i 
‘@ourt in- 
FRANCE. 
and had the Prince persevered, itis probable that Louis Histery-. é 
i i le difficulty in ree “vy 
justified, the Duke of Rohan, by re- 
mayor. The Prince of Condé, who, on 
death of Henry, had quitted his retreat in 
ded the regency, as first prince of the 
been tempted to fore; apes fis sey 
a splended palace and a sum of money. 
however, he was disconten and set himself 
the-Florentine favourites of the Queen; but 
herself entirely guided by the Count of Soissons 
caper wag , the is D’Ancre found 
, the Duke of Mantua dying without male 
issue, the Duke of Savoy, who had long wished to ob- 
of Italy, conceived that this would be a 
moment for the accomplishment of his ob- 
He therefore attem to seize Montserrat, an 
to Mantua, which was also claimed by the 
brother of the deceased Duke ; the latter, finding him- 
self unable to resist his opponent, applied for assistance 
of France, who, in conjunction with 
Spain and Venice, to su him. The 
Duke of Savoy, alt «agpantin the force which 
: 
E 
H 
Ht 
= } 
v 
i 
The princes of the 
glected, and sensible that 
591 
would have experienced co ficu 
ducing him to subjection ; but, after publishing a most 
violent manifesto, he permitted himself to be duped, 
laid down his arms, returned to court, and was arrest 
ed in the middle of the Louvre in 1616. The impri- 
sonment of the Prince in the Bastile awakened the sus- 
picions and alarms of the Dukes of Vendome, May- 
ence, Nevers, and Rohan, who, accompanied by a num- 
ber of the nobility, retired from court, and prepared 
to take up arms. This was the signal for public dis- 
contents being loudly ex ; and it was farther 
increased by the dismi from office of of 
state, of Vi , an old favourite and faithful servant 
of Henry IV., and by the promotion of the Bishop of 
Lucon, afterwards the celebrated Cardinal Richelieu, 
in his stead. 
Scarcely had the Bishop taken his seat at the coun- Cardinal 
cils of Louis, before he infused talents and vigour into Richelieu, 
of the state. Three armies were 4: D. 1616. 
all the eaenee 
immediately raised, and took the field, to support the 
royal authority; the first in Cham e, under the 
command of Duke of Guise ; second in the 
Nivernois, commanded by the Marshal Montigni; and Civil war. 
the third was entrusted to the Count D’Auvergne, 
whom the queen, drawing from the long confinement 
to which he had been sentenced by Henry, placed at 
the head of the royal forces in the Isle of France. The 
Duke of Guise reduced Chateau, Ponceau, and Rethel. 
The Marshal defeated and took prisoner the second son 
of the Duke of Nevers; and the Count surprised and 
dispersed the scattered bodies of the confederates, and 
shut up in Soissons the Duke of Mayence. This noble- 
man, son to the celebrated chief of the League in the 
reign of Henry, must have surrendered, had he not 
been preserved by an unexpected event. 
The Marquis D’Ancre, th 
and .des- The Italian 
Btates-gene- _ In 1614, the States-general were assembled, in com- pised by all the nobility of France, had hitherto up- favourites 
i i i i Reld his power in spite of their efforts to destroy Sata es 
tations and authority of the attorney-gene- 
ral, gave this brief reply : It fe my Glesthine, a also 
ueen’s. 
The king was now of age, but he still suffered him- 
self to be under the guidance and i 
and her favourites, 5 28 gee Sop a 
him; but he met with a more dangerous enemy in. yesteq, 
young Licenes, whose fortune was as remarkable as his 
own. Licenes had been placed by the Marquis himself 
about the person of the young king, into w favour 
he soon a himself by his assiduities, and the 
ardour with which he en into his childish amuse- 
ments. The Marshal thought that no danger of rival- 
ship could be from one who was occupied 
by such frivolous pursuits ; but this behaviour Licenes 
only ‘pe in order to conceal his ambitious views 
igns. He soon succeeded in inspiring the ki 
with a jealousy of the authority of the Marquis, ps | 
in ing him to shake off the yoke of his mother. 
The resolution of Licenes to destroy the authority of 
the Marquis, was strengthened by the refusal of the 
latter to unite his niece to Licenes’s brother. From 
that moment his ambition was whetted by the spirit of 
revenge. The king listened attentively to the repeated 
suggestions of Licenes, respecting the removal of the 
Marquis and the Italian favourites of the queen; and 
was struck with his representations, that his father 
Henry had ed with aversion their influence over 
her mind, and only been prevented, by her tears and 
entreaties, from sending them baths ie Geeone mee 
try. Nor was this the only topic on which he dwelt ; 
he insisted on the unpopularity which the king was ex- 
posed to, from aay! Imprisoned, at their suggestion, 
the first prince of the blood, and on the calamities 
which were impending over France. The restoration 
of tranquillity and loyalty, both among the nobility 
