1632
Gaston d'Orléans proceeds to Brussels--His reception--Vanity of
Monsieur--Exultation of the Spanish Cabinet--Montmorency abandons the
interests of Richelieu--Marie de Medicis solicits his support--He
consents to second the projects of Monsieur--The Queen-mother and the
Duc d'Orléans sell their jewels in order to raise troops for the
invasion of France--Trial of the Maréchal de Marillac--Marie and Gaston
exert themselves to save his life--He is executed--The adherents of the
two royal exiles create dissensions between the mother and son--Gaston
joins the Spanish army--Munificence of Isabella--Gaston marches upon
Burgundy--Remonstrance of Montmorency--An ill-planned campaign--Battle
of Castelnaudary--Slaughter of the rebel leaders--Cowardice of
Monsieur--Montmorency is made prisoner--Gaston endeavours to make terms
with the King--He abandons the cause of his mother, and that of his
allies--He stipulates for the pardon of Montmorency--Richelieu refuses
the condition--The treaty is signed by Monsieur--Jealousy of Louis
XIII--The miniature--Montmorency is conveyed to Toulouse, and put upon
his trial--Double-dealing of the Cardinal--Obduracy of the
King--Execution of Montmorency--Despair of the Queen-mother--Death of
the Comtesse du Fargis--The Jesuit Chanteloupe and Madame de
Comballet--A new conspiracy--The Archduchess Isabella refuses to deliver
up the servants of Marie de Medicis--Gaston retires to Burgundy.
By the Treaty of Vic, Charles de Lorraine was, as we have shown,
compelled to refuse all further hospitality to his royal brother-in-law;
while Gaston found himself necessitated to submit to a separation from
his young wife, and to proceed to the Spanish Low Countries, where
Isabella had offered him an asylum. The amiable Archduchess nobly
redeemed her pledge; and the reception which she accorded to the errant
Duke was as honourable as that already bestowed upon his mother.
The Marquis de Santa-Cruz, who had recently arrived from Italy to
command the Spanish forces in Flanders, was instructed to place himself
at the head of all the nobility of the Court, and to advance a league
beyond the city to meet the French Prince; while the municipal bodies of
Brussels awaited him at the gates. He was lodged in the State apartments
of the Palace, and all the expenses of his somewhat elaborate household
were defrayed by his magnificent hostess.
"I am sorry, Sir," said Isabella gracefully, as Gaston hastened to offer
his acknowledgments on his arrival, "that I am compelled to quarrel with
you on our first interview. You should have deferred your visit to me
until you had seen the Queen your mother."
"Madame," replied the Prince, "it will be infinitely more easy for me to
justify myself for having previously paid my respects to yourself, than
to recognize in an efficient manner the debt of obligation which I have
incurred towards you."
After the compliments incident to such a meeting had been exchanged
between Isabella and her new guest, Gaston received those of the Spanish
grandees and the Knights of the Golden Fleece; and at the close of this
ceremony he proceeded to the residence of Marie de Medicis, who embraced
him tenderly, and bade him remember that all her hopes of vengeance
against Richelieu, and a triumphant return to France, were centred in
himself. The vain and shallow nature of the Prince was flattered by the
position which he had thus suddenly assumed. Thwarted and humbled at the
Court of his brother by the intrigues of the Cardinal; distrusted by
those who had formerly espoused his cause, and who had suffered the
penalty of their misplaced confidence; and impoverished by the evil
issue of his previous cabals, he had long writhed beneath his enforced
insignificance; whereas he had now, in his new retreat, suddenly grown
into authority, and been the object of general homage; his wishes had
become laws, and his very follies met with applause and imitation. The
little Court of Brussels awoke into sudden animation; and pleasure
succeeded pleasure with a rapidity which afforded constant occupation to
his frivolous and sensual nature.
His arrival had filled the Spanish Cabinet with joy, as they foresaw
that the war which he contemplated against his brother promised to
weaken the power of the French King, who, while occupied in reducing
this new enemy, would for the time be rendered unable to continue the
powerful aid which he had hitherto afforded to the opponents of the
House of Austria; a circumstance whence their own prospects in Flanders
could not fail to profit largely.
