100 



ESTRAYS ESTREMADIIRA. 



The emperor Alexander did much towards alleviat- 

 ing the condition of the people ; and servitude has 

 been, to a certain extent, abolished in this country. 



ESTRAYS and WAIFS. Estrays are any valu- 

 able beasts, not wild, found within a lordship, and 

 whose owner is not known, such as are commonly 

 impounded, and not claimed. They are then to be 

 proclaimed in the church and two nearest market 

 towns, on two market days, and, not being claimed 

 by the owner, belong to the king, and now com- 

 monly, by grant of the crown, to the lord of the 

 manor, or the liberty. 



Waifs are good which are stolen, and waved, or 

 left by the felon on his being pursued, for fear of 

 being apprehended, and forfeited to the king or lord 

 of the manor. 



ESTREES, GABRIELLE D' (duchess of Beaufort), 

 the mistress of Henry IV. of France, was the daugh- 

 ter of Antoine d'Estrees, a descendant of one of the 

 noblest houses in Picardy, and born about 1571. 

 Gabrielle was about, twenty years of age when Henry 

 first saw her in a visit to Coeuvres castle ; and her 

 beauty immediately captivated him. Gabrielle, 

 however, who was attached to the duke of Belle- 

 garde, was at first little inclined to gratify the 

 wishes of the king. But Henry still urged his suit, 

 and often stole by the sentinels of his enemies, in 

 the dress of a peasant, to see the object of his love. 

 The heart of the lady was at length moved by such 

 ardour and devotion. She became the mistress of 

 the chivalric monarch, who never loved any other 

 woman so passionately. To escape the severe scru- 

 tiny of her father, Henry married her to a nobleman 

 named Damerval, of Liancourt ; but, says Sully, 

 il sut empecher la consommation du mariage, and 

 subsequently dissolved the marriage, on the ground 

 of DamervaPs impotency, although this nobleman 

 had had fourteen children by a former wife. Henry 

 intended to raise Gabrielle to the throne as his law- 

 ful wife. For this purpose, he not only procured a 

 divorce from Margaret of Valois, but also raised the 

 county of Beaufort to a duchy, which he bestowed 

 on Gabrielle, thus giving her a high rank at court. 

 This design was strongly opposed by Sully, who 

 often represented to the monarch the bad conse- 

 quences of such a measure. Gabrielle, therefore, 

 became his bitter enemy, and, instigated by the 

 enemies of the minister, she once so far forgot her- 

 self as to urge the king to discharge him. Henry's 

 reply was, "" By God, madam, if I must lose one of 

 you, I would rather give up ten mistresses like you, 

 than one servant like him." So ardent, however, 

 was his passion for Gabrielle, that he once wrote to 



her in a moment of danger, " If I am conquered, yon 

 know Hie too well to believe that I shall flee. My 

 lust thought shall be God's, my last but one yours." 

 Notwithstanding the determination of the king, and 

 the wishes of Gabrielle, their marriage never took 

 place. Just before Easter, in 1599, when negotia- 

 tions were already in train for the divorce of the 

 king, she retired from court, by the advice of Rene 

 Benoit, the king's confessor, and went to Paris to 

 spend passion week. On Maundy Thursday, having 

 eaten an orange after dinner, she was suddenly seized 

 with convulsions, which distorted her beautiful 

 countenance, and, on Saturday, she died in the most 

 excruciating torments. Apoplexy, with convulsions, 

 was the cause assigned for her death ; but no one 

 can doubt that she was poisoned. The king's grief 

 for her death was excessive ; and, what is seldom the 

 case, the royal mistress was universally lamented. 

 Her amiable disposition, the gentleness of her charac- 

 ter, and the modesty which prevented her from med- 

 dling with public affairs, won her general favour. 

 She had three children by the king, Caesar and A lex- 

 ander, afterwards dukes of Vendome, and a daugh- 

 ter, Catliarine Henrietta, afterwards the wife of the 

 duke of Elbeuf. Her biography, which appeared 

 some years ago, in France, is accompanied by an 

 interesting correspondence between her and her 

 royal lover. 



ESTREES, LODIS CESAR (due d 1 ), marshal of 

 France, and minister of state, born at Paris, in 1695. 

 He fought against the Spaniards, under the duke of 

 Berwick, and distinguished himself so -much that he 

 was raised to the rank of field-marshal, and inspec- 

 tor-general of the cavalry. In the war of 1741, he 

 obtained the confidence of marshal Saxe, by the pas- 

 sage of the Maine at Seligenstadt, his conduct at the 

 battle of Fontenoy, and the sieges of Mons and 

 Charleroi. In 1756, he received the baton of mar- 

 shal of France, and appeared in Germany at the 

 head of 100,000 men. His audience with Louis 

 XIV. closed with these words : " By the 1st July, 

 I shall have driven the enemy beyond the Weser, 

 and shall be preparing to enter Hanover." He kept 

 his word, and gained a decisive victory over the 

 duke of Cumberland at Hastenbeck. The Hano- 

 verians were preparing to leave the electorate, when 

 the marshal was recalled by court intrigues, and suc- 

 ceeded by Richelieu. After the defeat at Minden, 

 he was sent to Giesen, where he assumed no com- 

 mand, but was content to assist Contades with his 

 advice. At the close of the war, he was createn 

 duke. He died 1771, without issue. He merited 

 his dignities by his services, and was riot less 

 esteemed as a citizen than as a soldier. 



ESTREMADURA ; the name of a Spanish and 

 a Portuguese province. The Spanish province of 



Estremaditra is bounded N. by Leon and Old 

 Castile, E. by New Castile, S. by Andalusia, and W. 

 by Portugal ; about ninety miles each way. It 

 formerly made part of Portugal, but, being separ- 

 ated from that country, it is sometimes called Estre- 

 madura of Castile. The country is mountainous, and 

 the air in summer is exceedingly hot, wholesome to 

 the natives, but insupportable to strangers. Spring 

 water is scarce, and the inhabitants are compelled to 

 use principally that of ponds. The soil is fertile in 

 grain, grapes, and other fruits. Cattle and fine wool 

 constitute their principal commerce. The principal 

 towns are Badajoz, Merida, Truxillo, Xerea de los 

 Caballeros, Ellerena, Coria, and Placentia. Popula- 

 tion in 1797, 428,393. Square miles, 14,478. 



Estremadura, the province of Portugal, is bounded 

 N. by the province of Beira, E. and S. by Alentejo. 

 and W. by the ocean. Its mean length, from north 

 to south, is 124 miles ; its width seventy-seven miles. 



