such as you will in every way be fatisfied " with. But what fort of helmets will you have ? " " Jacques, my brother," faid the Lord de Saintre, " I want them not too heavy ; and two axes and " daggers mufl: be with them : and all alike ; and " make yourfelf eafy about them ; you fhall be no lofer " by your bargain." " Lofe ! what an idea !" faid Jacques, who could now fcarce contain himfelf, fo flattered was he to be in the prefence of the Lord de Saintre. " There is 54 Romantic Epifodes. " nothing I have that is not at your fervice. But when " muft you have them ? " " Why, I fliould like them at once," faid the Lord de Saintre, " but you muft bring them in a bag or a " trunk, for I would not wifli anyone to fee them " coming." Then, as quickly as he could, Jacques went to his home, and brought, quietly, the two fuits, all fine and furbiflied up, and the two axes and the daggers ; and to fee them, the Lord de Saintre was well fatisfied. And when that night was paffed, and the next day come, and the Lord de Saintre had heard mafs, and fent away all his baggage and his people faving only twelve ; and had feen the tables laid, and that all would be ready by his return, he got upon his horfe, followed by all his company, and fet out to meet and efcort Madame. And when he had got about half way to her hotel, he met Madame and Damp Abbot in the fields. And when they were about to , interchange their mutual falutations, Damp Abbot commenced and faid, " Halt, there, my Lord de Saintre ! Speak of the " wolf, and you will fee his tail or his ears. My Lord " de Saintre, did you not hear our horns ? " " I hardly know, really," faid he. " I rather thought " you would have been coming by the road. But have " you breakfafted, Madame, and you, my Lord Abbot ?" " We have," faid Madame ; " to keep out the fog, " we took a fnatch, with a little ypocras, and a la " poudre de due." Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 5 5 " You certainly did right, Madame," faid he, " and " you too, my Lord Abbot." And fo chatting, they all continued together ; Madame, however, always addreffing herfelf to Damp Abbot. Then the Lord de Saintre, feeing that he might as well be talking to the winds, reining in his horfe, fell alongfide of Madame Jehanne, thinking to enter into converfation with her. But flie only told him, " that " for the prefent, {he could difpenfe with his civilities." Then he went to Madame Katherine, then to Madame Ifabelle ; from each of whom he met with a like reception ; for they had all been forbidden to fhow him any attention. Then he pricked on again to Madame and to Damp Abbot ; and in a {sw minutes after, they had all gotten to his lodgings. Then the Lord de Saintre took Madame's arm, and conduiSed her into her chamber, her and her women ; and then he led Damp Abbot into another. And when they were in their feveral chambers, readying them- felves, he told his maitre-d'hotel, that as foon as he faw them all at table, he was, that inftant, to have all the horfes faddled, and all his people booted, and ready fo to ftart at a moment's notice. And when the diflies were laid ; and, to be brief, Madame and Damp Abbot had wafhed their hands, then he placed Damp Abbot, as Prelate, at the head of the table ; and Madame, who could never be prevailed upon to be far from him, next. Then, the others he put at the end. But for all they could fay, or do, he would never confent to be 56 Romantic Epjodes. feated ; but, with his napkin on his arm, kept going about, helping, firft one, then another ; now to this difh, now to that ; with plenty of good wine between. Why need I dwell on it any more ? Damp Abbot was fo taken with the condefcenfion and forgivingnefs of the Lord de Saintre, that it would be impoiEble for any one to be more. And prefently, when all their tubs began to be well filled, and their tripes well lined and larded, the Lord de Saintre, as if careleffly, afked Damp Abbot, " Had he ever had on armour ? " " Never in my life ! " faid Damp Abbot. " Hey, God," faid the Lord de Saintre, " but it " would become you, too ! what fay you, Madame, " would it not ? " " Damp Abbot would look well in anything," faid Madame ; " and for that matter, though , fome " people might think it a good joke, I confefs I can " fee nothing fo very ridiculous about it." " Madame," faid the Lord de Saintre, " who is there " joking here ? I repeat again what I faid before : I " have rarely feen the man who, in my opinion, " armed, would appear to more advantage than would « Damp Abbot." And with this, he called to Peronnet, of his bed- chamber, defiring him " to do as he had told him." Then Peronnet brought in two boards, and laid them on treflels, at the foot of the room ; and then he put on one of them the larger and more gaudy fuit ; without, however, either axe or dagger. Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 57 And when Damp' Abbot faw this beautiful and poliftied harnefs, and heard it fo admired, he began to be deUghted in his heart ; for, furely, thought he, the Lord de Saintre, out of his good-nature, is going to give it to me ; and it was for no other purpofe that he invited me. So he made up his mind, within himfelf, that if afked to put it on, he would do it at once, without making any fort of difficulty about it. And then to {how him how much he was taken with it, and how deeply he felt his kindnefs, he began loudly to exprefs his admiration. Then faid the Lord de Saintre to him, trivially, " Since it feems to take your fancy, if by any chance it " fits you, I am fure you are very welcome to it." " Earneft?"faid Damp Abbot ; " then, for the love of " Madame, I will neither eat nor drink till I have let " you fee me in it ! " Then they all began to cry out, " Away with the " tables ; we have eat twice too much already ! " Then Damp Abbot, now in his glory, ftripped him- felf to his doublet. Then the Lord de Saintre, a mallet in his one hand, with the rivets in the other, coming to him, and help- ing him on with the various pieces ; having put the helmet on his head, made Damp Abbot all found and tight. Next he handed to him a pair of gauntlets. And when Damp Abbot found himfelf thus all armed, he began to turn himfelf, firft this way, then that ; then he would ftick his hands upon his hips, all the while £8 Romantic ^fifodes. inquiring of Madame and her women, " What think you " now of your monk, in his new role of Knight ? Is " he not worth looking at, eh ? " " Monk," faid Madame, " fuch men are rarely " feen." " Hey, God," faid then Damp Abbot, « if I now had " but an axe in my hand, and any one had a mind to " fettle an account, or pick a quarrel with me ! " Then, as a good jeft, he faid to Madame, " Troth, " Madame, this fame furplice is a trifle heavier than " the one in which Damp Abbot ufually officiates " of a Sunday. However, fince I have won it, I will " keep it." But as he was faying this, the Lord de Saintre, interrupting him, faid to him, " Stay, my " friend, not fo faft ; you have not won it yet : in a " minute or two, however, you fhall." Then he had the other harnefs brought in, and inftantly began putting it on. And when Madame had taken more fully in what the Lord de Saintre had juft faid, and faw him hurrying himfelf into the other armour, fhe began to be uneafy as to what was like to come of it ; fo fhe faid to him, " My Lord de Saintre, what is it you are " about ? " " Madame," faid he, as foon as he was ready, " you " will fee prefently." " Will fee ! " cried Madame ; " Sir coward, and " are you then going to attack a prieft ? " Without fo much as anfwering her, the Lord de Saintre, who was now fully armed, turning to his Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. ^g people, faid, " Look well to the door, and fee that " neither man nor woman enters in or paffes out." Then he ordered Madame, and the other Ladies, and the monks prefent to withdraw, all of them, to the foot of the room, telling them, " that the man or the woman " of the lot of them that budged from thence, but the " tenth part of an inch, he would cleave them from " the jaws to the hips." Then might you have heard them curfe the hour they had ever fet their foot in that hall. Then coming to Madame, he faid to her, " Madame, of your own " accord, and without any manner of difficulty, you " condefcended to be judge in the affair, the other day, " between Damp Abbot and myfelf ; fo, in return, I " have now to beg and entreat of you, as humbly as I " can, that you will deign again to be as much of another " fort of a tufTel, and one in which I happen to be " fomewhat more of an adept. And I have to hope, " Madame, that you will be on my fide, and fecond " my propofal to Damp Abbot." " What propofal ? " faid Madame. " Any infult " offered to him, I fhall take as offered to myfelf. He " is under my protection." Then the Lord de Saintre turned to Damp Abbot, and faid to him, " Damp Abbot, at Madame's requefl, " and yours, .1 wreflled with you two times, and each " time was thrown, as more than one aching bone this " moment reminds me ; nor, for anything I could " entreat or urge, would one or other of you liflen to 6o Romantic Epjodes. " reafon. There was nothing for it, but I muft go " through with it. So now I beg and require of you, " and for the fake of the Lady whom you have fo faith- " fully loved, that you and I may try a fell at the fort " of combat which I have been taught to wage." " Ha, my Lord de Saintre," faid Damp Abbot, " I " never could do any thing in armour." " Poflible," faid the Lord de Saintre : " however, " you can do at leaft as I ' did, you can try : you fliall " go through with it, or through that window, at your " choice." Then faid Madame, now trembling before the fearful fternnefs of the Lord de Saintre, " Lord de " Saintre, we will and command you, under the " penalty of incurring our higheft indignation, this " moment to difarm ; as alfo Damp Abbot. And if " you do not, we will publifh you everywhere for a " coward and vindictive, and we will take very effeft- " ive meafures befides to fee you requited for this day's " liberties." And when the Lord de Saintre faw himfelf thus vilified and menaced, and all out of her partiality and regard for Damp Abbot, turning and looking upon her, he cried aloud before them all, " O falfe and difloyal " traitrefs, as you are ; and this to me : I who have " fo long and faithfully loved and ferved you ; ay, as " never woman yet was loved or ferved of man ! and " now for this whorefon monk I am caft off; yourfelf " debafed, defiled, difhonoured, and difgraced ! And Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. 6 1 " in order that you may carry in your recollecStion, and " to your dying day, what it is to trifle with and to " roufe the anger of the Lord de Saintre, I will make " of you both examples, and you firft, fuch as fhall be " well remembered, and to all time, of all fuch apoftate " dogs and bit — s." With that, raifing one hand, he feized her by the hair of her head, and with the other was about to fmite her on the face ; but fuddenly he curbed himfelf, recalling to his mind all the many kind- neffes, on a time, he had received from her ; and that, befides, it was not to be defended. Then releafing her from his grafp, he let her fall upon the form ; now crying, and well nigh dead with agony, and fhame, and fright. Then he called to his people to bring in the two axes and the two daggers which he had had pre- pared. And when they were brought, he ordered them to hand them to Damp Abbot to make his choice. Then coming towards him, he faid to him, " Damp " Abbot, Damp Abbot, bethink you now of all the " injuries you that day heaped in my prefence, on " Knights and Squires ; Knights and Squires whofe " days and nights are fpent in arms, and all whofe " thoughts are virtue and are honour ; for now the hour " of vengeance is at hand ! " With that he clofed his vizor ; fiercely bidding his people to do the like with Damp Abbot's. And then he went up to him ; and when Damp Abbot faw that there was no poflible efcape for him ; but that, will he, nil he, he was in for it ; now furious and defperate, he raifed his axe, and 62 Romantic Epi/odes. rufhing on him, brought it down with fuch a force, that, had it lighted on Saintre, infallibly it had knoclced him down, or killed him out of hand, for he was by much the ftronger, as well as the heavier and bigger of the two. And this would have been what would have pleafed Madame well. But, by the grace of God, and thanks to all the experience he had had in every kind of fray, he managed to evade it. And a moment after, thrufting his axe under a plait in Damp Abbot's armour, he carried him before him right up to the bench whereon Madame was lying. Then he tumbled him over it. Damp Abbot falling with fuch a' crafli that fare they all thought the whole place was coming in about their ears. Then when Damp Abbot faw himfelf down, he began to cry, " Mercy, mercy, " Madame ! Ah, my Lord de Saintre, for God's fake, " mercv ! " Now the Lord de Saintre, mad with all the provo- cation he had received, and all the infamies and infults you have heard were heaped upon him, had determined, in his own mind, to make an end, for good and all, of Damp Abbot. And to this purpofe he had raifed his arm, when fuddenly remembering the ever-blefled words of our Lord Jesus Christ, where he fays in Deuter- onomy, in the Old Teftament, and the fixth book of the Bible : ^icumque fuderit sanguinem humanum^ fun- detur sanguis illius ; and with them, fo many other touch- ing entreaties, remonftrances, fupplications, inftances ; and which, by his own example, he had illuftrated, the Combat between Damp Abbot and de Saintre. Bj Lord de Saintre relented and refolved to fpare him. How- ever, as a juft vengeance, and as it were in obedience to the divine injunction, which, by reafon of Damp Abbot's manifeft and crying fins, had permitted him to have the better ; throwing his axe from him, and taking his dagger in his hand, and opening Damp Abbot's vizor, he faid to him, " Damp Abbot, Damp Abbot, allow you " now, be God a juft judge, or be He not ; when, not " all your arrogance, nor all your might, nor all your in- " folence, nor all your menaces, have been able to " fave you from this day's difgrace ; ay, and before the " face of her, too, in whom was all your confidence ; " and to curry whofe fmiles you have fo bafely lied, " and reviled knights and squires and their order. And " for this, your lying tongue is now about to pay its for- " feit." With that, he fplit his tongue in two ; and having driven firft his dagger home through either cheek, he then left him, ere he went, enquiring of him however, " Damp Abbot, have you not now well and " honourably won your harnefs ? " Then he had it takeh off him ; and when they were both unarmed, and he saw Madame with her hair all about her, and her clothes all difordered, lying on the floor, he faid to hpr, " Adieu, Madame, of women falfeft ! " And as he was faying this, he looked, and fpied about her waifl- a belt of fatin, blue, and edged round with gold. And when he faw it, he ripped it from her with his knife, faying to her, " How, Madame ! and have you then the " afiTurance to fhow yourfelf in fuch a colour ? Blue is 64 Romantic Epijodes. "■ the emblem of faithfulnefs. Ill befeems it fuch as " you ; you {hall no more of it." Then rolling it up he put it in his pocket. This done, he advanced to the ladies and gentlewomen, with the monks and attend- ants, who were by this all huddled up together in the fartheft corner, fhivering and fliaking like a lot of fheep ; piping, and half dead with fright ; and faid to them, " You have been witnefs to everything that has " been faid and done, in all this unhappy matter ; and " into which, to my infinite regret, I have been forced. " And for all the annoyance, and, I fear, fright I have " caufed you, I do entreat I may be pardoned. And " now God be with you all." Then they opened the door for him, and he went down flairs, prefently faying to the hoft, " Should Damp Abbot care to keep the larger " harnefs, he is to have it. But the fmaller, and the " two axes and daggers, you will return to Jacques, and " tell him to let me fee him fpeedily. Good hoft, have " you been fatisfied ? " And as he faid this he got upon his horfe, and fetting fpurs to him, called, as he vanifhed, to his hoft, " Adieu, mine own hoft ! " And now I will fay no more of him, as he went ftraight to the Court ; but will tell you of Madame and of Damp Abbot, and of all their people, who, you need hardly be told, were not a little difturbed when they came to underftand more diftincElly the nature of all that hap- pened to Madame and to Damp Abbot. Le Roman de Jehan de Saintre. DEATH OF THE COUNT DE BUREN. HE Count de Buren died at Bruflels, making, at his departure, the moft un- paralleled exit of which the world hath ever heard tell ; and which muft, to all time, atteft him to have been a man of a moft un- bounded heart and ftomachr This Knight of the Golden Fleece, finding himfelf to be fuddenly dis- ordered in his bed, whether fuch diforder were to be attributed to fome cafual excefs, which in his cups had been perpetrated, when caroufing, after the manner of his country, with the captains ; or to the decay or cor- ruption of his vitals, or to whatever elfe it might be, bid inquire for Andrew de Vefalius, then chief phy- fician to the Emperor Charles the Fifth. Which Vefalius being quickly by his fide, had no fooner, upon application to his pulfe, which he found to be flicker- ing, afcertained the cafe to be mortal,, than he very F 66 Romantic Eft/odes. roundly told him ; fuppofing himfelf not to be deceived by the rules of his art, in another five or fix hours at moft, he, the Count, would be a dead man ; and that therefore he had to counfel him, as his very true friend, and that as fpeedily as might be, to fet his houfe in order, and to think upon his latter end. All which overtook him as Vefalius had foretold ; and by which his prognoftication, he became the means of enabling this Count to enafl: the nobleft tragedy which ever hath been performed upon fuch a ftage fince kings have worn their crowns. For the Count, not one jot amazed with the nature of the intelligence, di^atched incontinent for two of his neareft fi-iends, the Bilhop of Arras, fince Cardinal de Grenville, his brother by adoption ; and the Count d'Arembourg, his brother in arms ; that he might not be denied the fatisfeaion of wifliing them a laft farewell. Now was the will of the dying man expreffed, confeffion received, and the laft rites of the church to the departing adminiftered; and all, or ever the aUotted fands had fled. By this, determining to rife, he had brought to him, of all which his wardrobe could afFord, apparel the moft feftuous, gorgeous and fuperb. In thefe arrayed, he caufed himfelf to be armed from head to foot, even to his fpurs, in the very choiceft of his armour, and with them were aflbmed the mantle and the collar of his order. Then placing his fword upon his thigh, and a cap a la Polaque, which, to every covering, he preferred, Death of the Count de Bur en. 67 upon his head ; he had himfelf, thus haughtily capa- rifoned, to be carried into his hall of ftate, and where were aflembled the colonels of the lanfquenets, many- nobles, captains, and gentlemen, as well of Spain as of Flanders, defiring once more that they might fee him ; for already it was cried throughout the town, that in another hour their mafter was a gone man. Thus planted in his chair, and upon the dias of his hall, be- fore him lying his gauntlets, his head-piece with its plumage and its creft, he required of his brothers by adoption, that they would call before him, as well his houfehold as his captains, that he might give them his laft adieu. Then paffed there before him, fuccefEvely, in an agony, and on their knees, the gentlemen in waiting, valets, pages, grooms, laquays, porters and others ; to each of whom he fpoke a kind and a cha- ritable word ; recommending now this one, now that, to Monfieur d' Arras, to be compenfated, each accord- ing to his feveral defert ; gratifying this one with an horfe, that, a mule ; beftowing now an hawk, now a hound, or again, a change of attire ; noticing all, even to a poor blear-eyed hunchback of a falconer, unfa- voury and in tatters, and who durft not fo much as difcover himfelf, fo wretched was his plight. For no fboner did the Count perceive him to be behind the others, even broken with anguifh and in tears, than he bade him come to him that he might comfort him j curioufly demanding of him touching the promife of 68 Romantic Efifodes. this or of that bird with which he were then encharged. Then turning himfelf, and looking upon the Bifhop of Arras, he faid, My brother, I recommend to you this, my falconer, and have to requeft that he fliall be fo remembered in my teftament, that for the remainder of his days he may eat of my bread. Alas, the poor little man has well ferved me, as did he my father be- fore me, and for all which he has been, God knows, but too forely retributed ! On this no man could more contain himfelf; to fee, on the part of fo great a lord, iiich condefcenllon toward fo mean a perfon. Then having bidden a laft farewell to all his captains, his houfehold and retainers, each man being taken by the hand, he called for the mighty bowl from which he was wont to quaff, when, in the feafons of his joy, he would pledge his compeers, captains ; and from it drank, ftanding, on either fide fupported by his gentlemen, to the emperor's, his mailer's health ; exprefling the very deepeft fenfe of all the obligations which he was under to him. After this he made a fine harangue, enlarging upon all the aftions of his life, and all the diftinftions that he had received from the emperor; urging among other things, how he had never placed his legs beneath the mahogany of a protefl:ant prince, or turned his face from his mafl:er, however, or by whom foli- cited. Then having gulped (beut le vin de I'eftrier et de la mort) the ftirrup cup of this, his journey to the realms of death, he handed the infignia of the Golden Death of the Count de Buren. 