604 



Memoirs of Henry (he Great. 



kept a( a distance on liciiig told it ^^as 

 necf'ssary liis majpsly should b" fordi- 

 witli conveyed to tlic Luiivic, for llic 

 purpose of having ills wound examined. 

 Saint Michel, one of the king's •r<'nlle- 

 nien in ordinary, had followed the 

 prince, but was not near the e!irriag;e 

 at the time of the assassination. Hecau)e 

 up on hearing the noise, drew his sword, 

 snafciied the Moody knife from tlie hand 

 of the regiride, whom be was on the 

 point of killing, had not the Uiike 

 d'Epcrnon interposed to prevent the act. 

 The villain was then confided to proper 

 li^nds, and led away. During the whole 

 .scene every thing continued perfectly 

 quiet at tiie arsenal ! 



"Two circumstances were particu- 

 Jarly remarked," says Mezerai, '• from 

 which the reader may draw what in- 

 ference be pleases. 'I'iie one was, that, 

 immediately after tiie seizure of 

 Kavillac, seven or eight men arrived 

 ^^itl) swords in hand, saying it was re- 

 (juisite the assassin should be killed ; 

 but they instantaneously concealed 

 themselves among the crowd. The 

 other fact was, the murderer's not being 

 immediately conveyed to prison, but 

 placed in the hands of Montignj : that he 

 was kept for two days in the Injtel de 

 Rais, with so little care, tlial all ranks of 

 people were permitted to communicate 

 vvi'h bim ; and among others, an ec- 

 clesiastic greatly indebted to the king, 

 wlio, having addressed and slykd 

 Ravillac »«// fripwl, cautioned the pri- 

 soner to beware and not imjilieate the 

 innocent." 



The confusion and pieicing screams 

 wliicb at intervals resounded in the 

 breeze, at length gained the ears of t!ie 

 queen. Her majesty inquired the 

 reason ; when, observing nothing but 

 sad countenances, and many bathed in 

 tears, she immediately conceived the full 

 extent of the loss sustained. Tiic 

 piineess in consequence rushed from 

 her study, and meeting the chancellor, 

 exclaimed, "Alas! sir, the king is 

 dead !" — upon which that grave per- 

 sonage, without testify i.ig the least 

 emotion, replied : '• Your viajcsty must 

 excuse me — kings never die in Franve.^'' 

 Having then requested her to re enter 

 the apartment, Villcroy immediately 

 followed, exclaiming : " Madam, we 

 must reserve our te.irs for another 

 occasion, lest in shedding them at the 

 present moment we rei;der our affairs 

 desperate: it is your majesty who must 

 now toil for us; we stand in need of 

 remedies, and not tears." lie tl;en re- 



pr<'sented that time was precious, and 

 that advantage ought to be lak»-n of 

 the absence of the two princes of the 

 l)lood, and the weakness of the third, to 

 decbire herself regent durinic the 

 minority of the king her son. On the 

 same day, being the Mtli of May, 

 the queen was declared regent din'iiig 

 the minority of her son, an<l vested 

 with all the requisite powers and au- 

 thority. 



'ihe body being embalmed, and 

 jdaced in a leaden coflfin, says Perefixc, 

 Mas then deposited in a wooden bier 

 covered with cloth of gold, under a 

 canopy in Hie royal apartment. Alter 

 eighteen days it was cotidneted to St. 

 Denis, and buried with the accustomed 

 ceremonies. 



Henry the Great perished at tiie age 

 of lifty-scven years and five months, 

 having reigned twenty-one years ; tif 

 which period the first five were spent 

 in fighting for the conquest of his king- 

 dom, while subsequently be liad l<) 

 maintain the war against Spain; so that 

 Providence only accorded him twelve 

 years to repair the countless evils which 

 forty years of civil warfare, revolts, and 

 those convulsions brought on by anarchy 

 and disorders of every description, had 

 occasioned. Notn itiistanding this, at 

 the period of bis decease, all the <lelits 

 of tiie stale were liquidated, the people 

 eased of the burthensome taxations w hirh 

 bad completely overi)Owered tlient, 

 and agriculture bad regained its m(»l 

 llonrisliing condition. VV'e Iihvc hefoie 

 adverted to t'le e.florts made by Henry 

 in support of the liberal sciences, 

 letters, and the arts: on ascending the 

 throne the state was indebted in no less 

 a sum than three hundred and thirty 

 million; and as money was then valued 

 at twenty-two livres the mark, the sum 

 was equivalent to upwards of eight 

 hundred and ten millions of tiie Hctnal 

 currency ; yet every farthing was liqoi- 

 dated ; in addition to which he left 

 twenty-four millions in bis treasury, 

 the fruits of a wise economy, that never 

 proved detrimental to princely muni- 

 ficence, which was carried to the 

 highest pilch under the auspices of this 

 magnanimous king. 



KAVILLAC. 



The result of a carelul examination 

 of the interrogatories of Ravillac ttjuls 

 to prove that he was a man of heated 

 imagination, who, conceiving, according 

 to bis statement, that Henry bad re- 

 solved on declaring war against the 

 pope, and did not take cHicieiil 

 nieasuie.- 



