72*3 
FRANCE. 
the head of an hundred horfe, he fuddenly advanced to 
Blois ; Mary, informed of his approach, eluded by a lad¬ 
der of ropes the vigilance of her guards ; and, defend¬ 
ing from a window, efcaped to the proteftion of Epernon, 
who conveyed her, in 1518, to Angoulefme, at the very 
moment that the court had determined to commit her a 
dole prifoner to the caftle of Amboife. 
On the firtf intelligence of the flight of the queen, the 
king and his favourite abandoned themfelves .to menaces 
the mod: harfli and violent. An hundred thoufand men 
were deflined to chaftife the temerity of the duke d’Eper- 
non, and the royal forces were commanded to aftemtle on 
every fide to recover the fugitive princefs ; but with the 
return of reafon Louis was awakened to the infamy of 
arming againfl his mother; and the duke of Luines was 
fenfible that the public voice would attribute to his coun- 
fels a war unnatural and odious ; he had therefore re- 
courfe to negociation. To haflen this, he recalled the 
bifhop of Lucon, whom he had baniflied from the fide of 
the queen-mother, to Avignon. That prelate, whofe 
commanding genius was already difcerned amidft the 
clouds of faction, was peculiarly acceptable to Mary ; 
though the duke d’Epernon at firft regarded him with 
jealoufy, the addrefs and inflnuating manners of Rich- 
lieu foon diflipated his fufpicions, and enfured his confi¬ 
dence. His influence again eftabliflied that tranquillity 
which was fo earneftly defired. The queen-mother, in 
1619, was reflored to liberty, and indulged in the privi¬ 
lege of changing the feat of her refidence at pleafure; 
in lieu of the government of Normandy, fhe received 
that of Anjou, with the caftles of Angers, Pont de Ce, 
and Chinon. Her adherents were reinftated in their for¬ 
mer appointments; and on this occafion Richelieu dif- 
played the molt honourable difintereflednefs; for amidft 
the various articles fiipulated, he feems alone to have 
negledted his own private advantage. Yet the queen- 
mother, though all her demands had been thus amply 
gratified, (fill refilled to appear at court; and nourifhed, 
at the caftle of Angers, the feeds of revolt. To fortify 
liimfelf againft her influence, Luines had reftored the li¬ 
berty, and laboured to engage the gratitude, of the prince 
ofConde. But the dread that union might have infpired, 
was balanced by the jealoufies of the reformed, by the 
murmurs of the people at new imports, and by the envy 
of the nobility. The duke of Mayenne retired to his 
government of Guienne ; the count of Soiflbns, the 
dukes of Vendofme, Nevers, Rohan, and Retz, and the 
duke d’Epernon, haftened to Angers, and once more 
oifered their Cervices to Mary de Medicis. 
But on this occafion the king, tenacious of his dignity, 
afted with vigour and firmnefs. With what forces he 
could haftily affemble he entered the province of Nor¬ 
mandy, confirmed by his prefence the allegiance of 
Rouen, reduced Caen, and compelled the duke of Lon. 
gueville, who had efpoufed the caufe of the queen, to 
ieek llielter in Dieppe. While his fuccefs infpired with 
confidence his own adherents, Mary, aftonifhed at an ala¬ 
crity fo little expedted, felt, with the approach of dan¬ 
ger, the natural timidity of her fex, rejecting the bold and 
decifive counfels of the duke of Rohan to retire to Bour- 
deaux, (he was perfuadea by the biftiop of Lucon to truft 
to negociation ; this had its full effedt; and a general par¬ 
don, in 1620, vyas granted to all thofe who (hould aeferve 
the clemency of their fovereign by immediate fubmiflion. 
Though the former difinterefted condudt of Richelieu 
commanded the admiration of all men; yet, in the pre¬ 
lent affair, the fincerity of Iris counfels were univerfally 
lufpected. A fecret article of the treaty too clearly re¬ 
vealed his ambitious motives. While the duke of 
Luines ftipulated to obtain the dignity of cardinal for the 
afpiring prelate, the biftiop of Lucon confented to be- 
ffow the hand of his niece, with an immenfe portion, on 
the nephew of the favotirite; and Mary of Medicis dif¬ 
cerned too late that (he had fallen a victim to the fpecious 
arts or the fubtic churchman. 