69 Fleece to the Count D'Arembourg, to be by him re- ftored to the emperor. At laft, finding his hour to be at hand, he haftily took his leave of the Bifhop and the Count, thanking them both moft touchingly for all thofe very true offices of friendfhip wrhich they had performed for him in the article of death, and for having supported him in this, the laft great cataftrophe of his life. Again, a final leave was taken of all the company and captains prefent. Then turning, and perceiving Monfieur de Vefalius to be behind him, he called him to him, and embracing him, thanked him for the timely advertifement vi^hich he had given him. Finally failing, he faid. Carry me to my bed ; and no fooner w^as he there depofited, than he expired in the arms of his fupporters. Thus fuperbly accoutred departed this great warrior, after the manner of thofe Roman fenators, cenfbrs, dic- tators, ediles, confuls, captains, princes ; who, enveloped in their martial and triumphal robes, and planted in their curules, abided, and on the public place, the ap- proach of Brennus and his Gauls, and of whom they were gazed upon, as an aflTembly of the gods, till by adventure they proved to be but men ; and by whom they were barbaroufly immolated. In the fame right and royal manner would that brave queen, Mary Stuart of Scotland, die ; marching to death, and to the block in the proudeft of her yet attire ; thereby . fhewing a ftomach and a magnanimity worthy of her- f 3 yo Romantic Epijodes. felf, and what fhe was — a queen of Scotland and of France. In like fort fhould depart all the great ones of the earth, when they too find their hour to be at hand, nor die in feathers like a duck. Here I clearly fpeak of thofe to whom it is not given to fall upon the field of battle, under the eye of their princes or their captains ; a notable death, certainly ; not only befit- ting the dignity of fo great a captain, but to be trans- ferred unto tapeftry, that the hanging thereof for ever in the eyes of princes and of kings, might them incite alike to fuch, fo memorable an end. As much to Don Juan of Auftriawas denied. But that which furprifal precluded to him when living, was performed, departed, upon his corfe. For, in fight of all the army, and be- fore Namur, he was borne, dead, and in all his ar- mour ; fo fumptuoufly arrayed that the very buckles of his flioes were eftimated at upwards of five thoufand ducats. All this I learned myfelf when in Flanders ; where, to this day, great and fmall fpeak of the death of that famous lord, the Count de Buren ; and the memory of which, from among men, fhould never be permitted to perifli. — Brant6me — Hommes Illujlres. A GRAND, AND A SUBLIME APOSTROPHE.* HO is this gentle knight, engendered amid the ftrife, brought forth upon the field; fuckled in a tent ; cradled in a fhield ; fwathed in the hide, and built up of the flefh of lions ? Who, who is he in whom are met, the lynx's eye, the dragon's fi-ont, the lion's heart, the wild boar's briftling ire, the tiger's vengeful fpite ? Who is he, intoxicate amid the fight, yet flumbers to the pealings, the thunderings of the ftorm ? Who is he, the whirlwind of the fray w:ill pierce, his foe efpy, as the falcon her prey through the mifts of the morn : as the lightning the oak, rip the man, rip the fteed ; or tumbled, them powder, as the grift of the mill ? Who is he, who fooner than to rot his days in peace, will traverfe, not the Rhone, but Albion's wintry waves ; ' See note B, at the end. F 4 7 2 Romantic Epjodes. or, needs be, fcale the rugged Jura's heights ? Is he on the field of battle — as the chafF to the wind, feud the foemen before \ Doth he tilt — not foot to ftirrup will he deign to put ; yet horfeman and horfe will he pin to the dufl: ; buckler and helmet e'en cleave to the midft. There is no one thing can avail before him ; nor fhield, nor buckler, bafenet, lance, nor coat of mail. Of the noflril the fume, the fteed as he galps ; the groan, the gafh, the prey ; the battered fliield, the fhivered lance ; thefe, thefe are the fights his foul doth gloat upon. Alone, on foot, it is his delight to fcale the mountain ; forefts to prowl ; to grapple with the bear, to rend the lion, and to take the flag. His helmet is never from his head ; his pillow when he refts. All he has, it is but largefs. — Fabliaux ou Contes du XII et XIII Slides. ^Qto.UT^KgSCTMTgiS.nWJxTiT^U^J^b'tkTiMilMv^ A VERY OUAINT, CURIOUS PLEASANT PARALLEL. BOUT this time there was drawn, (as well do I remember,) a parallel betwixt the fortune of this great emperor (Charles V.) and that of ancient Rome, fhow- ing them to be of fome little parity. For even as this great city, the moft triumphant of five parts of earth, after all the glory which had attended her from her very foundation to the times of Conftantine ; after having been the feat of emperors and of kings who had pofi- tively gorged her with fpoils, with trophies, and with triumphs ; adorned her with monuments, with every precious thing ; after having caufed to tremble earth's moft glorious provinces ; planted herfelf, as a luminary, in the heart of that Italy, itfelf the centre, backbone of the univerfe : after having caufed to run her blood, as from a ciftern, and in her very ftreets — yet after all 74 Romantic Efi/odes. this, I fay, did flie, her heyday paft ; having caft, and behind her, all her pomps, her vanities, unfatisfying joys, betake herfelf to a calm, a tranquil, an holy and fincere repentance ; receiving as her confeflbr, and into her . bofom, the holy and moft fpiritual Father, in whofe guidance, and in whofe obedience, to pafs her yet remaining days : thus to finifli as Ihe had begun — the fold of a fhepherd. So was it with this Charles, fo many times renowned j who, after having affronted all the kings, his neighbour ftates ; carried devaftation throughout the length and breadth of Chriftendom ; annihilated fo many armies ; fent to their account whole millions of his fpecies ; poured blood, as water, upon every fea and every land ; taken for his prifoners a pope and a king of France ; triumphed over them ; finding that there was nothing further left for him to do, retired alfo, and withdrew himfelf into the bofom of the church ; as well to put in practice, by fuch a metamorphofe, her ordinances, as the old proverb, de mogo diabolo viejo hermintano : — " Of your young devil comes your old faint." — Brant6me — Hommes Illujires. THE VOW OF THE HERON. N the year of the incarnation, 1338 ; the year in its decline ; when glad birds ceafe to warble on the trees ; the vine had ripened; the leaf was withering, quick ready to its fall; Edward HI. held at London, in his palace of marble, a fovereign court to all his peers, lords, knights, dukes, princes, paladins ; ladies, damfels, vaflals. His air was diftract and moody ; his head was doubled to his breaft. With Louis he was well ; he was at peace. They were kinfmen ; he was his friend. He neither wifhed him,, nor he thought him wrong. No; his thoughts were the thoughts of love. But when fortune turns, well I divine, turn muft we too. Venom inftilled will work its fpite. For through Robert d'Artois came, as you fliall hear, a war, which yet may rue the child unborn ; which many a knight has fent to his account ; woman left hufbandlefs. 76 Romantic Epifodes. child fatherlefs ; good feaman fwamped ; caftle razed ; town, church, village, hamlet burnt. And Jefu only knoweth how all is yet to end, if forth he putteth not his hand. Though iflue of the fleur-de-lys, Robert was a baniflied man, Flanders, Namur, Auvergne were clofed to him. Shelter he was forbidden. Louis willed it. Edward alone, of all his neighbours, was powerful enough to fcreen him from his vengeance. Wearied of his exile, and to diftradl him of his cares, Robert, as you may fuppofe, was ever at the chafe. A falcon on his fift, he rode upon the marfhes. But before he had time to cafl: her off; a quarry in the Iky; the bird of itfelf efcaping from him, prefently returned, a heron in her talons. Robert, indignant at the fight of fuch a prey, for the moment was difcountenanced. But quick recovering himfelf, and having for a little re- flefted. Ha, my bird, he faid, for this I thank thee : this will I turn to my account. And with that he detaches the heron, and calling to him his gentlemen, gave them in charge to fee that it were properly plucked, dreffed and fluffed for the table. Then placing it between two filver difhes ; accompanied by two noble damfels, two minftrels and a guitar, he boldly entered into the hall of banquet, crying as he went. Space, fpace ; back, ye fcoundrel varlets, back ; way for the doughty champions whom love and gallantry affemble to the feaft. Here is your proper food, ye gallants, fine ! "The Vow of the Heron. 77 Here, Sire, I have a heron, which this day my falcon took. No meat, my faith, for cowards, this ! It is the moft cowardous of all the birds that float ; the craveneft of the feathered tribe ; for let it but fpy its very fliadow and it quakes. And fo. Sir, as is but meet, to the craveneft of the human race I now pre- fent it. To Edward I give it ; the difmherited of France ; right iffue of the_/?««r de lys ; who for his daftardlinefs has forfeited a crown, is allowing it to pafs from his lineage, as had this carrion heron had it been born but England's king ! Furious and indignant at fuch an affront, the monarch trembled with very rage and vexation ; and rifing fwore, Coward I have been called ; coward let me be feen. For by the great God of paradife, and by his gentle mother, or ever fix years have pafsed, I fhall have defied this King of St. Denis ; * and I fhall have crofl'ed the feas, I and my fubjefts. Though he be ten to one ; let him not think for that to take away my birthright. What, and if I did do him homage ? It was becaufe I was a brat, and knew no better. It is not worth a ftraw. And I fwear by St. George, St. Denis, that never fince the times of Heftor, Achilles; the great Alexander, conqueror of fo many realms ; has fuch a raid been run in France, as, with the help of God, I propofe to make. When Robert heard this, he was enchanted, and fmiling malignly to himfelf, he faid : Thanks to thee, my ' See note C, at the end. 7 8 Romantic Epifodes, falcon, this day I am a reftored man. And for this I praife the God of paradife. Is it not an infamy that I fhould be banifhed from this noble France, fo dear; my kindred, my children, and my wife ? He is my brother-in4aw ; yet has he not ftuck to imprifon my children and my wife. But, let it pleafe to Jefu Chrift, and, or ever I die, I fhall fo return to the prefence of this King of France, whofe cry is Monjoie, St. Denis^ that to his dying hour he fliall remember it. I was of his counfel, and well did I ferve him ; yet thus are fervants furthered ! With that, taking the fdver diflies, the harpers with the guitar and the viols following ; the two noble damfels finging as they went, Pm away to the greenwood; 'tis love that me calk, he next traverfes the hall, and addrefles himfelf to the Earl of Salifbury; telling him, that it was for him, as at once the moft amorous, and the moft valiant in all that affembly to fet the ex- ample to the remainder ; and that in the name of Jefii Chrift, the maker and upholder of the univerfe, he had to entreat of him, as Edward, to regifter his oath. With all my heart, faid Salift)ury, turning to the daughter of the Earl of Derby, by whom he was fitting, and of whom he was paflionately enamoured. Ha, never need I hope again to find an infpiration as the bright eyes of this fair one whofe fetters I fhall always vaunt to wear ! Were but the Virgin among us; let her dofF her divinity, and, by heaven,^ fhe were not a fairer ! As an only favour, all I would now afk of her, who fo The Vow of the Heron. yp often has denied me more, is, that fhe will but deign to lend me the tip of her delicate finger, and that fhe will condefcend to make it the inftrument wherewith to feal my right eye, fo that it ftiall remain entirely fliut. Inftead of one finger fhe gave him two, and fo effe£lually clofed his eye, that farther ufe of it he had none. He then faid, Fair one, is it clofed ? Yes, certainly, faid fhe, and with that withdrew her hand. On this he fwore by God, and by His holy mother, that never again fhould that eye be opened, for hail, for blafl:, for rain, or for florm, till o'er the plains of France he had fcattered fire, fword, havoc and devaf- tation. Nor, in fa6t, during the entire duration of the war, was the earl ever once feen to open his eye ; and the whole army, witnefs of his exploits, was no lefs so of the exa£i:itude with which he performed his vow. The Count d'Artois, to confirm him flill more in his refolu- tion, addrelTes himfelf to the lady, fbliciting her, too, to deign to be a participator in the vows of the heron. Readily, faid fhe, and with that fhe (wore by the God of paradife, that never till the oath of her vafTal were accomplifhed, would fhe hearken to, or permit the fuit of any; be he who he might; duke, lord, earl or baron. Then, faid fhe, let him come home to me alive, and I will make to him a free gift, without refervation, and for ever, of my perfon. With fuch a prize, incite- ment before him, the knight, tranfported with joy, ■felt himfelf to be endued with an almofl fuperhuman 8o ■ Romantic Epi/odes. courage. Now doubly burning to wreak his venge- ance, Robert retakes the heron and tenders it to Sir Walter Manny. This brave knight, as became him, and to fhow himfelf worthy of the heroes who had preceded him, fwore by the Virgin, mother of that God, who heaven created, the dews and the damps, not only that he would take and burn a ftrong town, flanked with towers, upon the marches of France, and of which Godenar de Fay was governor ; that it fhould be ranfacked, and the garrifon put to the fword, but that he would come oiF, as fhould alfo all thofe who accompanied him, fcathelefs from the attack. For the remainder, faid he, I caft myfelf upon the mercy of God, and with whom alone muft reft the fuccefs of our endeavour. Robert then calls upon the Earl of Derby, requiring him, for the love of God, and of the Holy Trinity, to announce his vow, as the reft. The earl, accepting the challenge, replies, Let the King of England once lead us beyond the feas, and we muft needs fee this terrible Louis, Count of Flanders, for fo is he called of the followers of Philip de Valois, ufurper of the Crown of France, and which he holds in the teeth of our monarch. We fhall fee him ; or not a corner but I will fearch for him. So help me, St. Thomas ; may I once get near enough to him to propofe him a courfe ! If he deny me ; he cannot the fatisfadion of deftroying before his eyes the lands which he has not the heart to ftand forth to defend. The Vow of the Heron. 8 1 This new fxiumph perfeftly turns the head of Robert. Ab-eady, in imagination, he fees the Valois in the duft, his family at large, and himfelf re-entered upon his own. Refuming the diflies,, he lays them before the Earl of Suffolk, requiring him too to append his oath to fo noble a regifter. SuiFolk then fwears in his turn, that. Let but Edward carry him to France, and he would purfue to the death the King of Bohemia, the Emperor's fon; he would fall upon him, hand to hand, with fword or with lance ; and he would un- horfe him, and take him from him, by force or by furrender.. On hearing this, John de Beaumont fighed deeply. Such an outrage to be meditated to a prince of his parentage, the conqueror of an hundred fights, flung him to madnefs and to fury. Yes, he may hate me ; but never fhall I forget, he is of my blood : nor (hall I forfake to love him. Nor while this arm a fword can wield, will I be found but by his fide. Suf- folk, renounce to your extravagant pretenfions, or by the Holy Virgin, mother of God, I fwear that I will bury you in the dungeons of Bohemia. Yes ! and where no eye can reach you, and from which no hand can pluck you. I have faid it, and no power fhall hinder it. Suffolk, unwUling yet farther to provoke him, coldly replied. You are right. It had been wifer to have kept our purpofes to ourfelves till war had afliually been declared. They had come with a better grace. We had equally been at liberty to have per- G Romantic Epifodes. formed, for the honour of our ladies, the feats to which our love might prompt. Menaces are but air. The grand point is — the conclufion. Here the Count d'Artois caufed the damfels to lead forth the dance, the harpers to ftrike, and the min- ftrels to chant yet louder, ftill farther to provoke and to kindle the ardour of the heroes. On this, Robert, retaking the heron, advances to that intrepid adven- turer, Fauquemont, requiring him alfo to pafs his oath upon the heron, and bidding him to cover himfelf with glory in the quarrel which were enfuing between the two monarchs. God, faid he, is it for me to talk of promifes ; I, who am but a poor pennilefs adventurer ! However, what I can do, I will do. And this day, as well to mark my loyalty, as for the enhancement of my honour, I do promife and fwear, that from the hour when the King of England fhall have croffed the feas,. by Cambray into France, I fhall ever be found in the forefront of his advanced guard, affronting the enemy, carrying fire, fword and devaflation upon every hand — that I will neither fpare man, nor woman, nor child ; nor woman with child, nor fucking babe ; nor old man, nor maid ; nor convent, altar, church. At thefe ter- rible imprecations, it was who would loudeft extol the zeal and the devotion of fo faithful a champion of the honour and the caufe of his maffer. Again the difhes are withdrawn, and the noble vir- gins proceed, finging. True loves fond imite ; which to. 'The Vow of the Heron. 