FRA 
reinforced him with four thoufand troops;, and the inde¬ 
fatigable indudry of the marefchal Biron, jealous of the 
prefence of the king, and ambitious of military fame, had 
already rendered the blockade complete, and rapidly ad¬ 
vanced the fiege, when Henry himfelf Joined the army. 
But though the befiegers carried on their operations with 
redoubled ardour, yet the garrifon difputed every inch of 
ground ; the death of Portocarrero, who fell in a defpe- 
rate fally, diminifhed not their confidence ; and the de¬ 
fence was conducted with infinite (kill and bravery, until 
the approach of the archduke, who, at the command of 
Philip, with an army of twenty-five thoufand men, prelfed 
forwards to the relief of Amiens, and difplayed his ban¬ 
ners in fight of the French camp. The marefchal Biron, 
tranfported by his ufual ardour, advifed the king to ac¬ 
cept their offer of battle ; his counfel was oppofed by the 
cautious remonfirances of the duke of Mayenne, and 
Henry for once preferred the voice of prudence to that 
of glory; he kept within his intrenchments ; the arch¬ 
duke, after ineffectually endeavouring to provoke him to 
aCtion, retired to Arras, and refigned Amiens to its fate, 
which foon after furrendered. 
The greatefl part of the kingdom of France now acknow¬ 
ledged the authority of Henry ; but in Brittany the league 
Bill nourifhed the flames of fedition, and the fire was 1'e- 
cretly fed by the counfels of Philip duke of Mercoetir, of 
the houf'e of Lorrain. For two fucceflive years that prince, 
while he profeffed the moll profound refpedt for the 
throne, had maintained a proud and dangerous indepen¬ 
dence ; but the king, determined to extinguifh thefe 
fparks of civil commotion, aflembled his forces in the 
fpring of 1598, and rapidly advanced to Angers, when 
his further progrefs was rendered unneceflary by the fub- 
mifiion of the (fates of Brittany and of the duke of Mer- 
coeur. The former expelled the Spaniards from the few 
towns they ftill held, and restored the royal authority ; 
the latter, while he implored the clemency of his fove- 
reign, interefied in his favour the fair Gabrielle d’Eftrees, 
the favourite miffrefs of' Henry. The duke offered to 
beftow the hand of his daughter, the heirefs of his vad 
eftates, on Casfar, the natural fon of that lady by Henry. 
The nuptials were celebrated with princely magnificence 
at Angers; the fubmifiive proteffations of the duke of 
Mercceur were accepted ; and his former errors were con- 
figned to oblivion. 
The recovery of Amiens and the extinction of the 
league, opened the eyes of Philip to the vanity of thofe 
flattering dreams of conquefl by which he had been fo 
long deluded. His advanced age and broken health 
warned him of his approaching end, and he was unwilling 
to leave his inexperienced fuccelfor involved in a dange¬ 
rous war. Peace on the other hand was no lefs defirable 
te Henry, and fome refpite was required to tlofe the 
wounds under which his kingdom had bled for fo many 
years. The mediation of pope Clement, as the common 
father of both princes, was accepted ; at the requeft of the 
Roman pontiff a congrefs was held by the plenipoten¬ 
tiaries of France and Spain at Vervins in Picardy ; though 
the queen of England and the dates of Holland offered 
Henry the mod edeCtual fupport for the continuance of 
the war, he declined, with every profeflion of gratitude, 
a fydem which he declared mud end in the utter ruin of 
his kingdom ; and, after feveral difficulties which the zeal 
of Clement was fuccefsfully employed in removing, 
Henry figned a peace in 159S, by which he relinquidted 
his claims on Cambray, and obtained the reditution of 
Calais, Ardres, Dourlens, and all the towns in France, 
that Philip had acquired at the expence of fo much blood 
and treafure. 
The peace of Vervins had redored tranquillity to the 
Subjects of France ; but the gallantry of Henry could not 
enfure that happinels in private life, that his courage and 
condancy had commanded in public. He had formed a 
political union with Margaret, filler, to Charles IX. and 
Henry III. a princefs who united all the virtues and vices 
VoL. VII. No, 462. 
