he added to his former employments that of master of 
the ordnance. At length, in 1599, the sentence of di- 
di vorce, which he had so long and ardently desired, was 
‘pr from the court o reer poke oat, 
‘Henry’s ion was cooled ; reflection t t him, 
BD. laweCeets fad Hecli’ Gn the’ pole of staining his character 
‘and injuring ‘his people, Bier he made out the promise 
marry his mistress. He therefore resolved to be 
guided in his second marriage, -solely by the considera- 
tion of what would most benefit France ; and, in order 
to effect this, and please his subjects, he nominated Mary 
de Medicis, niece to the grand Duke of Tuscany. But 
‘having done this, in compliance with the wishes of his 
people, and from a conviction that thus he had served 
their interests, he did not scruple again to deliver him- 
self up to gallantry ; and his attachment to the Marchio- 
ness of Verneuil was the frequent cause of disagreements 
between him and his queen. 
In the mean time, the intrigues of the court of Spain 
e him great uneasiness and alarm, His ancient and 
inveterate enemy Philip was indeed no more, but his 
successor ‘inherited his designs of molesting the throne 
of Henry, and incited the Duke of Savoy to make war 
against him. The Duke, however, soon experienced the 
evil consequences of his proceedin, Bresse, Savoy, 
and Nice, were immediately subdued by the armies of 
France ; and in a very short Aces Bry es ‘ore not 
supported, as he expected, by Spain, he implo' me- 
‘diation of the Pope to extricate him out ofa war into 
which he had thus rashly plunged. In 1601, therefore, 
a treaty was accordi formed, on condition that the 
: Duke should cede to see einer ids onto 
extensive territory on the banks of the Rhine, and pay 
“freachery “100,000 crowns to defray the expences of thewar. The 
of Biron, during the war, had in a secret cor- 
em 10014 dence with the Marshal Biron, who, boasting that 
“he liad placed Henry on the throne of France, did not 
eee ae a ae 
‘and felt hi ‘humbled, duri is ig- 
norance even of the sores Apion of learning. These 
motives and feelings operated to make him wish-again for 
war ; and even at the time when he was leading the 
_ French’ ormies into the territories of the Duke of Savoy, 
he was engaged in a correspondence’ with that~prince. 
This dence had not escaped the vigilant atten- 
tion of the king, who, when at Lyons; reproached him 
with his seditious designs. The Marshal acknowledged 
his crime; professed his repentance ; protested future 
fidelity ; and thus succeeded in obtaining the forgiveness 
of his sovereign, who endeavoured still farther to awaken 
‘his gratitude, by the of a large sum of money ; and 
‘to keep him out of the way of future guilt, by appoint- 
harry first to the court of England, and 
‘ _to the Swiss cantons. But the Marshal had 
no sooner returned from these’ embassies, than he re- 
sumed his ambitious projects ; entered into an alliance 
with the courts of Spain and Turin; and succeeded in 
drawing over the Duke of Bouillon, and the Count d’Au- 
3 
-vergne, natural son to Charles 1X. Circumstances seem- - 
* ed favourable to the plans of the conspirators ; disaffec- 
tion was widely spread though France, in’ uence of 
Henry's yielding to the influence of his mistress in the 
‘ nomination to ecclesiastical’ dignities; his ne- 
glect of the Protestants; and the numerous imports 
‘which it was necessary to lay on, in order to support the 
state. These compleints, in some respects: well-ground- 
FRANCE. 
587 
ed, in other respects without foundation, were listened to _ History. 
and enco' by the Marshal and his associates ; and 
as the counties of Anjou, Poitou, Saintonge, Auvergne, 
Guienne and Languedoc, were in a state of revolt, they 
already anticipated the overthrow of the power of Henry. 
But their hopes and plans were disappointed. They had 
employed a person of the name of La Fin in their most 
secret intrigues, who, in a moment of di , revealed 
to Henry the whole of the conspiracy. Henry did not 
hesitate for the shortest period, in what manner he ought 
to act ; but first went into the seditious provinces, and~ 
having overawed the people by his firmness, or brought’ 
them back to their duty by his popular manners, and by’ 
the recollection of what he had done and suffered for’ 
France, he returned to Fontainebleau, determined to bring 
the principal conspirators to the block, before they were 
strengthened by the troops of Spain and Savoy. Biron 
was at this time in his government of Burgundy, strength- 
ening the most important cities in that province, when 
he received an order from Sully, as master general of 
the ordnance, to send back the cannon of Burgundy, 
under pretence of new casting them. No sooner, how- 
ever, were transported beyond the government of 
Biron, than Sully stopped the new ones, with which he 
had promised to replace them. This first excited the 
suspicions of Biron, which were confirmed by his learn- 
ing that La Fin had bad a private conference with the 
king. He now lost all his courage and presence of mind ; 
and though he could not hope for the royal clemency, 
yet such was his agitation, that he obeyed the summons 
of Henry, and along with the Count D’Auvergne, re« 
paired to Fontainebleau. Henry’still wished, if possible, 
to save him ; and, for ‘this purpose, endeavoured to lead 
him to: a fall confession of his guilt, in order that he 
might justify his clemency ; but ‘the Marshal was obsti- 
te; and Henry was at length compelled to give way 
to the regular proceedings of justice. The* proofs being 
clear and positive, the judges unanimously’ pronounced 
the sentence of death. At the’place of execution, Biron 
behaved: in a manner by no means becoming his situation, 
or agreeably to his former conduct ; for he was seized 
by alternate fits of terror and and thus disgraced, 
in his last moments, the character of Intrepid, which he 
had acquired amidst the dangers of war, 
The of Bouillon was yet in arms, and refused to Henry ad- 
obey the royal summons for his appearance at court. vances a- 
Henry, therefore, determined by his presence to reduce geinst the 
this rebellious subject. Accordingly he directed his course penai. 
through the provinces of Auvergne and Limousin, and 4 
approached where Bouillon’ was, before that nobleman 
suspected he had left Fontainebleau. Astonished, there- 
fore, and unprepared for resistance, he ordered the go- 
vernors of the-towns which belonged to him to open their 
gates, and thus by his apparent sincerity succeeded in 
disarming the resentment of his sovereign. Scarcely, 
however, liad Henry returned to Paris, when the restless 
and discontented disposition of the Duke again broke out 
into acts of sedition; and he-found it absolutely necessa- 
ry to crash him at once and effectually, With’ a small 
but well-appointed body of infantry, supported by a train 
of artillery, under the command of the Duke of Sully, he 
pressed forward to Sedan ; and Bouillon again began to 
Biron ex- 
ecuted, 
consider his situation dangerous, On Spain he could not 
rely ; the Protestants, with whom ‘he had been a great 
favourite, were shocked at his disloyalty, and flocked to 
the standard of the King. He therefore again threw 