83 voice we new go. All eyes are now turned upon that famous warrior, John de Beaumont, uncle to the noble Count of Haynault. Robert, refpe£i:fully approaching, begs him to enroll himfelf alfo among the Knights of the Heron, Difgufted perhaps with the tedium of so many promifes, John gravely recalled to the company the futility of all fuch empty and tumultuous vauntings ; exhorting them rather to referve their mettle for a feafon when it were more likely to be needed, and turned to account. It cofts but little, faid he, in a hall, mid the tapers and the dance, ftimulated by the prefence of the fair ones to whofe favours we would afpire, to put to the rout whole armies from the field. I know well, that there are among you of Rolands and of Olivers, and who will difpofe of the Aquilans and the Yaumonts : but let this be recollefted, thefe paladins, in their turn, were compelled to fuccumb to others. Is it not a very farce to fee an army, well armed and well mounted, making a bravado and a parade of its prowefs, the enemy acrofs the Channel ! Let us keep all thefe fine refolutions to ourfelves j or at leafl: till they are more likely to be called into requifition. How many a pretty fellow will then find a cellar, deep as hell, fcarce dark enough to hide his diminifhed head in ! Again, I fay, all this vaunting is but wind. And though I fay this, fancy not that I want to elude the alternative which is placed upon me. I will explain myfelf. Let the King of England once penetrate 84 Romantic Epijodes. Haynault, traverfe Brabant and Cambray, fet foot upon the French foil, and I will be feen, as marflial of his army, faithfully fupporting his fide, and caufing all the evil that I can to Philip. It is true, by this I fhall lay myfelf open to the forfeiture, not only of my territories, but of all the little which I have. No matter. I accept my fortune. By the event I will abide. But let me not be mifunderftood. If Philip, of his own proper counfel, and returning upon his. better judgment, revoke my banifliment, and recall me to France, I will at once break with Edward. And if I do, who is he who will impugn ? But if, on the other hand, the King of France will perfift in con- tinuing me an exile from his country and my home, I will fecond the King of England to the utmoft of my power. I will either be his general-in-chief, or of his advanced guard. To an explanation to manly, fo generous, the mon- arch rejoined with the moft touching expreflions of his regard. Robert, the two filver diflies in his hand, once more advances, accompanied by the min- ftrels, the two noble damfels fmging as they went; and now kneeling to the queen, aflured her that there was but one thing wanting more to the diftri- bution of the heron, and that was, that flie fhould open to the company the diftates of her noble breaft. Vaflal, faid flie, by the laws and by the ties of holy church, it is not within my competence to enter into Hhe Vow of the Heron. 85 any engagement unprivy to my lord and mafter ; who, at his will, it can annul, or it can bid to ftand. Stand not for that, faid the monarch ; it is already ratified, at once, and beforehand. To the utmoft of my power it fhall be feconded ; God but put the prac- ticable into your mouth ! ' Then faid the queen, rifing, with a voice undaunted, unfhaken and un- moved, I am with child ; I know it, for I have felt it ftir. And I fwear this day to God; to Him who died and was crucified upon a trofs, and to the Holy Virgin, His mother, that never ftiall this precious fruit part from my womb, till, for the accomplifhment of this vow, you fhall have carried me beyond the feas. And let but this infant think to void his prifon- houfe, or ever the allotted hour be come which I have profcribed, and this dagger, to the haft, fhall be buried in its and in my bowels : and thus let perifli, at a flroke, my body's foul and my body's fi^uit ! Petrified with horror at an imprecation fo terrible, Edward for- bade that the matter, one other moment, fliould be proceeded with. The heron was morfelled, and the queen and all the company partook of it. The king, the neceflary preparations made, em- barked the queen with all his chivalry, conducing her and them fafely to Antwerp. And there was flie de- ' See note D, at the end. G 3 86 Romantic Epi/odes. livered of a fine male child, fince known as the Lion of Antwerp. Her vow accompliflied, the king, with all his hofts, departed for the plains of France. — St. Pelaye, Memoires fur Vancienne Chevalerie, THE PITEOUS DEATH, Through too long a Concealment of his Attachment, OF A GENTLEMAN OF DAUPHINY. N the confines of Dauphiny and of Pro- vence there was lately living a gentleman, richer much in every virtue, grace, ac- complilhment, than in that wrealth which this world's gear, poffeflions bring. And near him there was living, as is fhe ftill living, a young perfon, whofe name I fliall forbear, out of regard to her family, which is of the nobleft, and of whom this gentleman was paflionately enamoured. And though the names I may withhold, the ftory is no lefs to be relied on. But feeing himfelf not to be come of fuch an houfe as would entitle him to raife his eyes to fuch an height, his paffion he fmothered in his breaft; for fo pure and unearthly was the love which he bore to her, G4 88 Romantic Epi/odes. that Iboner had he died than fo much as harbour a thought which might have redounded to her difad- vantage. Thus, inafmuch as it were hopelefs ever to attain to her hand, all that he propofed to himfelf, as the fummit of his felicity, was, to be enabled to worfliip her, unobferved, and at a diftance, with all that perfecS piety of which fo heavenly a fplrit were capable. And this he long did ; but not with fuch a warinefs but that at the length it came to be fufpefted of the lady. And fhe, perceiving the afFefbion which he bore to her to be of a texture fo holj and fo pure ; fenfible to all the diftincSion of the attachment of fo clean a ipirit, met him with fo much pity, fo much fympathy, that the poor gentleman, who had never dared to hope for fo much, could not even bring himfelf to wifli for more. But malice, foe to all beatitude, quick nipped in the bud, an intercourfe fo tranquil and fo happy. For firft it came to be whifpered about, then repeated to the mother, how much it was wondered at, that fhe could allow, as flie did, the gentleman to haunt her houfe : that the gentleman could not poffibly have any other than one inducement, feeing he and her daughter were fo much together, in being for ever about as he was. The mother, who would not allow herfelf, even for a moment, to doubt of the rectitude of the gentleman, and for whofe honour flie would have anfwered, as for that of her own children, was beyond expreffion hurt, to find that upon fuch an intimacy, a conftruftion fo 1'he piteous TDeath of a Gentleman, i^c. 89 cruel could be placed. However, at length, fearing the fcandal which was like to come of it, flie entreated of the gentleman, at leaft for a time, to difcontinue his attendance ; a command to him none of the eafieft of digeftion ; confcious to himfelf, as he was, that the innocence of bis intentions might have guaranteed him from any fuch fufpicions. However, as there was no help for it, and to filence the voice of fcandal, he withdrew himfelf till fuch time as the affair had been forgotten ; returning, to be readmitted to all his old footing ; and the privation of which, you may be fure, had in no way palled his appetite. But about the very firft news with which he was entertained, was, that the daughter of the houfe was as good as given to a gentleman, whofe fortune he was unable to gather to be fo much more confiderable than his own, that he could bring himfelf to allow any fuch make-weight to be ba- lanced with claims, old and ftanding as his own. And ib, plucking up fpirit, he fet all his friends and kindred to work, hoping that if the choice could but be left to the maid, fhe would give him the preference before his rival. However, the parents, as well on his fide as on her's, decided for the other, inafmuch as he was the richer ; which the unfortunate gentleman took fo much to heart, (knowing the poor girl to be as thwarted as himfelf,) that, by little and little, and without any ap- parent caufe, he began to dwindle and to pine away; and in a very fliort time was fo altered a man in his 90 Romantic Epifodes. appearance, that the mark of death became enftamped upon his features ; that death to which right rapturoufly and joyfully he was halting. Still, fo long as he was able, he continued to trail himfelf to the fide of her whom he fo dearly loved. At length, all his forces ipent, there was nothing for it but to take to his bed, which he did ; concealing, while yet he could, his fate from his friend ; willing to fpare her the agony of fuch a knowledge. Now abandoning himfelf a prey to for- row and defpair, his fleep went from him, and with it all care for his meat or his drink ; and fo thoroughly became he changed, that fcarce longer was it poffible to recog- nife him, fuch was the ghaftlinefs and the hollownefs of his features. This could not but come to the ears of the mother, who, of her own nature, kind and com- paflionate, in reality at heart fo much loved the gen- tleman, that, had it but depended upon her, her daughter fliould have been given to him. But the parents on the father's fide were not to be gained. So, taking with her her daughter, flie went the poor fufFerer to vifit, whom too truly flie found, as Ihe had been told, rather dead than alive ; for he, perceiving his end to be at hand, had, that very morning, received the facra- ment, nor ever thinking face of mortal to look upon again. Neverthelefs did he, within one ace of his ex- tremity ; as one arifing from the dead ; feeing to be before him her, who was at once his refurrection and his life ; raifing himfelf, and with a bound, exclaim, 'the piteous Death of a Gentleman, £s?f . 9 1 And what, Madam, may I afk, can have pofTeffed you thus to come, a man to vifit ; one foot already in the grave^ and of whofe death you are the caufe ? Alas, faid the lady, and can it be that one fo dear to us, death fhould be receiving at our hands ! Tell me, I pray you, how can this be. Madam, faid he, although I had ftruggled, as long as concealment were poffible, with the attachment which I bore to your daughter ; yet have my family, in profecuting my fuit, fomewhat more noifed it, than, had it depended upon me, I could have ever wiflied, feeing the mif- fortune which has overtaken me. Nor is it fo much the ruin of all my earthly hopes which has brought me to this pafs, as the confcioulhefs that with no other could fhe ever have been bleffed and loved as of me. The lofs which fhe is about this day to make of the kindeft, the gentleft, and the fondeft heart which ever woman loved, afflicts me more, at this moment, than does that of a life, which, for her fake alone I had cared to preferve, and which, as it never more can be of ufe to her, it is but a fmall matter to me to part with. What was in their power to comfort him to fay, was laid. At length, faid the lady. This will never do; come, cheer up, my friend, and I give you my honour, if God will but reftore to you your wonted health, never fliall my daughter have other hufband than you ; and this I now require her, and with her own lips, to confirm. This, the poor girl, in tears, as faithfiilly con- 92 Romantic Epi/odes. fented to. But he, who too well knew, that though his health, indeed, again he might get, yet never would he get his love ; that all thefe fairl promifes were but fo many prefcriptions, remediate to his cafe, told them very plainly, that he was not to be fo impofed upon; that had they but held to him fuch language, not three months gone, then had he been that day the blitheft, the foundeft and the happieft gentleman in France ; but that all fuch comfort was now coming too late to be either credited, or to be available. However, prefently, feeing them to perfift in their ftory, after a little paufe, he continued, Seeing that you are promifmg me what never now can be, even fuppofing it to be ever fo much your defire ; grant me, in its ftead, a favour that, confidering the ftate in which I am, I think might fafely be permitted to me ; a lefler than, alive, God knows, I have ever prefumed to afpire to. They affured him that it fliould be conceded ; and that he might afk, and hardily. Then, faid he. Let me take into mine arms her whom you are promifing me to wife ; and bid her that flie may embrace me, and may kifs me. The poor girl, unpraftifed to fuch a familiarity, was about to hefitate, nor Idiowing what to do; till her mother, feeing that there was no more life in him, expreffly defired her to do as flie had un- dertaken. On this advancing, and bowing herfelf upon the wretched man, fhe faid. My good friend, for my fake, be of good heart. Then ftretching forth 'The piteous Death of a Gentleman, l£c. 93 his withered arms, fcarce other now than fkin and bone, he drew her to his breaft with all the little ftrength he had ; kifling with his poor, cold, pallid lips, her at whofe hands his death he was accepting. And thus having held her as long as he was able, unclafping her, he faid. So holy and fo pure has been the love which I have ever borne to you, that never, out of the church, did I fo much as defire a more perfedt felicity than that which now I prove ; at the expiration of which, and in the ravifhment of which, right joyfully I am about to render up my foul to God ; that God who himfelf is complete love and charity, and who well can teftify to the purity of my afFedtion and the abyfles of my regard ; entreating him to take, my perfefi: de- fire encompaffed in mine arms, my parting fpirit to his eternal keeping. And with thefe words, fi:raining her to his bofom with a redoubled vehemence, the heart, unable longer to fuftain the exaltation of fo unwonted a beatitude, dilating to its full, its cerement burft, and the fpirit, efcaped, to its Maker returned. And though the poor corpfe now lay without life, and for that caufe could no more retain its charge ; fo apparent be- came the afFeftion which the lady had ever borne to him, that it was not without the greateft efforts that her mother, with the fervants, could detach the body of the living, if living flie could be called, from the embraces of the dead ; and whom they caufed to be honourably interred. But the triumph of the obfequies 94 Romantic Epifodes. were the tears, the fobs, the lamentations of the un- fortunate girl ; and which the rather declared them- felves after his death, as during his life they had been ftifled ; and as fome fort of reparation for all the cataf- trophe which flie had brought upon him. Nor fince, as I have heard, let what hufband they would be pro- pofed to her, has flie ever known peace or joy of heart. — L' Heptameron, PAULINE AND HER LOVER, Renouncing the World, betake themfelves to a Monaftic Life. N the time of the Marquis of Mantua, the fame who had married a fifter of the Duke of Ferrara, there was living in the family of the Marchionefs, a young perfon, called Pauline, fo diflraftedly loved of a gentleman, fervant to the Marquis, that the affair became the wonder, the talk and the theme of all ; feeing that fo poor and fo pleafant a fellow might not unnaturally have looked to match himfelf, through the influence of his mailer, into fome noble or fome wealthy houfe. But all the riches of the world, to him feemed centred in his Pauline ; and whofe hand in marriage he yet hoped to obtain. The Marchionefs, no lefs purpofmg, through her own perfonal interpofition, to fee Pauline more advantageoufly diipofed of,. as much as in her lay. ^6 Romantic Epifodes. fought to difcountenance the match ; forbidding them to be together ; and ftiowing them how, fhould they perfifl: in their folly, they muft inevitably refign them- felves to become, as well the moft unhappy as the moft inconfiderable couple in the land — a light in which the gentleman never could be brought to fee the matter ; whilfl: Pauline, on her part, fo fer as it were poflible, ftruggled openly with her affecSions ; ftill continuing, however, to nurfe them in fecret as before. And thus matters lingered long; fupported on either fide by the hope, that, fooner or later, time or chance would bring them vidlorious out of all their troubles ; even till the war broke out; and in which war it was the fortune of the gentleman to be made a prifoner, together with a Frenchman, who, as it turned out, was no lefs in love in France than was his com- panion in Italy. And fo it fell, finding themfelves to be captives together, that they came to know each other's matters ; and the Frenchman plainly blabbed, that his heart, as his friend's, was equally a prifoner ; though the where he kept to himfelf. But inafmuch as they were fervants alike to the Marquis, the French gentleman was not long in divining, that it was Pauline to whom his friend was attached ; and out of the kindlinefs and the regard which he felt for him, no argu- ment was left unattempted by which he might detach him from fo unhappy a purfuit. But this the gentleman affured him to be a chapter beyond the reach of preach- 'The Story of Pauline and her Lover. 97 ment, hope or remedy ; that he might defift ; and that fhould the Marquis of Mantua perfift to refufe him his love, as an indemnity for all the prifon which he had undergone, and as a return for his fervices, his fufferings, he would conftitute himfelf a friar, nor from henceforth to know, or to ferve any other mafter than God ; which ftaggered his companion beyond all belief, who had never been able to detedt in him any other inkling toward religion than the adora- tion which he bore to Pauline. Some eight or nine months gone, the gentleman. Frenchman, his com- panion, was fortunate enough to find himfelf at liberty, and no lefs lb, not long after, in purchafing as much for his friend ; who, at the end of a very few days, was again at the court of the marquis, endeavouring, by every means that he could devife, to overcome the relufliance of the marquis and the marchionefs to his union with his Pauline. But it was all but fo much labour loft ; nor would they deign to any other reply, than that the match was forbidden by the parents, as well on the one fide as on the other ; or a fermon upon all the remorfe, the mifery, the privation, which a ftep fo ill-confidered would neceflarily entail. And by way of making matters fure ; to preclude the poffibility of farther mifapprehenfion or mifhap, it was ftriftly for- bidden to them ever again to haunt one another's com- pany ; thus hoping, that with time and feparation this moft unhappy fantafy would die out and be forgotten. H 98 Romantic Epjodes. The gentleman, feeing that there was nothing for it but to obey and to retire, fubmitting, folicited, if it were not too vaft a prefumption, to be allowed at leaft to bid to one he loved fo dear, a laft adieu ; feeing that he never was to fee her more. Which being granted to him ; coming to her, he faid ; It is even fo, Pauline ; heaven and earth are at one, not only to prevent our Coming together, but even as friend and friend, to look upon or entertain each other more. For our matter and our miftrefs have this day given commandment fo ftrifl:, that well may they flatter themfelves to have despatched, at a blow, two hearts of which the tenements can never now but languifli : clearly fliowing, by fuch an ordinance, that love and charity alike are flrangers to their breafts. I know well that it is their meaning to marry us apart, and into wealthy portions. But ah, little know they, that there is no riches to true con- tentment ! In fum, I have fuffered fo much, and fo heavily at their hands, that longer to remain in their fervice, with me is impoflible. And if I well know, fuppofing that I never had talked or thought of marriage, they would not have been fo nice but what I had been permitted to court you as beforetime ; reft afliired, had it been fo, that fooner had I died than harboured a farther thought towards one whom I had loved with fo pure an afFedtion; to whofe hand I had pretended, and would have been ready to aflert againft all. But feeing that to be thus tantalifed had 'The Story of Pauline and her Lover. 