uc 
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FRANCE, 
History: Duke of Rohan had again roused the Protestants in se- 
—~—" veral provinces, he himself returned with most of his 
troops, leaving 3000 chosen soldiers for the 
of Casal. The Protestants were soon red 
mean time, the Duke of Savoy, violating his engage- 
otection 
. ments, had joined the Spaniards in the siege of Casal ; 
hid 
> 
Unite with 
oly Rete rs 
ly us tary cly1 
power, to reduce him to submission. In a 
short time, his troops approached Turin; but while 
the Duke was ing for the defence of his capital, 
lena he Givectiope« mannat 
against Pignerol, an important ‘ortress, whi 
from Dauphiné to Italy, vidik am 
12 days. Louis now joined the army ; and, in a short 
time, reduced the whole of Savoy ; which so afflicted 
the Duke, that it caused his death. This circumstance 
facilitated the of she Kosei ~ their cameee 
as stopt by a pestilential disorder, that carri 
bea n “ a ateded. ton bodies and minds of 
of the survivors. . Notwithstanding this calamity, 
w to to the relief of Casal, 
of Rati was concluded, which 
of Nevers in the le 
marquisate of 
The designs of the Cardinal against the House of 
Austria sa pened ripe for execution. The Emperor 
Sn eh atone ances of Germany were at war: 
famous vus Adolphus of Sweden embraced 
ren eee ing this as an excellent 
opportunity of ing Austria, agreed to pay Gus- 
tavus an annual subsidy of 1,200,000 livres; in consi- 
deration of which, the Kin of Sweden was to maintain 
in Germany an army of 36. nen ; i 
gl i Duke oheBarare, sod a) ithe 
i of atholic e, provi not 
pou wane nt rights of the Ro- 
join the Finperor ; and to respect 
a herever he should find it esta- 
. blished.. Thus Richelieu avoided giving alarm or of- 
the princes of 
Saleen antral salons 
tion of the Duke of Orleans and the Queen-mother. 
His vigilance and activity were so that his ene- 
mies had no chance against him. Mary de Medicis was 
banished the kingdom.; her son Gaston was obliged to 
beg his life ; the Marshals Morillac and Montmorency 
were brought to the block ; and the most arbitrary sen- 
tences were daily passed, in a court erected for the trial 
of his enemies. 
ign of Richelieu, of humbli 
ey Ap pe 
orce in 
im from 
ho Oxenstein put Louis i ali 
: x aig is in possession 
Piilipabuegs and Alsace, on condition that France 
ae | 
595 
should take an active part in the war against the Em- 
or. Richelieu H0..c oe an alliance with we 
nited Provinces, in aining part of the 
Low Countries ; and he pi cl aise deed ae 
A frend rea a4. same time entered into with the 
Duke of Savoy, in order to strengthen the French inte. 
rest in Italy. 
History. 
Ina short time, the activity of Richelieu had pre- Immense 
five armies for active service. The first and Prepara- 
largest was sent into the Low Countries, under the com- 
mand of the Marshals de Chatillon and Bregé ; the se- 
cond, under the command of the‘Duke de la Force, en- 
tered Lorraine ; the third, under the Marshal de Crequi, 
entered Milan; the fourth was led into the Valteline 
by the Duke of Rohan ; and the fifth, under the Duke 
of Saxe Weimar, acted on the Rhine. But these im- 
mense armies performed scarcely any thing correspond- 
ing to their magnitude, or to the hopes and designs of 
Richelieu: indeed, they were too great for the finances 
of France to support, The Cardinal’s household alone, 
which was more splendid than the King’s, swallowed 
up four millions a year. There was no resource but in 
the by ee Jeng of money-edicts; and these 
were so rapidly, and to such a degree, that 
at one sitting, the parliament were obliged to register 
42 of them, without examining, or even reading them. 
The uences were such as might be anticipated : 
the armies in Flanders and Germany mouldered away 
for want of provisions. The first campaign was every- 
where unsuccessful, e tin the Valteline, where the 
Duke of Rohan maintained himself with a few troops, 
against the Germans and Spaniards, while the Marshal 
de Crequi, though assisted by the Dukes of Savoy and 
Parma, could make no progress in Italy. Richelieu, 
in order to raise so many armies, was obliged to expose 
France, on the side of Picardy, to the incursions of 
the allies. The, Spanish army commanded by Prince 
Thomas of Savoy and the celebrated Piccolomini, en- 
tered this province— the Somme—made them- 
selves masters- of Corbie—and spread terror into the 
capital. _ Richelieu, under these calamities, remained 
cool and unshaken, and put forth all bis vigour and ac- 
tivity. His own guards were dismissed; the horses 
and domestics of the wealthy, and the personal services 
of the r, were put in requisition ; and, in a short 
time, 50,000 men’ were assembled for the defence of 
Paris. The command of these was divided between 
the Duke of Orleans and the Count de Soissons, who 
compelled the enemy to repass the Somme, and retook 
Corbie. Inthe mean time, the Spaniards rav. Bur- 
gundy, and invaded Guienne, but they no ad- 
vantage from these successes. 
tions of 
rance. 
Still, however, France had suffered considerably by Plan to as- 
the war in which she had en 
was known to be the. adviser 
increased, The Duke of Orleans and the Count de 
Soissons, as soon as had freed their country from 
the Spaniards, formed a plot to assassinate him in the 
King’s a ent; and the blow would have been struek, 
hadnot ‘song egg of ara ye at peavey 
moment when the conspirators ¢; e si for 
the assassination. Scarcely, however, had the inal 
thus narrowly escaped, when he was to danger 
from a quarter where he least dreaded it. Father Cau- 
pin a Jesuit, confessor to the King, employed the in- 
uence and oppertunityy which his character gave him, 
to exasperate mind of Louis, by representing the 
Cardinal as the oppressor of  ctnsncther; the ty- 
ed; and as Richelieu sassinate the 
it, his unpopularity ©#4inal. 
