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the marriage was concluded; that on the 22d, the life of the Admiral was attempted by a private assassin; and that, on the 24th, the massacre of St Bartholomew was perpetrated.

The question for consideration is, whether, in making peace with the Protestants in 1570, the Court was sincere in its professions of intending to put an end to civil dissensions in France, by giving religious freedom to the Hugonots, or meant, under the mask of friendship, to entrap and destroy the leaders of that party, in the hope that, when the chiefs were cut off, their followers would be induced, by fear or seduction, to return into the bosom of the Church.

That schemes for overreaching and taking by surprise the chiefs of the Hugonots, were in agitation among the Catholics after the peace of 1570, appears from authorities that cannot be disputed; but that the Court continued to act systematically on that plan, from the conclusion of the peace to the massacre of St Bartholomew, which was the completion of the project, is a point that will require a longer and more difficult discussion.

Annexed to the Memoirs of William de Saulx, eldest son of Marshal Tavannes, there is a confidential communication made by his father to the King, after the peace of 1570. In this paper, the Marshall takes it for granted, that no person can be so absurd as to believe or wish that the present state of things in France will last; and thereupon he discusses in what manner hostilities are likely to be renewed. He pronounces, that the war will recommence by one party attempting to seize on the chief persons of the opposite side, and recommends various precautionary measures to the King and his brothers, to guard them from sudden attack. With respect to the Hugonots, he observes, that to surprise the places they possess, to extinguish their religion, or to break their alliances with foreign powers, is impossible. 'Ainsi, il n'y a moyen que de prendre les chefs 'tout à la fois, pour y mettre un fin.'- Les choses,' he adds, < sont en bon train pour venir au dessus des affaires, pourvû ' que l'on ne se laisse attraper; et leur faut tenir parole, pour 'ne leur donner occasion de prendre les armes. , *

The policy here recommended by Tavannes, is precisely that which the Court is charged by its enemies with having followed; viz. to quiet the suspicions of the Hugonots by a faithful execution of the treaty, and to take advantage of the confidence inspired by that conduct, to bring together and secure their chiefs. Be it remembered, that when this opinion

* Mem. de Guillaume de Saulx, Seigneur de Tavannes, 81.

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was given, Tavannessans grade, gouvernoit l'état.'* tome relates of him, that judging of the difficulty that would be found to reduce the Hugonots by open force, from the resistance they made at Montcontour, he decided, qu'il y falloit • venir la par voye du renard,' and with that view advised the peace of 1570, et au bout de quelque tems la St Barthelemi s'inventa, de la quelle M. de Tavannes avec le Comte de Retz furent les principaux auteurs.' + In another passage, Brantome repeats his assertion, that it was Tavannes who advised the Queen to make the peace of 1570, non qu'il la desiroit • autrement, sinon d'autant pour se preparer mieux à la fête de • S. Barthelemi, et attirer à soi par ce moyen M. l'Admiral à • Blois et à Paris, comme il fit.' The Viscount de Tavannes, on the contrary, maintains that, after the battle of Montcontour, his father recommended a vigorous prosecution of the war, and that this advice was defeated by the artifices of the Cardinal of Lorraine, who inspired the King with jealousy of his brother; and that it was owing to the subsequent bad conduct of the war, his father having retired from the command, and to the partial successes of the Hugonots in different parts of France, that peace was made in 1570. Of the peace he the Queen desired it, lest the Hugonots should be entirely crushed; the Guises consented to it, sous l'esperance d'attraper les Huguenots disarmez;' and Tavannes, tired of the fluctuations of the Court, ne s'y opposa pas.'§ Brantome may therefore be in the wrong in saying, that it was by counsel of Tavennes the peace was made; but it is clear, from the extract we have made, that he was not mistaken in attributing to that hoary veteran the advice, qu'il falloit venir par la voye • du renard.'

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It is well known, that the King called the peace of 1570 his own peace, and boasted that he made it in opposition to his mother and other counsellors, saying, he was tired of civil dissensions, and convinced from experience of the impossibility of reducing all his subjects to the same religion. It is also known, that, contrary to what had happened after former treaties, pains were taken on this occasion to observe the articles of pacification, and to punish those who infringed them; || that the complaints of the Hugonots were listened to with attention, and their reasonable requests granted; ¶ that their friends were in favour, and their enemies in apparent disgrace at Court; and

*Tavannes, 374. + Brantome, apud Castelnau, ii. 524. Brantome, apud Castelnau, iii. 3. Tavannes, 358, 372. Deserres, iv. 6, 7, 8. Thuan. iii. 67-d'Aubigné, 525.

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that, in his conversations with Montmorenci, the King often spoke with praise and admiration of the Admiral. Repeated missions were sent to the Hugonot chiefs at Rochelle, with assurances of good will from the King; with proposals of marriage between his sister and the Prince of Bearn; and with projects of alliance with England and other Protestant powers, and of war with Spain, the great bulwark of the Catholic cause. The deputies of the Hugonots, that went to Court on' the affairs of their party, met with marked favour from the King, and some of them were admitted into his intimacy; ‡ and when the Admiral was at length induced to repair to Blois, he was received with extraordinary respect and apparent affection, restored to all his honours and dignities, and loaded with benefits and marks of confidence. This apparent favour of the Admiral continued without interruption for many months. When absent from Court, the King maintained a correspondence with him by letters; and, in their private conversations, he affected to unbosom himself without reserve to his new friend, cautioned him against his mother and her Italian favourites, spoke disparagingly of his brother, and, in giving the characters of his Marshals, freely described their faults and censured their vices. § The question at issue is, whether this conduct on the part of Charles was the result of deep dissimulation, or the expression of his real sentiments at the

time.