99 been to me too infupportable a penance ; and that, in thus beholding you, this poor heart, denied of its juft contentment, would have been for ever filling itfelf, a prey to fome terrible defpair, and of which the end had been cataftrophous; I have determined, and fince long, to betake myfelf to the church. Not but what I know that falvation may be purchafed in every ftate and condition of life, but that, by an undiftrafted leifure, I may be enabled more efFedlually to contemplate the divine Goodnefs, which, I truft, will be merciful to the fins of my youth ; will give to me a new heart, as much to be enamoured of the things of heaven, as once it hath been of thofe of bafenefs and of earth. And if God will but vouchfafe to give to me the grace to be a partaker of his, my prayer to him for you fliall ceafelefs rife ; ' befeeching you, in return, by all that very true and conftant paflion which has ever been between us, that, in your orifons, I may ever be remembered ; that in this, my extremity, I may be fuftained ; that He will give to me an heart as great to fupport our feparation, as, in your prefence, it hath alway found of joy and of contentment. And now feeing that we are about to part, and for ever ; and that never more need I hope to have of you that perfeft blifs which comes of unifon ; fufFer me, of a little charity, that, as a brother, I may embrace you. The poor Pauline, who till now had always treated him with rigour enough} over- ' See note E, at the end. loo Romantic Epfodes. whelmed as well with the tendernefs of the requeft, as with the delicacy of the man, who, in fuch a crilis, could content himfelf with fo reafonable a prayer, for all reply, flung herfelf, fainting and in an agony, into his arms ; in fuch a very deluge of tears, that, voice, breath, utterance choked ; head and limbs both reeling alike ; infenfible, fhe lay upon his breaft. What with love, pity, agony, alarm, diftrefs, the unhappy gentleman, incapable to the charge of fuch a burden, was feen, from a distance, to ftagger and to fall, as was the lady; he one way and fhe another. However, as foccour was quickly at hand, with the help of reftoratives they were each brought round. Pauline, on coming to herfelf, was be- yond expreflion mortified to learn the fcene, into which, through her weaknefs, fhe had been betrayed ; placing, fo far as fhe could, to the fcore of pity and compaflion, the emotion which fo unhappily had efcaped her. Whilfl he, in his turn, unwilling as unable again to face fo ter- rible an ordeal, hurried away, head and heart fb full, that, on entering his chamber, he flung himfelf upon his bed, in fuch a paroxyfm of defpair, that fure nothing lefs was concluded of all, than that that day he had made fhip- wreck of the laft friend which he had in the world, or the laft farthing in his pofleffion. And no fooner was it light, and he had rifen, and committed himfelf to his Saviour, than, dividing whatever he had among his fervants, takingifome little refrefhment for his journey, and hav- ing flricftly forbidden to any to follow him, he went the 'The Story of Pauline and her hover. loi way of the convent of St. Francis; requiring himfelf to be admitted into the order ; which, as he told the monks, it was never more his intention to quit. The abbot, familiar with the man, and with his paft, having often feen him, could fcarce believe his eyes, or allow the gen- tleman to be ferious ; almoft fancying the whole to be a dream, or a pleafantry ; for fure a gentleman in France who had naturally lefs about him, the air, the cut, or the mien of a monk; or was more abundantly flocked, by nature and by art, with all the graces and the accom- plifliments of a gallant, he knew not. But coming by degrees to take in his meaning, and feeing the floods of tears which kept courfing down his cheeks, he came at length to abandon his firft impreffions; charitably confenting to receive him. And in a little time, per- fuaded as well of the conftancy of his refolution as of the unfeignednefs of his repentance, he had him to be folemnly allowed. All which fliortly, as could not but be, dame to the ears of the marquis and of the marchionefs, and to whom the whole appeared fuch a myftery, that at the firft, it was as much as they could do to credit it. Whilft Pauline, as if to fliow how completely fhe had learned to matter fo unhappy an at- tachment, diflimulated fo efFedlually her paffion, that the world, whom no one thing can fatisfy, began to fcatter, that fhe had fomewhat too foon forgotten fo faithful and fo fond a lover. And in this manner rolled themfelves away fome four or five months, and without any fort of H 3 I02 Romantic Epifodes. fignification, on the one part or on the other. In this interval there was fliown to her, by a lay brother, an efFufion which had efcaped from her lover, fliortly after his entry into the convent ; and which, though common enough in the Italian, I fliall be obliged to turn for you into French, as beft I can. ***** No fooner had Pauline read this tribute, and which fhe did in the filence of a cloifter, than flie was feized with fuch an agony of heart, that the very letters were faturated with her tears. And fo thoroughly was fhe maftered, that her firft thought was, to bury upon the inftant, and for ever, in fome hermitage, a paffion fo rooted and unrootable. But that prudence which had never forfaken her, conjured yet a little to defer her purpofe. And however, in her inmoft mind, her de- termination might remain unfhaken, in public it was never allowed to eke ; carrying with her a prefence, a countenance, a mien, fo acceflible, fo unpreoccupied, that nothing lefs than what flie was, fhe feemed more to be. And this, her refolution, fhe covered, fome fix months, in her breafl: ; to all appearance, more radiant, more reconciled to the world, than the oldefl who had known her could recall : yet not fo long, but that it came, one day, that Pauline, in the train of her miflrefs, found herfelf at mafs in the convent of St. Francis. And who fhould be there and then approaching, the pro- cefEon iffuing from the veflry, but her unfortunate fer- Tthe Story of Pauline and her Lover. 103 vant, who, yet in his probation year, was officiating, in attendance upon the priefts ; carrying the cenfers, covered with a cloth of filk ; and he the foremofl: ; his eyes infixed on the ground ! And no fooner had PauHne detefted him, mid all the glory and the halo of fuch a vefture ; and which, if anything, feemed rather to heighten, than to detrafl: from the heavenlinefs and the comelinefs of his features, than in the endeavour to cloke, as much as poffible, the mifery flie was in, flie compelled herfelf to be feized, as with a fit of coughing. Her poor fervant, to whom were fooner caught that little found, than all the clamourings of his parifli peal, could not fo far refrain himfelf, though turn his head he would not, but that his eyes would walk their wonted ways. And no fooner had he feen her, than, dizzied and bewildered, he flaggered and he fell ; each and every fire rekindled, which fondly and madly he had hoped to have been quenched. However, recovering himfelf, toj fome little inequality in the pavement, he was fain to have his trouble laid. And no fooner did Pauline fee, that though habit, indeed, he might have changed, heart and afFedtions he had changed not, than flie came to the conclufion, to put into execution, upon the hour, a refolution to which her mind had now been long made up — that the refidue of their days fliould be pafled in the one manner, dedicated to the one Lord ; as had their prime, in the one hotel, and in the fervice of the one mafter and the one miftrefs, And as it H4 I04 Romantic Epifodes. was now many months fince everything had been in preparation for fuch a ftep, one day fhe demanded per- miffion of the marchionefs, to be allowed to go to the convent of St. Clair, to hear the mafs ; and which was accorded to her ; the lady having no manner of fufpicion touching the real nature of her requeft. And in paffing before the Gray Friars, fhe alighted, re- quiring the porter to fend to her her lover, who fhe told him was her kinfman. And no fooner had they retired together to the folitude of a chapel, than Pauline firfl, and thus began. Had it been to be reconciled with mine honour, or my fpirit, the flep which I am this day taking had not been till now deferred. Your retirement had been my retirement. But feeing that, at length, by patience and by colour, I have broken the malice and fufpicions of the world, ever prone rather to impute the worfer than the better motive, I have now determined to adopt life, garb, eflate, fuch as I perceive this day to be yours. Nor farther am I cu- rious to inquire. If to you is well, then to me is alfo well. If to you is ill, that ill would I partake. The road that you do tread to paradife, that road would I ; afTured that He who is the fountain of the one, true only, perfecft love, us has knit, adopted to his fervice, by a concord pure and unearthly ; and which, by his Holy Spirit, he will transform to his eternal efTence : praying you, my friend, that you and I, this day, may put off, and for ever, the body of the flefh, which is of 'The Story of Pauline and her Longer. lo^ the old Adam ; to be regenerate, and to be born again, in that of our Lord and Saviour, Jefus Chrift. Who at this was ravifhed but this holy and this precious lover ? — fortifying her, by every means w^hich were in his power, in an agony of tears and of joy, in this, her pious con- clufion, and telling her, that fince never now could he have of her other joy than that of fellowfhip, he ac- counted it no mean blefling that they were to find them- felves together in fuch a retreat, that, at leaft with their eyes, they might behold each other : that fuch an alle- viation could not but be for the refi-efhment of their fouls; henceforth to live, participants of the one afFeftion, the one heart, the one fpirit ; emanations of the mercy of that one God, whom now he prayed them to hold in his eternal keeping ; and from which none, who ever yet did trufl: in him, did perifli or did fall. And with thefe words, kifling her hand, in a very tranfport of rapture and of tears, fhe fignified to him to take the holy kifs of love and charity, and which he did. And in this divineft ecftacy departed Pauline. No fooner was all this conveyed to the marchionefs, and whom it ftaggered almoft beyond the reach of credence, than fhe hafted, with the light, to the monaftery ; in the hope, that, by any chance, a flep fo precipitate might yet be retraced. To all which Pauline made no other reply, than that fhe might have been content j that it was enough to have divorced her from an hufband in the flefh ; the man of all men whom io6 Romantic Epifodes. file the moft paffionately loved, without attempting to feparate her from one that was a fpirit, immortal and invifible ; and which it Ihould neither be in her power, nor in that of all the powers of earth combined, to ef- fe£t. The marchionefs, fatisiied as well of the vainnefs of her attempt, as of the iincerity of her attendant, having kifled her, left her, with a remorfefiil and an aching heart. And fince lived fo holily and fb devoutly, Pauline and her fervant, that it is not to be queftioned but that He, the fulfilment of whofe law is charity, to them, as to the Magdeleine, at the expiration of their days, did fay, that, as much they had loved, much to them was forgiven ; or that now they are gathered to that blifsfiil ftrand, the joy of which no eye hath feen, content of which no ear hath heard ! — L' Heptameron, THE PROLOGUE THE CHRONICLES OF FROISSART. 1 N order that the memorable achievements, with the noble adventures and paffages of arms, performed as well upon the fields of England as of France, might be becom- ingly related, and tabled into a perpetual memory ; whereby a bold pofterity might be fired to like, fuch ^noble emprife, I have determined with myfelf to treat of mighty and of imperifliable matters. But, or ever I begin, I do firft require of him ; the great Saviour of the world, who, fi-om out of nothing, all things did make, that He, in me, will create and will renew, an underftanding clear and fimple ; fo that not only every man and every woman who may fee, or who may hear this, my book, may find in it their folace and enfample; but that into their grace, I alfo may be received. It is laid, and truly, that it is of every material that the io8 Romantic Epfodes. edifice is raifed, and that the mightieft river is but the gathering of the little rills. Similarly, of many clerks, is fcience culled and devifed. That which this one is ignorant of, another can declare ; nor is there any one thing which is not known ; that is, of fome, or in part. In order then to attain to the end, which, as I have faid, I have purpofed with myfelf, I fhall take, as the bafis of this, my chronicle, (invoking firft, as I do, the grace of God, and of the Holy Virgin ; of whom all comfort and advancement come,) that which, now long fince, was compiled by my lord, Mafter John le Bel, canon of St. Lambert, at Liege ; a man very reverend, grave and difcreet ; and who, with an unwearied diligence, and at an incredible pains, collecSted the fame ; his whole life being fpent in the purfuit. Nor however much he may have expended, was he ever heard to grudge it ; for, not only was he a man confiderable, and of fubftance, (and, as fuch, could fupport it,) but of his own natural, generous, equal, juft and liberal ; difpenfing with a pleafure the bounty of his hand. And moreover than this, he was, all his days, high in confideration, and very near with my lord. Sir John of Haynault, who will oft:en be remembered, as is but juft, in this book. For not only was he allied to more than one king, but himfelf the mainftay and the rife of many a great and memorable event. And for thefe reafons the aforefaid John le Bel was enabled, being about him, to fee and to hear all thofe noble exploits which herein- Prologue to Froijfart. 109 after are to be recited. And with this it is no lefs true, that by a very inftincS I have undertaken this work ; having always been curious into fuch matters ; and to this intent have vifited the courts of many great and powerful barons, as well in France as in England, Scotland, and fundry other lands ; and have never failed, on occalion, to inform myfelf concerning all worthy matters ; wars, battles, fieges, combats, tour- nays ; more especially since the great battle of Poitiers, where John, the noble king of France, was taken prifoner. For previoufly to that, I was very young, as well in years as in underftanding. Howbeit, young as I was, I fet myfelf refolutely to work, to the chronicling of the aforefaid wars ; purpofing from the first, to carry my work into England, as foon as completed. And which I lived to do, and to prefent it to the Lady Philippa of Haynault, queen of England, who gracioufly and condefcendingly received it at my hands, and well rewarded me for all my pains. I will not deny, but it may be found, that this, my chronicle, has neither been compiled with the diligence, nor the exacSitude which a narration, fo memorable, would demand ; for the honours and the ends of war, for the mofl: part fo dearly bought, ought, above all other, to be unweariedly inquired into, and fcrupuloufly adjudged to thofe whofe meed they are. It is then to acquit myfelf towards all fuch, and in all truthfulnefs, that I have entered upon this undertaking, and on the foundation already fpoken no Romantic Epijodes. to ; at the prayer, and upon the ordinance of my much loved lord and mafter, Sir John de Namur, Knight, Lord of Beaufort, to whom I owe all duty, love and reverence ; and in whofe grace and in whofe favour, may God continue to me the gift for ever to abide. Froissart. THE DEATH, & DYING INSTRUCTIONS CHARLES V. OF FRANCE. T this time the king of France was over- taken with a very terrible misfortune ; at which he, as well as all who knew him, were grievoufly diftrefled. For there was no help for it, but he had to die, and that too in a very little fpace. And all this the king well knew, as did the furgeons ; and I will tell you how, and why. As the ftory runs, the king of France, when in his youth, and at the court of the king of Navarre, had been fo fubtly tampered with by that monarch, that the poilbn became imbibed into his iyftem. So that not only came his flefli to dry and fhrivel like a chip, but the hairs to fall from off his head, and the nails from the tips of his fingers and his toes, fo that he was vifibly perifhing, 112 Romantic Epifodes. in the eyes of all, beyond the reach of hope, art or remedy. And no fooner had his uncle, the emperor of Rome, heard of it, than he difpatched to him, in all hafte, a mafter phyfician, of his own houfehold, the mofl: unparalleled in his fcience at that time alive in the world, or that, it is fuppofed, was ever known, or lived. And no fooner had this mafter phyfician been to the king, (at that time Duke of Normandy,) and had fatisfied himfelf as to the nature of his affeftion, than he gave it, that he was poifoned, and that it went for his life. And with that he performed for him, (the fince king of France,) the moft aftounding cure which ever was heard tell of. For he caufed the venom to be fo mortified, or appeafed, that he was, in a little time, reftored to all his wonted ftrength and vigour. And this by means of an ifliie which he praftifed in his arm, and through which, by little and little, the malice oozed and ran off. This eiFefted, (and for no con- fideration could he be induced to remain in France,) he left with the king a receipt, to be followed as long as he fliould live ; and diftinftly told the king, as well as thofe who were about him, that, fliould the day ever come when that fiftula would fcab, ceafing to run, he would there and then have to die, out of hand ; with- out let, remedy or hope ; and that fome fifteen or twenty days were the outfide upon which he would have to calculate, for the fettlement of his kingdom, and for the reconciliation and propitiation of his foul. Death and Dying Charge of Charles V. 113 And well had the king carried all this in his memory, and forely and heavily had it lain upon him. And it was now the two and twentieth day fmce the ifllie had begun to flack. Nor could any other comfort be ad- miniftered to him than of his phyficians, who told him to be of good heart, for that with remedies of which he little thought, they would not yet fail to dompt the fiend ; and fo to be of good heart and to banifli fear. Nor was this the only thing which troubled him ; for to the toothache he was a fore martyr and a prey. And well took the king meafure, from all thefe ad- monifhments, precurfors, that longer he had not to live. And the thing, above all others, which the mofl: comforted him and fupported him, in all his affliftions, was, the recolleftion that God had blefled him with three fair children ; two fons and a daughter ; Charles, Louis and Catherine. And no fooner had the ilTue begun to flack, no more to run, than the king recalled to himfelf, how, by the device of the mafter leech, his hour was come. And fo, (like a wife and valiant prince, as he was,) all other matters fettled and dif- patched, he caufed to be called to his fide, his three brothers ; the Dukes of Berry, of Bourgoyne, and of Bourbon. His fecond brother, the Duke of Anjou, he called not, as he well knew him to be of a nature fo miferably infatiable. And no fooner were they come together than he fpake. Good my brothers, thus it is. By ordinance of nature I am now required to die ; for I 114 Romantic Epi/odes. well I know, that longer I have not to live. My