N C E. 7X7 
of the family of Valois, from whence die fprnng. The 
beauty of her perfon infpired paffion and ddfire in the 
colded bofom; her genius and imagination were cele¬ 
brated by all the poets of her time ; die fung and played 
with exquifite fkill'j and in dancing no lady of the court 
was her equal ; but fo violent was her love of pleafure, 
that at twelve years old die had facrifRed to it her 
honour; Entragues, Charry, the prince of Martigues, 
and the duke of Guife, had been luccedively admitted to 
her mod intimate favours, previous to her marriage with 
Henry ; and mingling the fervours of religion with the 
excelfes of diffipation, her hours afterwards were 
ternately occupied by enthudadiedevotion, and unredr. 
ed fenfuality. Yet Margaret had never been able : 
touch the heart of Henry; on whom, at the command of 
her brother Charles, die had bedowed her hand with ex¬ 
treme rehtdfance, and to whom her irregularities were r, 
fecret. That monarch, who had broken the formidable 
confederacy of the league, and affixed bounds to the am¬ 
bition of Spain, was himfelf the captive of the fair. His 
charadfer bore a ftrtking refemblarsce to that of Francis I. 
and he was always flattered and charmed by the compari- 
fon. Like Francis, he had early engaged in a variety of 
amours ; but for fome time his unlimited homage had 
been paid to the fair Gabrielle d’Eftrees, on whom he 
had fucceflively bedowed the titles of marebionefs of 
Monceaux, and duchefs of Beaufort. Two funs and a 
daughter were the fruits of their illicit commerce : and 
Henry, defirous of edablilhing in his offspring the peace¬ 
able fuccedion of the crown, even entertained thoughts 
of legitimating his natural children, and dividing his 
throne with the midrefs of his affeCtions. 
The queen, Margaret, who for feveral years had refided 
at Ulfon, a cadle in Auvergne, had confented to the dif- 
folution of a marriage, the effect of condraint ; and the 
Roman pontiff readily lidened to a meaftire calculated to 
promote the future tranquillity .of France; yet both Mar¬ 
garet and Clement expreffed the mod pointed disappro¬ 
bation, when informed that the duchefs of Beaufort was 
intended to be raifed to the vacant bed of Henry. The 
paflion of the king would probably have triumphed over 
all oppofition, and have placed the crown on the head of 
his midrefs, when his fame was preferved from this de¬ 
grading indance of weaknefs, by an event as decifive as 
it was unexpected. While the duchefs of Beaufort, in 
the vigour of health and pride of beauty, feaded her 
imagination with the grandeur of royalty, the vifionary 
profpect was diflblved by the hand of death. In the 
abfence of Henry die was Suddenly feized‘with convul¬ 
sions, and expired in 1599, a Spectacle too fiiocking for 
description. 
Henry, on the intelligence of her fate, abandoned him¬ 
felf to all the tranfports of Sorrow ; but that confutation, 
which was vainly proffered by the attention of his cour¬ 
tiers, he derived from time and the duties of his dation. 
His ancient and inveterate enemy, Philip, was no more; 
but the latent embers of commotion, which Hill lurked 
in the bofom of France, required all the care of the mo¬ 
narch to extinguifh. Previous to the peace of Vervins, 
he had endeavoured to fecure the tranquillity of the pro- 
tedants by the celebrated edict of Nanrz, dated April 13, 
1598. It granted to the reformed all the favours in 
which they had been indulged by former princes, and 
added a free admidionto all employments of trud, profit, 
and honour ; an eftablidiment of chambers of jutrice, in 
which the members of the two religion^ were equal ; and 
permiffion to educate their children, without redraint, in 
any of the univerfities. Yet thefe liberal conditions did 
not entirely banifh thar jealoufy which the lutgonots had 
conceived on the king’s abandoning their faith ; and their 
intrigues began to awaken the vigilance and care of the 
edabliflted government. The illicit connections of Henry, 
and the miferies he had experienced in his former mar¬ 
riage, rendered him extremely uncomfortable; and the 
remondrances of his miiiiders, and his concern for the 
8 U public 