Among the best informed and most judicious of the Italian historians, who wrote soon after the St Bartholomew, there is but one opinion on this point. We have already referred to the works of Capilupi and Adriani, both of whom were contemporaries of the massacre. Capilupi seems to have had his information from the persons most deeply connected with the contrivance and execution of this tragedy. Adriani had access to the papers of Cosmo, Grand Duke of Tuscany; and no doubt can be entertained, he assures us, that the massacre had been long premeditated, and that it was not produced by any sudden danger or necessity, as the Court pretended. In his account of the peace of 1570, Davila tells us, that the King, Queenmother, Duke of Anjou, and Cardinal of Lorraine, determined to resume their old and often interrupted projects, to give peace to the Hugonots, to get the foreign armies out of France, e poscia, con arte e con opportunita, opprimere i capi della fat، tione. He praises Charles, as above all things a most per

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* Deserres, 12.

f Ibid. 19.

VOL. XLIV. No. 87.

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+ Deserres, 13. + Matthien, 341. || Adriani, Lib. xxii. 49.

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fect master of simulation, and describes his whole conduct, from the peace to the St Bartholomew, as contrived to entrap the Hugonots, and entice them into the snares he had prepared for their destruction. *

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But laying aside, as some French authors are inclined to do, the opinions of Italian politicians, as being too refined in their speculations, and too loose in their principles to be worthy of credit, if we are to be guided by the best historians, and most distinguished critics among the French Catholics themselves, we shall find little doubt in pronouncing that the Court, and of course the King, was insincere in professions of amity to the Hugonots. Even Daniel is convinced, that the Queen would never have consented to the treaty of 1570, que dans l'espe6 rance de faire tomber les chefs de la faction dans les piéges 'qu'elle leur preparoit.' + Pere Griffet, one of the best and most judicious of the French historical critics, is also of opinion, that the peace of 1570 was made for the sole purpose of enticing the chiefs of the Hugonots to Paris, dans la vue de les envelopper plus surement et plus aisément dans un massacre général.' Le Laboureur, the diligent and intelligent commentator on Castelnau's Memoirs, speaking of the same peace, observes,- Il n'y a point d'historien depouillé de passion, qui puisse écrire sans fiel l'infraction sanglante de cette paix, dejà concertée avant même que de la conclure. '§ Mezeray considers the peace of 1570 as made for the purpose of entrapping the Hugonots;- pour couper le Huguenotisme par le pied sans ébranler l'état,' it was necessary, he says, revenir au premier dessein de terminer la guerre par addresse, et d'envelopper les chefs dans les embûches.' Matthieu, who lived still nearer the St Bartholomew, is equally convinced of the insincerity of the Court. After the peace of 1570, he tells us, the King, jealous of the continued residence of the Hugonot Chiefs at Rochelle, resolut de venger les of⚫fences faites à son age, à sa religion et à sa couronne, et por⚫ tant la cognée à la racine des divisions, en abattre les chefs.

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La prudence convertie en une grande dissimulation, et la re'solution conduite par un grand secret, firent naître cette 'cruelle et furieuse journée des Matines de Paris.'¶ De Thou alone, with his usual caution, hesitates to admit this long meditated treachery; and, if real, he is disposed to ascribe it to the Queen-mother, and to her secret Council, without the

* Davila, i. 261-284. Traité des Preuves, 137 Mezeray, ii. 1066.

+ Daniel, x. 474.
§ Castelnau, ii. 767.
¶ Matthieu, 331.

knowledge of the King. * Let us see whether there are not grounds for believing in the accusation that were unknown to De Thou.

While Cardinal d'Ossat was employed at Rome to solicit a divorce between Henry IV. and Margaret of Valois, he was told by Pope Clement VIII. (Aldrobandini), that when Cardinal Alessandrino, nephew of Pius V., was sent to the Court of France to prevent the marriage, Charles IX., in reply to his arguments, took him by the hand, and said to him, Mon'sieur le Cardinal, tout ce que vous me dites est bon, je le re• connois et en remercie la Pape et vous; et si j'avois quelque 6 autre moyen de me venger de mes ennemis, je ne ferois point ce marriage, mais je n'en ai point d'autre que celui-ci.' His Holiness added, that, when the news of the St Bartholomew arrived at Rome, Cardinal Alessandrino exclaimed, Loué soit Dieu, le Roi de France m'a tenu promesse !' This anecdote was known to Pope Clement, because he was at that time auditor to Cardinal Alessandrino, and had accompanied him to France. He wrote down the story at the time, and was sure he could still find it in his own handwriting among Cardinal Alessandrino's papers. + To this evidence, from authority so direct and unquestionable, passing through so few hands, and those of such high consideration, with no conceivable motive to pervert the truth, or to blacken the memory of Charles, we see no possible objection that can be made. It follows, that the King was insincere in his professions to the Hugonots, and that he made use of his sister's marriage, as a covert to con ceal, and an expedient to accomplish, his designs.

The same conversation is related by Capilupi, with slight variations in the details, but with an agreement in the main facts that corroborates the story; and with this addition, that after holding this discourse, the King took a valuable ring from his finger, and presented it to the Cardinal as a pledge of his attachment to the church. Alessandrino declined the ring, saying he desired nothing in addition to the King's word, and went away satisfied with what had passed. It is a confirmation of this part of the story, that Sir Thomas Smith, ambassador from England, who, with the Admiral and the other Hugonots, was completely deceived by the King's profound dissimulation, wrote exultingly on the occasion to his friend Lord Burleigh• The foolish Cardinal went away as wise as he came; and the

* Thuan. ii. 804.

Lettres d'Ossat, 22d Sept. 1599, iii. 419. Ed. of 1732,
Stratagema, 1572.

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