fon, Charles, I commit into your hands. Be kind to the lad. Acquit yourfelves to him loyally in all things ; as loving uncles to a nephew fliould. As foon as may be, let him be crowned, aiter my deceafe. Counfel him, in all his affairs, to the beft of your underftanding. All my hopes now reft with you. The lad is young and thoughtlefs ; reafon the more that he ihould be governed and advifed of abler, and of older heads. See that he be indodlrined to all the ftate and appointment of a king ; as well in what is to be attended of him, as in that which it will be for him, from his fubjecSs, to require. Marry him into fome royal and fome noble houfe ; but, any how, that it be to the profit of the realm at large. I have long known by a famous aftro- loger, who told it me, and affured me, that in his youth he would have perilous affairs upon hand, and that it would be confumed amid great and terrible commo- tions and afTaults. As to what he can pofEbly have been referring to, I have had many a forry cogitation. And much have I turned in my mind from what quarter the blow is like to come, if not from Flanders. For, God be praifed, the affairs of my kingdom were never in better cafe. The Duke of Bretaigne is a man to be looked to ; for one very fickle in his nature, and of an infinite fubtlety, and who has ever worn an heart rather Englifh than French. And for this reafon, fpare not to keep on good terms, as well with the Death and Dying Charge of Charles V. 115 nobles as the good towns of Brittany. In no other way is his malice to be defeated. Of the Bretons themfelves, I have no caufe to complain j they have invariably and faithfiiUy ferved me, and helped me to defend my kingdom againft my enemies. Alfo make Sir Oliver Cliffon conftable ; for, all things confidered, I know of none fo fitting thereto as he. And for the marriage of Charles, my fon ; look firfl: to Germany. If it be poffible, ally him into that quarter. It will be for his and all your fafety. You know how our adverfary of England is feeking to fortify himfelf, by alliance, in the fame diredlion. Be beforehand. The poor are forely aflefled and tormented. Remit the taxes you can, and as foon as you can. Thefe are matters which, albeit in my lifetime I may have been compelled to wink at them, fit not, at this moment, too lightly upon my breaft ; though the endlefs under- takings, with the wars which we had on hand, in a meafure conftrained me to continue them. And many other like and memorable words were fpoken by the faid King John, which, however, I have not deemed it neceffary to repeat. And although the King of France refufed to fee the Diike of Anjou, upon his death-bed, or to allow him any part in the government 0/ the ftate, for all that, the faid duke was by him at the time. For he had pofls for ever on the road be- tween Angers and Paris, and who apprifed him cer- tainly, in all things, touching the king, his brother. ii6 Romantic Epifodes. And he had, farther, fpies, who brought him word, day and night, of the progrefs of his decHnation ; fo that he was enabled, the very day of his deceafe, to be in an antichamber, and by which means he came to fee and to hear everything as it paJTed, and as I have told it you. And now we will return to the matter of the Englifli, and whom we left on their way to Bretaigne. — Froissart. AN ACCOUNT TWO OR THREE REMARKABLE DUELS. N the early part of the reign of the late King Henry H., there was a duel, at Sedan, between the baron de Guerres and the lord de Fandilles, and which originated in a difpute that occurred between them, the very identical day that the faid majefty made his entry into Paris. The caufe I fhall forbear, as it was a fomewhat dirty one, and none of the moft creditable. Thefe two brave gentlemen, then, to fettle the matter between them, (for it trenched too clofely, as well upon the honour as the reputation of the baron, to ad- mit of any fort of compromife,) demanded of the king the ufe of the lifts, and which the king, who fmce the unhappy affair of my uncle, Monfieur de la Chaftaig- '3 1 1 8 Romantic Epifodes. neraye, which he never ceafed to deplore, as flatly denied them. As they were not, however, to be io diverted, they had next recourfe to Monfieur de Bouil- lon, as prince fovereign of Sedan ; and where they were fuccefsful. And accordingly, on the day appointed, neither failed to appear ; accompanied on either fide by their parents, friends, allies, godfathers, fupporters ; all preliminaries and formalities enjoined by the ancient and well-known laws of the duello, adjufled and complied with. But firft and foremoft, nothing would fuit the lord de Fandilles, (fo confident and overweening was he,) but he mufl build himfelf a gibbet and roU him- felf a faggot, that he might be indulged in the fatif- facStion as well of roalting as of hanging his opponent ! However, fortune ftood not fo much his friend as he had thought for, for he had the worft of it ; but not, however, in fuch a manner that his adverfary had any great caufe to value himfelf upon his fuperior prowefs. The upper parts of their perfons were in armour. For all attack, the baron chofe a fhort fword, and to the handling of which he was well up ; having learnt his lefTon from a priefl, himfelf an adept in the art. At firft, however, this was protefted againft by Monfieur le Vidafme, godfather to de Fandilles, on the grounds, that by one of the articles of the code, the ufe of every other weapon was forbidden, than fuch as was habi- tually worn or ufed by military men and perfons of con- dition. But to this it was rejoined, that the Swifs, as Two or Three Remarkable Duels. 119 brave a people as any upon the furface of the earth, avail themfelves of no other. So the end of the matter was, that Monfieur le Vidafme, confident in the mettle of his godfon, made no more difficulty about it ; efpecially as the faid godfon feemed to hold, alike the man and his weapons, in a very perfeft contempt. So now we have brought them to the camp ; all the neceflary preliminaries difpofed of and refponded to. At the very firft go ofF, Fandilles dealt the baron fo hideous a gafli acrofs the thigh, that, upon the inftant, his ftrength began to fail, through lofs of blood. And fo, well perceiving the difadvantage which he was at, and was flill more likely to be at, he determined, there and then, to clofe with his man ; a trick to which he was well up ; and to which he had been of purpofe initiated by a ftumpy little Breton prieft, almoner to Monfieur de Lenoncourt, his relative. And no fooner had he brought him to the ground, himfelf above, than he fet to to pommel him with all his might and main ; for in buckling together, they had each of them necef- larily been compelled to drop their weapons. But as his ftrength was now faft upon the ebb, it was a tofs up whether he would ever live to difpatch him. Matters hanging in this doubtfiil ftate ; as luck would have it, a fcafFold was firft feen to totter, and then to give way, whereon were ftanding a moft unconfcionable company of lords, ladies with their daughters, knights, efquires ; fpedlators of this cruel paftime. So that what with the 14 1 20 Romantic Epifodes. fhrieks, the noife, the hubbub, the confufion, the atten- tion of the company was perfectly bewildered betwixt the rival entertainments ; one part remaining rivetted upon the ifTue of the fight ; the other hurrying away to the extrication of the difconfolate and difordered fair ones, with the gentlemen, their companions and fellow- iuiFerers. Under cover of all this confufion, the friends of the baron, making for the centre, began to holloa to their champion, Stop his eyes and mouth I Jiop his eyes and mouth ! and which, on their lives, they durft not have prefumed to do, had it not been for the fcandal of the fcaffold ; it being forbidden, by the laws of the field, and on the forfeiture of life and limb, fo much as to fpeak, cough, fneeze, fpit, hem, blow the nofe, or make any fort of an inkling toward a fign or a hint. Profiting by the fuggeftion, the baron, though it was much as he could do, fo efFedlually managed to bung his eyes and mouth with fand, (and with which, to infure their footing, the arena had been ftrewed,) that he was compelled, at leaft fo fay the friends of the baron, to give in ; and who, accordingly, went about crying, He has yielded! he has yielded! Which the party of Fandilles as ftoutly denied. But what with the confufion of the breakdown, the uproar, the noife, the fcuffle, it was found to be literally impoffible to come at what had really taken place between them. Monfieur de Bouillon, as umpire of the field, defired that they fhould be feparated. And no fooner had the Two or T'hree Remarkable Duels. 121 baron caufed his wound to be ftaunched, than he gave his prifoner to underftand, that it was his intention to treat him to the fame foup, which, before the fight, he had thought to have ladled out to him. On this there was a terrible ado between the parents and the allies, as well on the one fide as the other ; Monfieur le Vidafme, godfather to de Fandilles, folemnly protefting and aiBrming that he had never heard one word about the rendering, or anything to the purpofe. The god- father to the baron, (if I recollect rightly, Monfieur de Pavan of Lorraine, a brave and worthy gentleman,) as ftiffly aflerted the contrary, and infifl:ed that his god- fon fliould be permitted to difpofe of his prifoner as he thought right, and as, by the laws of war, he was per- fectly entitled to do. But Monfieur de Bouillon, having thoroughly fifted the matter, and confulted with the divers captains and gentlemen prefent, forbade him to attempt to do anything of the fort ; and told the baron, that he might be content to let matters reft where they were ; feeing there was much to be faid on both fides, and that there was very confiderable doubt as to whether his adverfary really had furrendered or not. In faft, they each of them acquitted themfelves like brave men; the vanquilhed living to ferve his king on many a hard fought field, and to fall, honour- ably, at the aflault on Caunis, then befieged by the Marfhal de Briflac ; and where, it is remembered, how 122 Romantic Efifodes. he was the firft to mount the breach, and on which he fell. I may poffibly have dwelt a little too long on this affair. However, as it was a remarkable one in itfelf, and as I myfelf had heard it related by the partifans, as well on the one fide as on the other, I did not choofe it to be forgotten ; and by which is to be feen the infamous and the miferable penalties which the con- querors were permitted to impofe upon the conquered. For, beyond any manner of queftion, had the truth of what the baron afferted been but capable to have been come at, he would have burnt his man at the ftake, and no power could have hindered him ; and which God, who poffibly may have known the wickednefs of his quarrel, would not, for that reafon, permit him to do. Monfieur Olivier de la Marche, firft gentleman of the houfehold to the Archduke Philip, Count of Flanders ; as gallant a knight, unqueftionably, as any of his time ; able as well to handle his pen as his fword, has left us, in his memoirs, an account of a combat which took place in his day, at Valanciennes, in the prefence of the faid duke ; and which is affuredly uncommonly rich, as well from the character of the weapons with which it was waged, as for the pleafant- nefs of the folemnities with which it was celebrated. For in other refpefts, goodnefs knows, it was tragic enough j Two or Three Remarkable Duels. 1 23 as it ended in the hanging and the death of one of the parties. The circumftance arofe out of a privilege, long fmce conferred by the emperors and the counts of Haynault upon the town of Valanciennes ; and which was this — That any man who had the misfortune to difpofe of another feirly, fo to fpeak ; that is, in the defence of his proper perfon ; without any fort of foul play or circumvention, might, on fleeing to it, claim the fanctuaiy of the good town of Valanciennes — provided always, he were willing and ready to maintain, at the point, or rather with a crack of his fhillelagh, that he had killed his man fairly, as a gentleman, and a man of honour. Nor could the challenger, any more, prefent himfelf with any other weapon. But to his ftory. It appeared that a certain Mahuot had killed a relative of one Jacotin Plouvier, and by the which Plouvier the faid Mahuot had been purfiied into the limits of Valanciennes ; Jacotin perlifting, all the time, that he had taken his kinfman at a difadvantage, and not as any feir man would have done. So the end of the matter was, that on the complaint of Jacotin, they were fentenced by the counfel of the town, and with whom it refted, to have it fairly out between them. The duke, who did not wifh to appear in the afFair, nor indeed well could he, as it came not within his cognizance, was neverthelefs prefent. And as foon as ever the multitude, which was incredible, was on the ground, proclamation was made by one carrying a 1 24 Romantic Epifodes. bludgeon, Beware the orders ! beware the orders ! So that all were as ftill as mice ; as it was forbidden,, under penalty of lofs of life and limb, to fpeak or ftir. To the yard, which was round, there was but one entry ; and facing one another were planted two chairs, covered with black, (juft fancy !) on which the cham- pions were to repofe themfelves whilft all the ufual preli- minaries were being adjufted. They were then refpec- tively tendered the miflal, and on which each of them, by oath, refpedtively confirmed his juftification; initfelf, by the way, a very old cuftom. They were clad alike,, in a fhirt or jacket of boiled leather ; and as well their legs and arms as their bodies. Their heads were fliorn, feet bare. And as if this was not enough, the nails had been pared, as well upon their fingers as their toes ! Of the beard, there is nothing faid ; which to me is inexplicable ; for nothing comes fo handy in a fcuffle, efpecially when long, ftifF and forky, as it was then the cuftom to wear it, and as it is now being revived among us. For all defence, they were allowed a fliield, pointed at the top ; (mind you that ; for it is not one of the leaft pleafant ftrokes in this alFair,) as to be piqued below is only permitted to the nobles. For the attack, they had each a formidable quarter-ftaff, of white vine or medlar, and of a like length. This wood is exceflively tough, and the beft Naples bowls are made of it. The celebrated crofs ftick of Friar John, in Rabelais, and of which he made fo good a ufe, was T'wo or T'hree Remarkable Duels. 125 of a fort of crab, which is alfo exceedingly tough and ftrong. However, extremities were not proceeded to, till they had demanded, and been allowed, three boons ; fugar, greafe and aflies ! So, firft and foremoft, they were handed, each of them, a tub of greafe. Only imagine : what a ceremony ! To the fame end the wreftlers, among the Turks, fmear themfelves with oil, the better to evade the clofe of their opponents. After that they were feverally permitted, and by way of foap, a fhovel full of cinders, to wafli away the efFefts of the greafe upon their palms, and the better to enable them to clutch their flaves ! So much for tormality number two. And for number three, there was inferted with a fpoon, into the mouth of each, the regulation allow- ance of fugar ; (and, mind you this, weighed firfl:,) and this, the better to enable them to retain the faliva, and to hold their breath ! a pleafant myftery, truly ! In Tur- key, the pofts and couriers are likewife faid to have re- courfe to a fimilar expedient when difpatched upon long and exhaufting courfes. And mark you this, farther ; that of each of thefe three precious condiments, eflay was made, before their eyes, as at the tables, and before the repafts of princes and of kings ! A pleafant and an honourable refponfibility, truly ! To cut the matter fliort, no fooner had they come to the fcratch, than Mahuot let drive fuch a cloud of duft, of which the place was covered, full in the eyes of Jacotin, that ere Jie could recover himfelf, his head had been as good as 1 26 Romantic Efifodes. laid open with a fetch. But Jacotin, who, for all that, was the tougher of the two, fo doggedly ftuck to him, that, before he could well know what he was about, he had knocked the fenfes out of him, jumped on him, gouged him, finally difpatching him at a blow ! After this, he dragged him, like a dog, from the lifts ; and hung him, there and then, with the confent of the court. There is a ftory told in the " Annals of France," how, in the time of Charles VI., the lord of Cour- rages, by judgment of the Court of Parliament, at Paris, fought in the lifts with a gentleman, named Le Gris, in the vindication of the honour of his wife, whom the faid Le Gris had forced in his abfence ; he, for the time, being beyond the feas, and in the Holy Land. The lady, who was aflifting at the fcene, feated, and in her chariot, was peremptorily defired by the King, (and which was a terrible aiFront,) to come down from it ; as it was not for one lying under fo grievous a reproach to affume herfelf innocent, till fuch time as that innocence had been made to appear ; and that flie was to defcend from out of it, and place her- felf upon a fcaffbld, there to attend the mercy of Godj and the iffue of arms. And which, fortunately for her, declared for the fide of the lord of Courrages, who was lucky enough to have been able to difpatch his man, having firft compelled him to confefs his villainy upon the lady. After which he had him to a gallows, 'two or 'Three Remarkable Duels. 1 27 and there hung him, to the triumph and juftification of the unhappy countefs. I remember well to have feen the reprefentation of this combat, upon an old arras, in the chambers of our kings at Blois, among other curious reliques of the paft. And the firfi: time too that I faw it ; it was with Charles IX. ; and who, as he was naturally curious in fuch matters, had the whole explained to him. As to their perfons, they feemed to be in armour. Whilft for weapons, they had but fimply battle axes ; in fadt, neither more nor lefs than the pole-axe or halbert, which the gentlemen of the body guard carry to this day ; to which, more- over, I fliould add, a dagger or fliort fword on the thigh. We alfo read, (it was in the time of Louis the Stammerer,) that Ingelgerius, Count of Gaftinois, in bed with his wife, came fo fuddenly to die, without any fort of ailing or warning, that it was not till the morn- ing that the latter became aware of what had hap- pened, in the night, to him and to her. And of which flie was no fooner convinced, than Ihe difpatched, in all hafte, for the gentlemen, ladies, knights, her friends and neighbours, to fliew them all this piteous fpediacle, and which flie did, in a vifible agony of diftrefs ; telling them how the whole had occurred. But there was one of the company, named Gothran, and of the family of the late count, who was not to be fo eafily fatisfied. ia8 Romantic Epifodes. For he roundly, before them all, accufed the countefs as well of his death, as of adultery ; telling her that flie had not only played him falfe in his lifetime, but had now made away with him, the better to be enabled to carry on her infamous amours. As foon as all this fcandal had come to the ears of the King, and with whom the count had always been a fevourite, he had as well Gothran as the countefs before him. And although everything was heard, on one fide and on the other, nothing pofitive could be got at. It was but allegation. However Gothran, who had determined that the matter fliould not reft where it was, to urge on his quarrel, boldly caft his wager upon the ground, calling upon the lady, or her champion, on her behalf, to take it up : the lady, all the while, fliowing, urging and protefting the malicioufiiefs of the charge. But Gothran, deaf to all reafon, perfifted in his tale, and in his determination to fupport it, againft all comers, with the weight of his fword. Thus the matter was long debated before the barons, and everything heard which was to be heard. However, to little purpofe. So the end of it was, (as was required by the imme- morial precedent of France, when a challenger perfifts in his charge, and is prepared to fupport it at the hazard of his life,) that the lady was adjudged, in like manner, to provide herfelf with a champion to aft upon her part — a verdidl which was very terrible to the lady. So that turning, fhe looked very piteoufly upon all the 'Two or Three Remarkable Duels. 