The next intrigues of the court were directed againft; 
the long-perfecuted hugonots. The duke of Rohan, fon- 
in-law to fhe duke of Sully, wfith his brother the duke 
of Soubife, exhorted them to defend their religious prin¬ 
ciples to the laft moment of their lives. But du Pleflis 
Mornai, who, in the reign of Henry IV. had diftinguifhed 
himfelf by his ardour in the cmife of calvinifm, now de- 
ferted the caufe, and furrendered the important caftle of 
Saumur, which commanded the padage of-the Loire. 
His example was followed by the duke of Tremouille, 
and the duke of Bouillon, refpeCtabie from his expe¬ 
rience, and principality of Sedan. Tire king himfelf, 
accompanied by Luines, now appointed conftable, the 
prince of Conde, and the duke de Lefdeguires, inverted 
St. Jean d’Angeli ; for thirty-five days the duke of Sou¬ 
bife repulfed with uncommon valour the inceftant attacks 
of the royal forces; their fuperior numbers at length 
prevailed ; and fome praife is due to the magnanimity of 
Louis, who praifed tire gallantry of the garrifon, and 
permitted them to depart with all the honours of war. 
From St. Jean d’Angeli, the royal army moved forwards 
towards Montauban; but the proteftants had provided 
that place with a numerous garrifon, commanded by the 
marquis de la Force. For three months Louis and his 
army prefted their attacks with incredible obftinacy ; but 
the lofs of the duke of Mayenne, with his braved officers 
and the flower of his arnry, obliged the king, in 1621, 
to abandon the enterprife, and lead back his forces to 
Paris. With the liege of Montauban the reputation of 
the conftable Luines expired ; and clofed a life, remark¬ 
able only for the lplendid and unmerited fortune that had 
attended it. 
During the convulfions of Italy in 1623, the Valteline, 
a country (ituated on the borders of Ferol and Milan, but 
annexed to the dominions of the latter, had been occu¬ 
pied by the hardy natives of that part of Swifterland dif- 
tinguilhed by the name of Grifons ; their pofteftion of it 
had been guarantied by Francis I. and Henry IV. of 
France; but Spain, with the acquifition of the duchy of 
Milan, extended her pretenfions alfo to the Valteline ; to 
oppofe her ambition, a confederacy was formed by the 
duke of Savoy and the ftate of Venice : and France rea¬ 
dily agreed to a league, in which her honour and intereft 
were equally involved. The court of Spain, alarmed at 
fo formidable a junction, confented in forne meafure to 
recede from her claim, and to fequefter the Valteline into 
the hands of the Roman pontiff, Gregory XV. a tempo-. 
rifing expedient which Louis for the prefent thought it 
prudent to acquiefce in. But the attention of the people 
of France was foon diverted from foreign to domeftic con-, 
cerns. The cardinal de Retz, had expired amidft the 
diffenlions of his country ; the partiality of the queen for 
the biftiop of Lucon, now known as cardinal Richelieu, 
was revived ; and the king, in 1624, was prevailed upon, 
to introduce into his councils a man deftined to reftore the 
ancient grandeur of France, and to eftablilh a new epoch 
in the annals of his fovereign. 
The political talents ot the cardinal Richelieu, have 
extorted the praife and admiration of pofterity. Fre¬ 
quently fuccefsful, and always great in his deftgns, he 
rofe with accumulated ftrength from defeat. The ambi¬ 
tious prelate had no fooner exchanged the crozier for the 
feals, than his open and fecret enemies were overwhelmed 
by the torrent of his power. His rivals in the cabinet 
were the firft victims to his arts ; and the duke of Vieu- 
ville, to whom had been entrufted the care of the finances, 
was not only dilmifted from his port, but even committed 
to the caftle of Amboife ; hisTucceflor, Marillac, endea¬ 
voured to avoid a fimilar fate by an obfequious compli¬ 
ance with the will of the cardinal; who no fooner had 
eftablifhed his authority at home, than he prepared to ex¬ 
tend the terror of his adminiftration abroad. His admif- 
lion into the conclave had not ferved to imprefs his mind 
witli zeal for the court of Rome; and his contempt for 
the fucceffor of St. Peter was difplayed in his order to ex- 
