Memoirs of Henri/ the Great. 593 



MEMOIRS enemy who returns to them, uniformly 



finds that they are disposed to forget 

 the past, and hy tliis means personal 

 interest accustoms them to clemency. 

 Before Louis the Twelfth ascended the 

 throne, he was oppressed and perse- 

 cuted ; he stood in need of friends, he 

 learned how to pardon and to select 

 them ; and this was acquiring ajknow- 

 ledge how to reign. 



HENRY THE GREAT, 



AND OF THE 



COURT OF FRANCE, 



DUHING HIS REIGN. 

 2 vols. 8vo. 



[The Life and Character of Henry the 

 Fourth, or, as he is here called, the 

 Great, are interesting at a time when, 

 on his remote virtues, the modern 

 Bourbons are ti-ying to hitch themselves 

 on the atfections of the French people. 

 That the present work is ably written, 

 and exhibits a spirited narrative of facts, 

 will be manifest from the extracts which 

 follow. The account of the Massacre 

 of the French Protestants is the fullest 

 in our language, and so curious that we 

 have judged it proper to transfer the 

 intire article, for its own sake, as well 

 as to exhibit the talents of the author.] 



CHARACTER OF HENRY. 



Charles the Fifth, surnamed the 

 Wise, and Louis the Twelfth, so justly 

 esteemed the Father of his People, as 

 well as Henry the Great, were indebted 

 to misfortunes for many of those virtues 

 which have ennobled their memories. 

 It was in the vortex of the most tur- 

 bulent and sanguinary factions that 

 Charles the Fifth acquired that extra- 

 ordinary wisdom which imbues princes 

 with the true genius of royalty ; it is 

 that knowledge which duly discri- 

 minates how lenity and firmness should 

 be employed ; it teaches the mind to be 

 flexible with dignity, and resolute with 

 discretion ; it can reanimate the public 

 feeling, conciliate opposing interests, 

 penetrate secret intentions, subdue cha- 

 racters, and appreciate the due limits 

 of sovereign power, that is only supreme 

 during a calm, but which at the |)eriod 

 of storms cannot maintain itself, except 

 through the medium of prudence and 

 skill combined with integrity. Charles 

 the Fifth stood in need of all the 

 resources of reason, and tiie ascendancy 

 which an enlightened intellect, and a 

 gentle, yielding, and patient character, 

 produce in the management of slate 

 alfair.s: to retrieve, to reunite, and to 

 pacify, were the uniform employments 

 of his reign, which so truly invested bim 

 with the glorious epithet of the Wise. 

 At the periods of dL^grace and exile, 

 princes a.scertain the real value of de- 

 votion and of friendship ; true adherents 

 are not then occupied willi the frivolous 

 employmenlof |)leasi!ig, they only think 

 of serving their maslers: in order to 

 ac<juire paitizaiis, princes are obliged 

 to coiiqu<-r pri\ate tcsenlmtinls ; the 

 1 



Henry the Fourth 

 was the most humane of kings. A 

 greatness of sou! and generosity of 

 principle led him to perform every thing 

 that would have been dictated by the 

 most consummate policy : the brightest 

 actions of his life were only the happy 

 fruits of the first emotions of his heart; 

 but he was indebted to a manly edu- 

 cation, and to the school of adversity, 

 for the empire he possessed over him- 

 self, for his knowledge of men and 

 aflairs, and that nndeviating perse- 

 verance which surmounts every oppo- 

 sition. This great prince was at the 

 same time the most skilful captain 

 during a belligerent age, the monarch 

 most worthy to reign over a generous 

 nation, and the most amiable of French- 

 men. By his courage, his loyalty, his 

 candour, and his gaiety, he comi)letely 

 formed the national character : all 

 French kings should select him as a 

 model, for to reign as a true Frenchman 

 it is necessary to resemble him. Henry 

 the Fourth was so enthusiastically be- 

 loved by his people, he has left such 

 dear recollections, thai if all the memoirs 

 of his time, and every thing that has 

 been written concerning his life, was 

 buried in oblivion, his history would 

 still be found in the traditions handed 

 down among the families of all classes 

 of society; from thence the leading traits 

 might be collected, and the most in- 

 teresting anecdotes derived from the 

 workshop of the mechanic, benealh the 

 humble thatch, as well as in the p»lace 

 and the mansion of the noble. 



FRANCIS THE FIRST. 



It is neces.sary to place in the rank of 

 monarchs who have honoured a throne, 

 all those who, notwithstanding great 

 reverses and faults, have preserved a 

 happy inllucneeover the national feeling, 

 and have lift ghtrious traces of their 

 reigns. I'rancis the First was endowed 

 with all the liery impetuosity of the 

 soldier, without being gifted with the 

 talents of n consummate general. His 

 intrepid bravery gave a s|)kndour to 

 his person, and was detriiiu-ntal to the 

 state ; but this prince was neither 

 divested of cap:ieily nor pcditical views. 



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