129 company, her kinfmen, relatives, friends ; imploring tliem, as well by her fighs as her tears, to fee if there was none who would ftand forth in defence of her life and of her honour — a trouble which flie might well have fpared herfelf Not that any, for one moment, doubted of the virtue of the lady, or the righteoufnefs of her caufe, but through an unwillingnefs to encounter an adverfary fo terrible as was this Gothran. Accurfed and craven kinfmen ! fay I. As fortune would have it, among the fpeftators of this forry fcene, was a certain young prince, Ingelgerius, Count of Anjou ; a lad fcarcely yet in his fixteenth year ; and whom this very countefs had held, an infant, upon the font, giving to him, herfelf, the name of her own very hufband ; and to whom, confequently, he was godfon. This young count, feeing his godmother in fuch extremity, aban- doned and forfaken of all her more legitimate defenders, boldly ftepped from the crowd, and throwing himfelf upon his knees before the King, told him, that his heart burned within him ; and that he neither could nor would ftand by, and fee his godmother thus mi- ferably perifli ; and that he would accept the defiance of Gothran. How touching, on the part of the lad ; and how beautiful an exemplification of the virtues of that holy facrament ! And there and then he caft down his wager, which Gothran as inftantly picked up. For cuftom required, that he who dealt the chal- lenge fliould firft throw his glove upon the ground, and K I JO Romantic Epifodes. that the accepter fhould take it up. Though it has fometiines occurred, diat both parties have infifted upon being the challengers ; in which cafes, each would take up the other's glove ; as once happened in the time of Charles V., in the perfons of John de Geriftelles of Haynault and Peter de Bourzenel. But to this there was nothing that could be urged by the King, which was not, to divert him from fo dangerous a game. His very words have come down to us. " My fon," faid he, " youth and inexperience too often flatter thofe " who are their minions, into undertakings, the nature " of which they but little know, and which invariably " will turn to their confufion. You are much too " young to meafure yourfelf with any fuch man as this " Gothran. Let not your maiden fpurs, my child, be " pled for on any fuch field. My fon, think well of all " this ; for, 'fore God, this day it goes with your life." But neither could prayers nor remonflrances fliake the little count in his determination. So that the whole company was in an agony ; crying, what a terrible thing it was to fee io fine and fo noble-fpirited a lad, hurried, in this wretched manner, to butchery and to death ! On the other hand, who was in ecftacies but the countefs ? being with him, comforting him and en- couraging him by every means which were in her power ; convincing him of the truth of all the mis- fortune that had overtaken her, and of the juftice of their common caufe. And ten of the clock, upon the 'Two or Three Remarkable Duels. 131 very next morning, was the hour appointed for the combat. And no fooner was it light, and the young count had rifen, taken his laft farewell of the countefs, commended his foul unto God, confefled himfelf, heard mafs, diftributed, aflumed the glorious fymbol of the Crofs, than he leaped upon his horfe, and gallopped boldly to the lifts, where already the terrible Gothran was in waiting. At this ftage of the proceedings the lady was produced, and the ufual purgations were fworn to, on the one part and on the other. On the very firft encounter, the fhield of the count was car- ried right from him and beyond him, fuch was the violence of the fliock. But in return, fo rudely had he aflailed his adverfary, that he had driven his fpear, not only through Ihield, but breaft-plate, belly, bowels, reins ; coming clean out from his behind. With that, he fprang from his faddle, and fevering his head from his trunk, at a blow, prefentdd it to the King, who re- ceived it no lefs joyfully at his hands than though he had made him the mafter of a city. On this the countefs was releafed ; and running to him, fhe caught him in her arms, embracing him and kifling him before all the company ; thanking him, in an agony of tears and of joy, for all the unfpeakable obligation which he had laid her under. And the very next day, as fome approach to a return, flie made over to him, with the confent of the King, the lordfhip of Chafteau-Landon, with fundry other fiefs and holdings in Gaftinois ; and 132 Romantic Epifodes. for which the count, there and then, did homage to the King. ' And the remainder of her days were fpent in retirement and feclufion, mortification, prayers, alms and charity. — Brantome. ' See note F, at the end. A SOMEWHAT NAIVE ACCOUNT DUKE DE SULLY'S COURTSHIP. MMERSED, as I was, in this new fort of life; obliged, in a manner, from the very nature of my avocations, to play my part amid all the gaieties and frivolities of the court, its emptinefs and its nothingnefs ; in the flower of my youth ; no one can be furprifed to find that I paid to the god of Love the accuftomed homage attended of us all. In faft, I had become over head and ears in love with the daughter of the prefident de Saint-Mefmin, and one of the moft lovely women of her time in France. And in this mood I abandoned myfelf, without any fort of reftraint, to all the delicioufnefs of a paflion, the firft aflaults of which are fo peculiarly bewitch- ing ; indeed, fo much fo, that when I came foberly to K 3 134 Romantic Epifodes. reflecft, how litde defirable, in other refpedts, fuch a match would be, I found that all fuch confideratioft« had come too late to be pitted with the Regards and the expeftations of the lady's family, the prepofTeffiofl Cf the moft eftimable of fathers ; but, above all, the charms of fuch a miftrefs — a chain in itfelf, which, had there been no other, I had found it difficult enough to have undone, Lafond, to divert me from her, en- treated me but only once to fee Mademoifelle de Cour- teney, who, it feems, he had pitched upon as a party in every way more fuitable ; and which, accordingly, I did. And although I knew well, in my heart, that all he faid was true, the recolleftion of Mademoifelle de Saint-Mefmin and her charms, as quickly drove all fuch cold-blooded refledlions from my mind. Matters Were in this doubtful ftage, when, one day, I happened to be fleeping at Nogent«fur-Seine ; the faid Lafond, with fome few others, being with me at the time. And curioufly enough, as fate would have it, there and then were both the fair ones ; Mademoifelle de Saint-Mefmin and Mademoifelle de Courteney ! The fituation was delicate. For I well knew, that there was no efcape for it, but I muft break, upon the fpot, with whichever of the damfels I fliould the firft decline to Wait upon ; iii as much as it was beyond the nature of things to fuppofe that it could be within the wit of man, or mortal, to fatisfy, in fuch a con* junfture, the expeftations of two fuch Women. At "The Duke de Sully's Court/hip. 135 this moment, a little fifter of Mademoifelle de Saint- Mefinin happened to come into the room, where flie found me in all the ftudy and hefitation of a man, drawn one way by all the weight of his affeftions, another by that of his better fenfe, reafon and con- vidlion. And fo, giving fiiU play to all the vivacity of her temperament, after fome pretty little rallying, flie fet to to drag me off, by main force, a prifoner to her fifter's feet.' But before we could get there, I was overtaken by Lafond, who whifpered in my ear, "The " other door. Sir ; you will there find fortune, an " extradtion royal, and charms as great, when they " fliajl have come to their maturity." Thefe few words, tendered fo a propos, at once recalled me to my fenfes, and fixed me in my refolution. I faw that the counfd of Lafond was founds and that the only dif- ference, in point of perfonal attradtion, between Ma- demoifelle de Saint-Mefmin and her rival, was, that the one was in the aSual poffeflion of charms, which a year or two could fcarce fail to develope in the other. I refufed to vifit Mademoifelle de Saint-Mefmin, which brought down upon me a perfe£l: ftorm of indignation and reproach. However, I flood my ground, making ftraight for the apartment of Mademoifelle de Cour- teney ; and to whom the facrifice was reprefented in a fomewhat more flattering light, than, to be candid, it altogether merited. With my reception, I had no > See note G, at the end. 136 Romantic Epi/odes. reafon to be diflatisfied. And in a little time, when I had come to fee her pftener, I began to be more fully aware of all the virtues and the worth of my ne\w miftrefs ; and whom, fhortly after, I married. — Me-j moires de Sully. THE BIRTH OF HENRY THE FOURTH. i 1 T has never been precifely afcertained in what place Henry IV. was conceived. The moil generally received opinion, however, is, that it was at La Fleche, in Anjou, where Antoine de Bourbon, his father, and the Princefs de Navarre, his mother, are known to have been living from the end of February, fifteen hundred and fifty two, to mid-May, fifteen hundred and fifty three. But this much is certain, that the firft time that flie became unmiftakeably aware of her condition, or felt her child to ftir, was in the camp, in Picardy, to which fhe had accompanied her hufband, for the time being, governor of that province ; having quitted La Fleche to put himfelf at the head of an expedition againft the Emperor Charles V- And certes, it was but in cha- radler, that he, who was one day deftined to become fo mighty a prince, Ihould give the earliefl: evidence of 138 Romantic Epifodes. his being, in a camp, amid the roar of cannons, trum- pets, and the clang of arms ; like a true fon of Mars, as he was. His grandfather^ Henri d'Albret, as foon as he heard that his daughter was with child, fent for her, deter- mining to take into his own hands the education of this promifed fruit, and which, from a fort of pre- fentiment, he was perfuaded would one day live to avenge upon the Spaniard all the injuries that they had inili£):ed on his houfe. This courageous princefs, then, taking leave of her hufband, fet out from Compiegne the fifteenth of No- vember, traverfed to the Pyrenees, the length of France, and arrived at Pau, in Bearn, where her father then was, the fourth day of December ; thus allowing herfelf but fbme eighteen or nineteen days for her journey. And on the thirteenth of the fame month fhe was happily delivered of a fon. Previoufly to this, the King, Henry d'Albret, had made a teftament, and which the princefs was exceed- ingly curious to fee ; in as much as it was generally fufpefled to have been drawn fomewhat to her prejudice, and in the favour of a certain lady, whom the goodman, upon a time, had been a little too kind to. Otherwife than indire Romantic Efifodes. They faw their children married, and they faw yet their children again. And after them their fon inherited the land, with the unqualified confentment of Saluces. Fabliaux au Contes du xli et xiii Silcles. THE LIFE OF MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. HOSE who may, at any time, propofe to themfelves to write of this illuftrious Scot- tifli queen, will ever find two very ample themes to be at their difpofition ; her life and her death. The one as unhappily befriended as the other, of a countenancing fortune ; as will, by the fol- lowing fketch be feen, and which I merely offer, as a fort of abftradl ; leaving to thofe who may be better informed, and abler penmen than myfelf, the charge of an higher and an ampler expofition. This queen, then, had for her father. King James, as well a gallant and an able gentleman, as, at heart, a right ftaunch Frenchman. This James, having become a widower, by the death of Magdaleine, a daughter of France, befought the French king to find him fome worthy and virtuous princefs of his line, or kin ; being defirous, above all things, to perpetuate the alliance with France. and that flie would infinitely The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 237 rather remain in France, a fimple dowager, contenting herfelf with Poitou and Touraine, which had been fet- tled on her at her marriage, to returning to her own barbarous country. But her uncles, or at leaft feme of them, were fo inflant with her, that flie was com- pelled to fubmit. The grounds which moved them, I am not going to give. Suffice it to fay, that, till it was too late, they faw not their miftake. And touching this departure, it is not to be ques- tioned, but that if the late King Charles, her brother- in-law, had been then of age, for he was but quite a lad at the time, and had he alfo been pofTeffed of the fame prediledtion for her, which he later betrayed, never had fhe been allowed to leave, and infallibly he had married her. For fo inordinately was he taken with her, that, once having allowed his eyes to wander to her portrait, it was as much as ever he could do to bring himfelf to withdraw them ; fo entranced, fo fas- cinated was he with its brightnefs. And he was wont to fay, that flie was, beyond all comparifon, the moft peerlefs princefs, the moft lovely conception which ever alighted on our orb, and that too happy did he efteem his brother to have enjoyed fo beauteous a woman ; protefting, that by no conftruftion, could he be faid to have been unfortunate, or, young as he died, to have been cut ofF from his portion of felicity, feeing that for ever fo brief a moment he had been permitted to tafte of fo fupreme a pleafiire, which, in itfelf, were worth 23 8 Romantic Eft/odes. the price of fceptres. So that, had flie remained be- hind, beyond a doubt he would have married her, all fifter-in-law though ihe were. The then Pope would have made no difficulties about according him the ne- ceflary difpenfations ; efpecially as he had already granted as much to one of his majefty's own fubjedls, Monfieur de Love. And alfo fmce, and in Spain, we have feen the Marquis of Aguilar prociu-ing fuch a licenfe, and many others, in different countries, where fuch impediments are not allowed to weigh, as in France, with the inconveniences and prejudices which too often accrue to the children from the negleft of fuch confolidation. Everything which was agitated, as well on her part, as on that of others, touching this affair, I purpofely omit, not to -wander too far from the matter of our queen;, who, having been at length perfuaded, as I have already faid, to return into her own country ; the voyage now remitted to the fpring ; fo manoeuvred, on one pretext or another, that flie did not finally leave till the month of Auguft. And it may be worth while remembering, that that fpring in which ihe had origi- nally purpofed to fet out, came fo late, and when it did come, fo fad, fo cold, fo difconfolate, that it was not till the month of May that fhe had the heart to deck herfelf in all her robes of green, to paint the meadows, or to clad the groves. So that all the gallants of the court went moralizing and publifliing about, How the The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 239 ipring refufed to doff her wintry and her mourning robes, or to array herfelf, in fuch a moment, in all her frolic, budding, young and piony attire ; the very fea- fons deploring the departure of this princefs, the crown and glory of the year. Monfieur de Maifon-Fleur, a right accompliflied knight, famous as well for letters as for arms, dedicated to this occafion, a very happy ekgy. The beginning of autumn being at length at hand, it was no longer poffible for our queen, now at the end of her refources, any more to dally. So flie fet out, by way of Calais, accompanied by her uncles, Mon- fieur de Nemours, the greater part of the court, to- gether with their wives ; and with them, Madame de Guife ; alike difconfolate, and with burning tears, la- menting the departure of fuch a queen. Two galleys which were lying in the port, one of them commanded by Monfieur de Mevillon, and the other by the captain d'Albize, together with two ftore fliips, compofed her whole fleet. And having re- mained but fix days at Calais, as foon as ihe had taken a laft and piteous farewell of all the company, from the greateft even to the leaft, flie ftepped on board the galley of Monfieur de Mevillon, as it was the moft commodious ; and with her, of her uncles, MeiEeurs d'Aumale, grand-prior, d'Elbeuf, Damville, the now conftable ; and fundry other nobles, among whom I was one. 240 Romantic Epifodes. And, behold, no fooner was the anchor weighed and had the oars begun to play, than under our very bows a fhip went down, and with her moft the hands on board ; having accidentally miffed the channel or the tide ! So that fhe burft out into tears, paflionately exclaiming. Hah, my God, what an augury is this! And as foon as ever the galley had gotten out of the port, a gentle breeze fprung up, the fails were hoifted, and the oars were fliipped. All this while, the poor queen, lofl to everything which was going on around her, kept hanging, her head upon her hand, upon the poop ; the great tears rolling down her cheeks, her fad eyes fixed on the fliore and fpot, where laft her France fhe left. Or if fhe woke, it was in her choked utterance to fob, jldieu France, France adieu! And in this piteous exercife fhe continued fome four or five hours ; even till the fhades of night were clofing faft around her, and it had been afked her. Would fhe not defcend and partake of a little refrefhment ? It was then that with redoubled vehemence fhe began to cry, her tears even falling fafler than before, Ah, France, dear France, ntnV is the appointed hour that for ever I muji lofe you ; feeing that the dark and envious night, jealous of my too much joy, is about to caji her mantle o'er thee I Farewell, then,deareji, deareji France, now fading on the fcene ; for never, never morejhall I behold you ! With that, with- drawing her eyes, fhe obferved to thofe who were around her, How oppofite was her cafe to that of 'The Life of Mary , ^een of Scots. 