Memoirs oj Henry the Great. 



royal fatliir ; wlicrc, on tlie 13th of the 

 same month, she happily brought loilh 

 a sun. 



Previous to tills event. Henry 

 d'Albret had made his will, which the 

 jirincess, his daughter, was very anxious 

 lo peruse ; because it liadfheen told her 

 that this testamentary paper was to her 

 ilisadvantage, and in favour ol'a lady for 

 whom her royal parent lia<l entertained 

 very tender sentiments. Jtaniie, how- 

 ever, did not dare to breathe a word 

 upon the subject; hut her lather, being 

 made acquainted with her wish, pro- 

 mised lo place the will in her hands as 

 soon as she should have produced to 

 hira the truit ot her loins ; but upon 

 condition that, during the period of her 

 labour, she would sing him a song; 

 " in order,^' said he, " that you do not 

 produce me a peevis/i and cryittf^ child.'''' 

 The princess gave her promise; and 

 testified .<so much courage, that not- 

 withstanding the pains attendant upon 

 her situation, she sang a song in the 

 language of Beam as soon as she heard 

 the king enter her apartment. It was 

 remarked, that in opposition to ihe 

 general course of nature, the mfant was 

 born without screaming or weeping; 

 and it might naturally he expected, 

 .says Perelixe, that a prince destined lo 

 ensure the joy and prosperity of France, 

 would not enter the world amidst cries 

 and Mailings. 



Immediately after the birth of Henry, 

 his grandlatlier trans|)orted the boy in 

 the skirt of his robe to his chamber, 

 and then presented his will, enclosed 

 in a golden casket, to his daughter, 

 saying, " My davg/Uer, there is what 

 belongs to you •" and then holding u]> 

 the child to its mother, he added, "and 

 this is mine.''' While fondling the 

 nilant, he rubbed its lips with some 

 garlic (leeling, and made it suck some 

 drops of wine from his golden goblet, 

 in order, as he said, to render the tem- 

 perament of the babe more masculine 

 and vigorous. 



'I'his jirecious child was [tlaced in a 

 cradle made of tortoise-shell, decorated 

 with silver ornaments ; which was ptc- 

 »erved with scrupulous care in the castle 

 v\ the city of Pau, until the period of 

 the Kevolution. 



THE MASSACRE OF ST. RAKTHOLOMinV. 



'J'he queen mother, who had spies 

 amongst the Huguenot i)arty, learned 

 the nature of their dclilterations ; and 

 this determined her lo exjieditc the ex- 

 ecution of the plot, which was fixed for 

 tite break of <luy on Ihe festival of St. 



595 



Bartholomew, the 24th of August, 1672. 

 'J'his resolution took place at the 

 Tnileries, between Catherine, the Duke 

 of Anjou, the Duke of ISevers, the 

 Count of Angonleme, bastard brother of 

 the king, Birague, keeper of the seals, 

 Marshal Tavannes, and Ihe Count de 

 Retz. It was deliberated in this secret 

 council, whetiier the King of Isavane, 

 the Prince of Conde, and tlic Montmo- 

 rcncics, shou!<l be registered among the 

 proscribed. In the Ak'nioirs of Marsh.1l 

 de Tavannes, he asciibes to himself the 

 glory of having, by his advice, saved Ihe 

 lives of the two princes ; but it appears 

 that nearly all the members of the 

 council were of that opinion. Some 

 writers have pretended that the original 

 idea was to inspirit the Calvinist and 

 Catholic leaders, so as to' bring them to 

 open combat ; and that, when exhausted 

 with their eflbrts, the king should have 

 issued from the Louvre at the head of 

 his guards, have fallen indiscriminately, 

 upon the mass, and then made a 

 butchery of the whole: in short, it is 

 difficult lo say whether the massacre 

 was intended to have been so general. 

 " For myself," exclaimed the <|ueen 

 mother, after the conclusion of the horrid 

 tragedy, " / have no more than six upon 

 my conscience.^' Great God! what a 

 horrible species of sell-security ! ! 



The first great deed of vengeance — 

 the murder of Admiial Colignj — was 

 cr)nlidcd to his implacable foe, the Duke 

 of Guise; and, in order to obliterate 

 even the shadow of suspicion from the 

 minds of the Huguenots, the princes of 

 Lorraine preleniled to ha\e fears f)f 

 violent measures from Iheir enemies, 

 and under this pretext demanded- Ihc 

 king's permission lo retire. " G'o," 

 said Charles, with an assumed air of 

 rage, "?/"j/wj( are culpable, I shall easily 

 kiioiv how to find yon af^ai:i." Being 

 thus dismissed, and enabled to conceaf 

 their movements under the semblance 

 ot the embarrassment that uniformly ac- 

 companies an intended departure, lliey 

 were the more easily enabled lo as- 

 semble theii creatures without creating 

 suspicion. 



'J'he provost then received his instruc- 

 tions, which weie, that Ihc signal was 

 to be Ihe lolling of the bell of the palace- 

 clock i twofiambeaus were to be placed 

 in a certain window ; body-guards were; 

 lo be stationed in all Ihe squares and 

 cross-ways ; and, in order lo know one 

 another, the assassins were lo wear a 

 white scaif lied round Ihe left arm, and 

 to place white crosses in their caps. 



Aftes 