241 Dido's ; for that Dido had never ceafed to peer upon the waters, when ^Eneas had but lately quitted her, whUft that flie, flie never ceafed to gaze upon the flirand. She refiifed to fup, or to retire to the berth which had been prepared for her below ; fo that they had to knock up a fort of pallet for her upon the deck ; and where fhe lay all night, in a very ftupor of forrow and diftrefs. But before fhe had lain down, fhe charged the heltnfman on no account to fail to fignify to her, if, with the break of day, the fhores of France were ftill in fight ; and not to be afraid of wakening her. In which, her defire, fortune favoured her ; for, with the night, the wind had dropped, the mariners betaking themfelves again to the oars. So that but little way had been made, and yet were to be perceived the cliffs of France. And no fooner had the helmfman told her, that France was flill to be defcried, than fhe flood up in her bed, and fixing her eyes upon it, never once refrained to gaze on it, till it had pafTed for ever from her fight. For as the galley continued to retreat, fo did her contentment ; till at laft it was for ever gone. Then it was, that in a very paroxyfm of emotion, fhe cried. It is finijhed : adieu France ; France adieu ; a long, a laji adieu, for never more Jhall I behold you ! The navy of England, which fhe knew to be riding in the channel, above all things fhe prayed that they might encounter, fo that they would be forced to carry her back to France. But Providence did not think R 242 Romantic Epi/odes. proper to grant her this interpofition, for, without any fort of let or hinderance, we arrived fafely at Leith. Of the incidents of this voyage, I fhall only notice one ; how, as it was drawing on to dark, on the firft evening that we were at fea, and they were about to light the lanthorn, the lord de Chartelard, the fame who was flnce decapitated in Scotland, for his felffuiEciency, and not for his mifdemeanours, (and he was an exceedingly worthy gentleman, and as well a fwordfman as a man of letters,) hit upon this happy word ; That we had little call for flambeaux or far lamps to light us o'er the deep, for that the bright eyes of our queen were in themfelves fufficiently lujlreus and confuming, to illumine., nay, to fire the very depths. It is to be noted, that die previous day, a Sunday morning, to that on which we landed in Scotland, fo unaccountable a fog arofe" that we could not fo much as fee the length of the fhip ; which put the captains and the pilots to their wits' end. So that we were obliged to caft anchor in the main deep, and to heave the found, in order to afcertain upon what land we had Jallen. This fog continued the live-long day and night. And the next morning, about eight of the clock, we firft defcried ourfelves to be in a flio^ water, and fo lying, that, had we drifted, but ever fo little, to the rii^t or to the left, we had infallibly foundered, and all on board perifhed. When they told this to the queen, in return, flie afliired them, " that fo far as flie herfelf. ne Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 243 " perfonally, was concerned, flie could have gone down " without a pang, nor would it have coft her a ftruggle ; " as, than death, there was nothing now which flie " more ardently defired ; but that in her capacity of " queen, it was her duty and her wifh to live. She " owed it to her country." With the light, the fhores of Scotland appearing, there were not wanting thofe who augured of this fame fog, how it fignified, that they were about to fet their foot upon a land of dark- nefs, and mourn and terrible. 'We made for and took footing at Leith, where were already in waiting, the principal inhabitants of the country and of Edinburgh, which was fome little way ofF. And incontinent were mounted the queen and all the lords and ladies of her train, upon the fcurvy fhelties of the country, with harnefs, as fcurvy, to match. No fooner did the poor queen perceive herfelf in fuch a cavalcade, than flie began to weep. " Where " now," flie cried, " the pageant and the pomp ; the " prancing palfreys and the rich caparifons of France ! " but let me be patient." And as if this was not enough, in the evening, after flie had retired for the night, there came together, under the windows of her lodging, which was in the palace of Holy Rood ; (unquefl:ion- ably, a noble edifice, but altogether out of place in fuch a country,) fome five or fix hundred fcoundrelly fellows ' See note K, at the end. R 2. 244 Romantic Eft/odes. of the town, forfooth to give her a concert on their accurfed drones and violins, w^hich they are for ever ftrumming throughout the length and breadth of the land. And, above all things, it wras pfalms that the rafcals were linging, and with fuch a whining and a twang, that nothing more confounded could be con- ceived. Ha, what a reception, and what a repofe for fuch a night ! The very, next morning, they had like to have finiflied her almoner ; and if he had not taken refuge, on the inftant, in the chamber of the queen, they had ferved him, as they after did her fecretary, David Riz- zio, who, although he happened alfo to be a man of wit and parts, the queen had merely taken into her fervice on the fcore of his facility to bufinefs. Yet they fluck not to difpatch him before her eyes, in her apartment, and at her feet ; fo clofe that her very robe was drenched in his blood. What an indignity ! And many another, like it, did they ofFer her. So that we have little caufe to be amazed, that men who could prefume to make fo free with the perfon of their fo- vereign, fliould have the effrontery to make themfelves equally fo with her reputation. After fuch an experi- ment as this, flie became dolent and foreboding. This is certainly a notable earneji, fhe faid, of the promifed at- tachment and fuhmijjion of my fubjeSts. What the end of all this will be, I cannot tell. But certainly, fo far, it has an ugly complexion. And in this, her prophecy, the The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. i^c, poor princefs proved herfelf to be as true a Caflandra, as, already, in beauty flie was allowed to be. Once there, fhe remained, in her widowhood, three whole years. And had it only depended upon herfelf, fo would fhe have continued to the end, nor wiftiing to difturb the manes of her hufband. But fhe was over- ruled by the States-General of her kingdom, who never ceafed to be inftant with her, requiring her to marry, fo that fome noble prince might be engendered of her, fuch as he who, this day, is fitting upon her throne. There are not wanting fome who fay, that, at the beginning of our wars, the king of Navarre was an- xious to marry her ; in order to which, he was pre- pared to put away his wife ; taking religion for his pretext ; but that the queen would not fo much as liflen to it ; protefling, that fhe had a foul to be faved, or to be lofl, and that fo fhe would not emperil it, were it to fit on the throne of the univerfe ; evidencing an invincible averfion to connect herfelf with an aiStually married man. However, at the length, fhe remarried with a young nobleman of England, who, though of a great houfe, was yet flill far from being her equal. This union was anything but a felicitous one, either for the one fide or for the other. It is no part of my purpofe to relate, how the king, her hufband, was murdered ; fent flying, through an infernal machine which had been introduced into his apartment. All about it is R 3 246 Romantic Epi/odes. in print, and has now become matter of hiftory. But hiftory though it be, yet is that part of it falfe, which has not fcrupled to aflert, that it was compaffed with the privity of the queen. It is nothing but lies and fcandal, for never was this queen cruel ; on the con- trary, flie was all heart and gentlenefs. Never, when in France, was any fuch charge laid to her account ; nor did it ever give her any pleafure to hear of poor cri- minals being quartered or butchered, nor had flie the bowels to fee them, as had many another fair and great one, whom I could name. And during all the time that flie was on board, never once would flie allow one of the galley flaves to be corredted ; and fo flie told the Grand-prior, her uncle ; and expreflly forbade the mates to do anything of the fort ; telling them, that the very fight of men condemned to fo grievous a fervitude, was enough to drive her fick at heart, with- out being called upon to witnefe fuch an enhancement of their mifery. To conclude, never did or could inhumanity harbour in fo tender and fo fond a breaft. And they are nothing else than impoftors who have had the aflurance to aflert, or to infinuate the contrary. Among others, Mifter Buchanan. And in the article of which, he made to his queen, a very unequal return for all the obligations that flie had conferred, when in France, as well upon the man, perfonally, as upon his order. He might have turned his matchlefs difcernment to a "The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 247 very much better account, than to the artifice of de- tefting fonnets to be hers, which any one, ever fo little familiar with her ftyle or her endowments, would know never to have proceeded from any fuch pen. And as much might he have divined of the gallantries, which he has afcribed to her and to Bothwell, had he but had the candour, or the indifFerency, to look clofer into them. For this Bothwell was as ugly and ungainly a fellow, as one would care to lay eyes on. But if there are thofe who have written fcandaloufly of her; again, there are not wanting others who have undertaken her vindication, I myfelf have feen at leaft one admirable book, wherein her innocence and her life were afferted and eflabliflied ; and that, too, in fo convincing a manner, that the mofl: incredulous were compelled to come over to her fide ; however it may have been cried down by her detraftors. But her defl:ru£tion being now determined upon, they never ceafed to perfecute and to hunt her, till they had her into a ftronghold in her own country ; I think it was St. Andrew's ; and in which flie lay, miferably, a captive, for about a year, till at length fhe was delivered by a ftout and valiant gentleman, a fubje<9; of her own, and of a good family, named Betoun, whom I both knew and had often feen; and who told me the whole manner of it, one day, when we were together on the river, near the Louvre. He had come over expreffly to carry the intelligence to our king. He was nephew to "4 248 Romantic Epifodes. that archbifliop of Glafgow who was ambaffador to France ; one of thofe excellent men and worthy prelates, the like of whom are but rarely to be en- countered. To her lateft hour, he proved himfelf to her, a ftaunch and a faithful fervant, and after her de- ceafe, a no lefs loyal one to her memory. Once again, the queen at liberty, there was no more temporizing ; and in an incredibly fhort time fhe had gotten together an army, compofed of thofe whom fhe fancied were the likeliefl: to be relied upon. And next we have her at its head, ftraddled on a fturdy cob ; no other defence upon her than a fimple petticoat of taffeta, white, and a veil of cobweb lawn upon her head. And many a one have I feen lofi: in wonder and aflonifhment, and among others, the queen-mo- ther ; to fee a princefs, fo tender and fo dainty, nurfed in the lap of eafe and of indulgence, thus flernly re- figning herfelf to all the hardfhips and the miferies of war. But, in return, what is there which mortals will not undergo, to tafle the fweets of abfolute power ; or princes, to be avenged of a rebel race, and to compel them to reenter into their duty ? So now we have brought our princefs, bright and magnanimous as another Zenobia, to the forefront of her army, conducing it to glory and to the battle ! But woe, the change ; and in how little ! Jufl on the inflant, when the pikes were levelled, and as fhe was exhorting them with words that might have touched lihe Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 249 the very ftones ; behold, as fuddenly, the pikes are raifed, and, rufhing into each others' arms, an eternal amity is fworn, on the one fide and on the other. And there and then, it was fettled of the whole pack, con- federated and fworn friends, to feize upon her body, and to carry her away, a prifoner, into England. Mon- fieur de Crofy, fteward of her houfe, (he was a gentle- man of Auvergne,) recounted the whole matter to the queen-mother ; having crofled expreflly to that end. I, after, faw him at St. Maur, where, with fome others, we had it all over. So the end of it was, that fhe was hurried away into England, where, for eighteen years, fhe was retained in a captivity fo clofe, that never again did fhe leave it, even till the day of her death, which was perfifted in, on the ftrength of a too cruel fentence ; bafed upon fundry charges that had been fcraped together, and may be feen in that inftrument. But not the leaft in- confiderable of them, as I have good reafon to know, and from the firfl: authority, was, that the queen of England never could endure her, and had been, from the firft, and all her days, jealous of thofe fuperior attradirions, which fhe fo well knew to eclipfe her own. What a demon is this jealoufy; efpecially, when is mated to it, the fiiry of religious hate ! So the long and the fhort of it was, that this princefs, after all this cruel incarceration, was condemned to lofe her head. And this fentence was pafled upon her two years before 250 Romantic Epi/odes. it was carried into execution. Some fay, that all fus- picion of it was ftudioufly kept from her, till the moment had arrived when they were prepared to go through with it. Others, again, that flie was informed of it, two months previoufly ; among whom the queen- mother was one, who firft learned it at Cognac ; and was marvelloufly cut up with fuch a knowledge, at the time. And in connexion with this, another curious thing was aflerted, that, as foon as they had officially broken it to her, they changed the tapeftry and hangings of her room and bed to black. When this was told to the queen-mother, nothing could exceed her pity and admiration ; protefling, that fhe had never encountered, nor heard tell of fo invincible a conftancy, as that which was fliown by the queen of Scotland, in all her adverfities. I, for one, and I was then prefent, was not of thofe who imagined, that the queen of England would ever have allowed extremities to be proceeded to, or could have fteeled herfelf to it ; not judging her, in her natural, to be cruel. However, in this cafe, flie proved herfelf to be fo. And Monfieur de Bellievre, no lefs, whom the king had commiffioned to intercede with her majefty, was of our way of thinking ; but it all came to nothing. So, in fine, to come to this piteous death, and which it is impoffible fo much as to touch upon, but with commiferation ; on the feventeenth day of February, fifteen hundred and eighty feven, the commlffioners The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 251 deputed by the queen of England, (the names, I need not give ; for to what good ?) arrived, betwixt two and three of the clock, in the afternoon, and there and then, in the prefence of Paulett, her guardian or keeper, opened to her the nature of their commiffion ; at the fame time telling her, that on the following morning it was to be carried out, and admonifliing her, on her part, to be prepared for the fame, by the hour of feven or eight. She, without evidencing any fort of emotion, thanked them for their welcome tidings ; afluring them, that nothing could be more acceptable to her, than to find herfelf, at length, to have arrived at the goal of all her miferies ; telling them, that fince long, flie had held herfelf in readinefs, and was willing to die ; even from the day when £he had firfl: been carried into England. The only favour which flie had to a(k of them was, that they would accord to her fome few moments, to difpofe of her teftament, with one or two other matters which required to be attended to ; a competence which flie believed to be within the latitude of their commif- fion. To which the Earl of Shrewlbury only replied, and rudely enough, for that matter. Not fo. Madam, you muji die. And fee that you are forthcoming between the hours of feven and eight o'clock; for not another injlant will be granted to you. One of them, as it appeared to her, with more of the milk of human kindnefs in him than was in his fellows, did what he could to comfort her 252 Romantic Epifodes. and to fortify her, at the afpecEt of fo terrible an hour. But flie told him, in reply, that flie had no need of any confolation, at leaft from fuch a quarter ; and that if they would but allow her poor confcience to depart in peace, her almoner be admitted to her, fo that Ihe might confefs herfelf, it would be conferring an obligation upon her which would furpafs every other ; adding, that as to her body, fhe could never fuppofe that they would deny to it the rites of fepulture. But he told her, that fuch a thing was not to be thought of; fo that fhe was forced to leave her confeflion under her hand, and which runs as follows. " Father, I have this day been bufFetted for con- " fcience' fake, and been compelled to entertain the " confolation of the heretic. You will hear by Bour- " yong and others, that firmly I ftood by that faith, in " which I am about to die. What was in my power, " I did, to be permitted to make to you my confeflion ; " and to receive, at your hands, the body of our " Lord. But they have been barbaroufly denied to " me, as has alfo, to my bones, the right to reft amid " the fepulchres of my fethers. Nor have I, any " more, been allowed to leave a teftament behind me ; " unlefs, indeed, fuch an one as I Ihould be prepared " to indite in their prefence, or with their hand. So " feeing, then, father, that it cannot be otherwife ; I " now confefs to, in the block, the grievoufnefs of all " thofe fliortcomings, which, in detail, had it been per- The Life of Mary ^ ^een of Scots. 253 " mitted to me, you fliould have heard ; befeeching " you, for the fake of Him who died for us, that you " will watch and pray for me this night, for the propi- " tiation of my fins, and that you will fend me your " abfolution and your pardon for all the offences, by " me, committed in the flefh. I will make a lafl: " endeavour to fee you, though it muft be in their " prefence. They have promifed me as much ; and, " if prafticable, you fhall give me abfolution. Haften " to me the moft proper prayers for this night, and for " the coming morn ; for the time is fhort ; nor more, " can I fpare to write. You fhall not be forgotten, " any more than the refl. Your benefices fhall be " continued and afTured to you ; and you have been " fpoken of to the king. I have no more time. Let " me know, by a line, what you may conceive to be " mofl conducive to my welfare. After that, I fhall " have but to dedicate my thoughts to heaven. Mary." Whatever fhe did, fhe lofl no time. And the little which remained to her, (enough, God knows, of its fort, to blanch the floutefl heart ; but contrary, to her, who never knew the fear of death, and even longed to be efcaped of all her miferies,) fhe employed in writing to our king, the queen-mother, whom fhe had always refpefted ; to Monfieur and Madame de Guife, and other private friends ; letters, one and all, mofl piteous certainly, and tending alike to let them know, that up to her lateft breath, fhe had not forgotten them ; 254 Romantic Epjodes. and expreffive of all the fatisfadlion with which fhe was about to be releafed from the calamities, that, for twenty long years, had overtaken her. She fent them all mementos ; forry enough in themfelves, but, fuch as they were, all that yet remained to this poor captive princefs to beftow. After this, (he fent for her houfehold, from the greateft to the leaft, and requiring her coffers to be opened, Ihe took out any little money which remained, dividing it among them, as far as it went, and in pro- portion to their feveral claims. Among her women, fhe diftributed her jewels, her nicknacks and her robes, telling them, that fhe was only diftreffed, it were no better in her power to recompenfe their fervices ; that, however, they need be under no anxiety, as her fon would fee that they fliould not be lofers on her ac- count. And fhe farther charged her mafler of the houfehold, to tell her faid fon, and to whom fhe now fent her benediftion, that he was on no account to think of attempting to avenge her death, but to leave all to God, and to his divine appointment. With that, and without even a tear or a figh, fhe bid them all adieu. On the contrary, fhe comforted and confoled them, telling them, that they had no occafion to dif^ trefs themfelves, feeing that fhe was about to make fo blelTed an ifTue out of all the miferies of this wretched life. After this, fhe caufed all but her maidens to withdraw. The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 255 As foon as it came night, and fhe had retired to her oratory, fhe prayed, and upon her bare knees, for two hours together ; for fo fhe was feen, by her women, who watched her. After that fhe arofe, and coming into her chamber, faid. Sweet hearts, I think that I had better eat a mouthful, and then lie down, a little, fo that to-morrow I may not be betrayed into any unbecom- ing weaknefs, or anything unworthy of myfelf What a fpirit and greatheartednefs ! And this fhe did ; eating a morfel of the fillet, dipped in wine. After that fhe threw herfelf on her bed, hardly fleeping, however ; the remainder of the night being fpent in prayer and heavenly offices. Two hours before the light, fhe rofe ; dreffing her- felf as expeditioufly as polfible ; though, however, with a more than ordinary regard to appearances. Fixing on a robe of black velvet, which was the only remnant that remained to her of her former eftate, fhe faid to her women ; My friends, I hadfooner bequeathed to one of ym this gown, than that which yes- terday I wore ; and I had done fo, only, you know, it is necef- fary that I Jhould appear in fame little fiate and grandeur on the approaching occafion. See, here is a handkerchief, which I alfo kept ; it is the one with which my eyes are prefently to be bandaged. To you, fweet heart, turning to one of them, I give it ; for it is you whom I count upon to do for me this laji charitable office. Again fee withdrew to her oratory, having firfl bid- 2.56 Romantic Epifodes. den them all ferewell, and kifled them round ; and, farther, charged them with many particulars to be car- ried to the king, the queen and all her kin ; none of them luch as would, in any way, tend to inflame them to vengeance on her account ; but the reverfe. She then proceeded to take from her own hands the blefled facrament ; adminiftering to herfelf a confecrated wafer which the good pope, Pius the Fifth, had fent to her, to be availed of in her agony ; and which fhe had kept by her, right curioufly and hallowedly treafured. Her orifons finiflied, which were long, and it being now high day, flie came forth to her chamber, and fat herfelf down by the fire ; all the while talking to her women, and comforting them, when one would have fuppofed, that it had been for them to have comforted her ; and telling them, " How poor and inconftant a " thing was this world's felicity, by her example, might " be feen and read of all, from the greateft even to the " leaft. Here was fhe, a queen of Scotland and of " France ; the one by birth, and the other by fortune ; " after having plunged over head and ears into a very " fea of triumph and felicity, and ridden the lighteft " there, reduced at laft to end her days upon a fcafFold, " all innocent as flie was ; and which, her innocence, " was her only confolation. The hardeft thing that " they could fay againft her was, that fhe was a good " catholic ; and for which, her faith, fhe was now " called upon to die ; and which, to her lateft breath, 'the Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 257 " fhe would never ceafe to profefs ; for in it, {he had " been baptized." She told them, " that Ihe had only " one thing more to alk of them, and that was, that " they would undertake to carry to France, where they " were about to return, the conftancy with which flie " died ; that all her ambition was now limited to that ; " and that, although fhe well knew it would be to them " a bitter draught, to be the fpeftators of fuch a tra- " gedy, fhe muft ftUl entreat them to be prefent, fo " that they might be faithful witnefTes to the death " of Mary Stuart." She had fcarcely finifhed thefe words when a horrible rapping was heard at the door. Her women, in their agony, were about to bar it. But fhe bade them to defift ; faying. Good friends^ to what purpofe ? open it. And in there flalked a fellow with a white rod in his hand, who, without fb much as faluting a foul, began incontinent to ftrut about the room ; parenthetically informing himfelf, that, Ha^ here he was ; here he was. The queen, convinced by this, that her hour was come, immediately took into her hand, a little crucifix of ivory. Prefently after, entered the commiffioners. And as foon as they were feated, the queen faid to them, Jnd fo^ gentlemen^ you have come to fetch me. I am both ready and willing to die. I am under an infinite obligation to your queen, my good fijier, for this, her laji and greateji courtefy ,• and to you, my lords, no lefs, who have made S 258 Romantic Epifodes. this tedious journey^ to convey it. Let us proceed. They, beholding fo much firmnefs, mingled with fuch a gen- denefs, and all, too, in fo incomparable a perfon, were beyond expreffion amazed ; for never, even in her beft days, had flie appeared to more advantage ; a gentle flufh o'erfpreading every feature. Boccacio has told as much of Sophonifba, in the prefence of Mafanifla, when in her adverfity, and after the capture of her hufband and her capital. You would have thought, faid he, that her very misfortunes but ferved to the heightening of her beauty ; rendering her every grace, more glowing, more chaftened and fiibdued. Thefe commiffioners found themfelves forely tempted to fhow her fome little indulgence. However, as the proceflion was being formed, they were for refiifing to allow her women to accompany her ; alarmed, left by their tears or their lamentations, the executioner might be unnerved ; or, otherwife, a fcene induced. But (he, turning to them, faid. What, gentlemen, may not my wo- men be with me at the block ? of a little charity, I pray you,fuffer it. At length, on her undertaking for their filence, the point was waived, and it was engaged that they Ihould be called in at the proper time. The place of execution was a hall, in the midft of which they had eredled a fort of fcafFold, of twelve feet fquare, and two high ; the whole covered with a dingy piece of black cloth. And into this hall flie T^he Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 259 marched, with a no lefs ftately port, a no lefs majefty and grace, than though it had been the falon of the Louvre ; where, fo often, {he had figured in the days of her magnificence. Nor did her countenance ever once falter. As foon as fhe arrived at the foot of the fcafFold, flie beckoned to her mafter of the houfehold, faying to him. Friend, lend me your arm to mount ; it is the laji favour which I Jhall ever ajk of you ; at the fame time recalling to him all that fhe had already charged him with to carry to her fon. Now planted upon the fcaf- fold, fhe next inquired for her almoner, entreating of the officers prefent, that he might be fent for. But this they refiifed her flat ; the earl of Kent telling her, that he could not but admire, to fee her thus infetuated with fuperftitions which long fince had been exploded ; and that it was in the heart, and not the hand, that the crofs of Chrift was to be carried. To which fhe re- plied, that, for her part, fhe thought that it would be a very difficult thing to carry fuch a fymbol in the hand, and the heart not to find itfelf thereby fympathetically touched ; and that the courfe which it were 'moft be- fitting for all true chriftians to purfue, when in the article of death, was, to bear upon them the true mark of -their redemption. But perceiving that the point was not to be carried, fhe fent at once for her maids, as they had promifed her that fhe might. One of them, on entering the hall, and feeing her miflrefs^ in 26o Romantic Epijodes. fuch a plight, mid the headfman, the axe and the black, broke out into a paroxyfm of wailing and of tears. And it was not till the queen, by raiflng her finger to her lips, had recalled to her her promife, that fhe was at length enabled to compofe herfelf. Her majefly then began difl:in(ftly to proteft, that never had flie pradtifed againft the government, or the perfon of the queen, her good filler ; though admitting, that flie had fought to recover that liberty of which flie had been deprived ; as, by nature, flie fuppofed, all captives were inclined, or permitted to do. She faid, flie well knew that religion was the true caufe of this fentence ; and aiErmed, that it was a caufe in which flie rejoiced that it was given to her to die. She prayed her good fifter of England to pardon her poor fervants, now in prifon, and whofe only crime had been the efforts which they had made to releafe her, and a too much attachment to their miftrefs ; requiring, that her blood might be allowed to expiate for all. They then brought to her a minifter.of their own church, that he might pray with her. But flie only rejoined to him in EngKfli, i?«, my friend, be patient ; telling him plainly, that flie could not communicate with him, or with any of his feft ; that flie was pre- pared to die without any other confolation than that which came from within ; for that fuch as he could tender, would neither bring to her comfort nor fupport. Defpite her entreaties, feeing that he would perfift in The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots, 261 his jargon of a prayer, fhe had nothing for it but to continue her own in Latin ; elevating her voice, fo as to drowrn that of the minifter. Thefe finifhed, fhe then entreated them to believe, that it was accounted of her, a greater privilege to be permitted to feal with her blood, the teftimony of her faith, than longer, as fhe had done, to continue to drag on her days beneath the fun ; and that flie could not any more tarry to be diflblved ; protefting, that fhe had fo unbounded a confidence in Him, whofe image was exprelTed in her hand, that fhe was fatisfied, that this tranfitory moment, which, in his caufe, fhe was about to traverfe, would open to her the way, and prove the cartel to the abodes of angels and of blelTed fouls, departed ; who would receive, and would prefent her about to be fpilled blood, as a propitiation, at the throne of grace ; interceding with God, that it might be accepted, as an atonement for all her vilenefs in the flefh. Such were, in fubftance, the prayers that fhe offered up, on the fcafFold, and on her knees, and which were tendered in a Ipirit of the deepeft piety. To which, alfo, were added others, at the fame time, for the pope, and the kings of France and of Spain. Nor even was the queen of England forgotten ; befeeching God to illuminate her with the light of his fpirit ; re- membering too her fon, as alfo the nations of England and of Scotland, that they might be recovered to the true faith. 63 262 Romantic Ef if odes. This finiflied, fhe called for her women, that they might help her to remove her veil, her head drefs, with her other ornaments. And as the executioner was offer- ing to affift her, flie flirunlc, inftinctively, from him, exclaiming, Ha, my friend, forbear. However, do what flie would, {he could not manage to fliake him from her. For after they had lowered her robe to the waift, the infernal villain laid hold of her by the arm, and tore her linen and her under garments fi-om her back, fo that her matchlefs breafts and form, more whiter than any alabafter, were left naked and expofed to the company. Seeing herfelf in fuch a plight, fhe made all the hafte which flie could, obferving, that flie was not in the habit of unrobing in a hall, or in the prefence of fuch a company ; (fo many as four or five hundred, as I have heard, were prefent), nor yet to be waited on of fuch a gentleman of the bedchamber. The headsman next craved her pardon, on his knees. She told him, that fhe forgave him and all thofe who were partakers in her death, as heartily as flie truflied that all her fins, too, would be forgiven of God, She then called for the woman, to whom flie had committed the handkerchief, deiiring it to be given to her. In her hand flie held a crucifix of gold, on which were relieved the image of our Lord, graven in a morfel of the true crofs, and which flie was purpofing to prefent to one of her ladies. But this, the executioner would not confent to ; even though flie paffed him her word, The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 263 that the lady would make up to him the worth, three times over. At length, everything being ready, and having kifled her maids, flie defired them to leave her ; firft, how- ever, figning them with the crofs. But feeing one of them to perfiil in her tears, flie impofed upon her filence, telling her, that flie had palTed her wprd for them aU, that they would be compofed, and that the proceedings fliould not be difturbed with their diforder. Again flie told them quietly to retire, and, till it were over, to occupy themfelves in prayer to God for her ; and, after that, to be true and faithful witneffes of her end, and of how flie had died in the catholic, true, only and ancient faith. As foon as the laft of them had bandaged her eyes, incontinent, fhe threw herfelf upon her knees, and with a moft invincible courage ; nor even allowing sp much as a fymptom of alarm or agitation to efcape. Such was her conftancy, that there was not one prefent, even of her enemies, who was not melted to tears ; fo flricken were they with her undauntednefs, and with the remorfe and mifgivings of their own confciences. And in as much as thefe miniflers and executioners of Satan ; of whom the one, fain, would kill the soul, as the other the body, were diilreffing her ; the former, diftrading her with his prayers, and swelling his voice, fo as to throw her out, flie commenced, as flie could, in Latin, this pfalm of David, In te, Di>mme,fperavi,non S4 264 Romantic Epifodes. confundar, in aternum; which, being interpreted, is, Lord, in thee have I trufted; let me never he confounded; con- tinuing through with it, to the end. This finifhed, flie laid her head upon the block ; and as the words were pafling from her lips. In manus tuas, Domine, commendo fpiritum meum ; Lord, into thy hands, I commit my fpirit, the headfinan gave her a terrible galh, driving her head gear right into the nape of her neck. Nor was it till the third defcent, that he had been able to fever the head from the body ; as if determined, by this butchery, to render yet more illuftrious, this ever memorable martyrdom. Though, in truth, it is not fo much fufFering, as the caufe, which conftitutes martyrdom. This over, he takes the head, and holding it aloft, to all the company, pronounces, Godfave queen Elizabeth; thus let perijh the enemies of the Go/pel! And having fo delivered himfelf, as if to mock her, he undid her hair, difcovering all her trefles, already gray. Not that fhe had ever been afhamed, when yet alive, to let them be seen ; or to drefs, or to curl them, as in her beft days, when fhe had them fo fdken, graceful, fair. For it was not age which had blanched them, feeing fhe was but five and thirty when they turned ; (and at her death fhe was no more than forty ;) but the cares, the reverfes, forrows, privations, that fhe had under- gone, as well in her prifon as in her government. This wretched tragedy over, her poor women, naturally folicitous for the honour of their miftrefs. 'The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 265 came to Paulett, her keeper, begging of him, that the executioner fliould not be permitted to meddle with the body, and that they might be allowed to lay her out, after all the company had retired ; fo as to preclude the poffibility of any indignity being offered to her perfon ; and undertaking faithfully to place in his hands what- ever they might find upon her, and to conceal nothing. But the inhuman brute fent them gruffly about their bufinefs ; telling them to be ofFout of the place. So it was left to this fellow to flrip her, and to handle her, jufl as he chofe. Nor can any man fay, that fhe was not ferved of him, as was the unhappy lady, whom the queen of Navarre tells of, in her Cent Nouvelles, of another like furious monfl:er. More pro- digious lufls than that, have pafTed through the brains of men. As foon as he thought proper to have done with it, the body was removed into a chamber adjoining to that of the women, and there fecured, forfooth, left any fhould prefume to watch, or to pray with it ! But what doubly aggravated their mifery, was, that they could plainly fee, through a chink in the door, the poor body lying, and not a thing to cover it, fave a wretched fcrap of green baize, which they had torn from her billiard table. What rafcalinefs, fpite and indignity ; not to have had the decency to buy her a yard of filk, or fatin black! And thus the poor body lay, even till it began to 266 Romantic Epijodes. corrupt, fo that they were compelled, at length, to embalm it. Which they did, any how, fo to fpeak, fo chary were they of expenfe. After that, they placed it in a leaden coffin, and fo kept it feven months ; after which, it was committed to imhallowed ground, in the cathedral of Peterborough. It is true, that that church is dedicated to St. Peter, and that the queen Catherine, of Spain, was interred there, and after the rites of the catholic faith. But' now it is profane, as, indeed, are all the churches in England. Some have publifhed and afTerted, and Englishmen among them, in different verfions of her death, and of the caufes which provoked it, that the efFedts found upon the body of the queen were taken from the headfman, he being indemnified in money for the worth of her habiliments and her royal ornaments. As much was afferted, of certain Spaniards,, in the cafe of Francis Pizzaro, whom they, too, put to death, and as I have elfewhere fpoken to. The covering which had been fpread upon the fcafFold, the very boards, the flooring ; everything on which her blood had fallen, was immediately either burned or fcoured ; for fear lefl, with time, they might come to be regarded as objects of a fuperftitious veneration ! That is to fay, for fear that devout and reverentia,l catholics might one day come to purchafe them, and to behold them, with awfiilnefs, refped and devotion ; (and may there not, almoft, be fomething "The Life of Mary, ^een of Scots. 267 prophetic, in this their apprehenfion ! ) even as the good old fathers of the church were in the habit of treafuring the' holy reliques, and vifiting, with devotion, the refting places of the martyred dead. But this is not of yefterday ; for it was ever the fame with the heretics, ^ia omnia quce Martyrum erant, cremabant, fays Eufebius, et cineres in Rhodanum fpargebaHt, ut cum corporibus interiret eorum quoque memoria. That is, that the reafon why they confumed every mortal thing belonging to the martyrs, throwing the afhes into the Rhone, was, fo that not only their bodies but their very memories fliould perifh. Yet defpite of all their littlenefs and their malignity, the memory of this queen will live, to lateft time, in the admiration and the praife of men. Such was the laft of this queen, as I had it from two of her ladies, who had been prefent, and who right worthily acquitted themfelves towards their miftrefs, in the teftimony which they bore to the conftancy of her faith and of her end. They returned to France immediately after her death, for they were both of them French ; one of them was daughter to Mademoi- felle de Rare, whom I remember to have feen in France, about the perfon of the queen.' Nor did thefe two poor ladies ever M, when on this chapter, to draw tears from the flintieft, with their paffionate and moving words. Much alfo I learned from a book which was writ- * See note L, at the end. 268 Romantic Epifodes. ten and publiflied, entitled, The martyrdom of Mary, queen of Scotland, and dowager of France. Alas, what did it all avail her to have been our queen ! One would have thought, that they would have hefitated twice, ere venturing to fuch a length. It is not a fmall thing, the ire of France. And moft affuredly they would have been a little longer about it, had our king been dUpofed to take the matter up. But in as much as he detefted the Guifes, his coufins, he would not put himfelf out of the way, in the matter. And what he did do, was only, apparently, out of a fenfe of decency. And where elfe, unfortunately, could the poor innocent look ! and this is the account which fome have given. Others, again, as pofitively affirm, that he ftrongly remonftrated with the Englifli queen ; and, in fe