The project of this contemplated war was based upon two conditions: in
the first place, on the help promised by Philip of Spain himself; and in
the second, upon the pledge given by the Duc de Montmorency[169] to
embrace the cause of Monsieur, and to receive him in Languedoc, of which
province he was the Governor, and which afforded immense facilities for
carrying out his purpose.
Of the defection of the Duc de Montmorency from his interests,
Richelieu, generally so well informed upon such subjects, did not
entertain the most remote suspicion, as during all the factions of the
Court, Montmorency had hitherto acted as a mediator, and had
consequently upon several occasions done good service to the minister;
but, proud as he was, alike of his illustrious descent and of his
personal reputation, the Duke, like all the other nobles about him,
still sought to aggrandize himself. The descendant of a long line of
ancestors who had successively wielded the sword of Connétable de
France, he desired, in his turn, to possess it; and disregarding the
fact that Richelieu, whose policy led him to oppose all increase of
power among the great nobles, had definitely abolished so dangerous a
dignity, he suffered himself to be induced, by his representations, to
resign the rank which he already held of Admiral of the French fleet, in
order that it might prove no impediment to his appointment to the
coveted Connétablie. The result of this imprudence had been that while
the Cardinal possessed himself of the vacated post under another title,
Montmorency found that he had resigned the substance to grasp a shadow;
as, on his application for the sword so long wielded by the heads of his
family, he was met by an assurance that thenceforward no such function
would be recognized at the Court of France. The mortified noble then
applied for the post of Marshal-General of the King's camps and armies,
which, save in name, would not have differed from the rank to which he
had previously aspired; and again he was subjected to a resolute
refusal. Indignant at the rejection of his claim, the Duke had, at the
close of the preceding year, retired to his government of Languedoc; and
his anger against the Court was heightened by a third repulse which he
experienced when soliciting the government of the city and fortress of
Montpellier.
The irritation which he felt under this complicated disappointment,
combined with the consciousness that he had been duped by the Cardinal,
and compelled to act as the subordinate of an individual so inferior to
himself in rank, created a disgust which, carefully as he endeavoured to
conceal it, soon became evident to those about him; nor was it long ere
Marie de Medicis and Monsieur were informed of his disaffection.
Confidential messengers were immediately despatched to invite the Duke
to espouse their cause, and they found a powerful ally in the Duchess,
Maria Felicia d'Ursini, who was a near relative of the Queen-mother.
Weary of inaction, anxious for revenge, and, perhaps, desirous of
emulating the generous example of the Duc d'Epernon, who had previously
declared himself the champion of Marie, Montmorency was at length
prevailed upon to consent to their solicitations, and even to pledge
himself to receive Gaston in Languedoc; although at the same time he
urged him not to quit Brussels until the end of August, in order that he
might have time to complete the necessary preparations.
The prospect of possessing so powerful an ally strengthened the hopes of
the royal exiles; and immediately upon the arrival of Monsieur in the
Low Countries, the mother and son began to concert measures for the
success of their difficult and dangerous undertaking. The first
impediment which they were called upon to surmount was their total
inability to defray the expenses of a powerful army, and to secure the
necessary funds for maintaining a secret correspondence with their
French adherents. The munificence of Isabella supplied all their
personal wants, but even her truly regal profusion could not be expected
to extend beyond this point; and it was ultimately agreed that both
parties should forward at all risks their jewels by a trusty messenger
to Amsterdam for sale.
This had scarcely been accomplished when intelligence reached the
Archducal Court of the trial of the Maréchal de Marillac, ostensibly for
peculation, but, as the Queen-mother and her son were only too well
aware, simply for his adherence to their own cause. In vain did they
protest against so iniquitous a measure; in vain did they entreat the
interference of their friends in his behalf, and even menace his judges
with their personal vengeance, individually and collectively, should
they be induced to pronounce his condemnation; Richelieu in his
plenitude of present power overruled all their efforts; and the
unfortunate Maréchal, who had incurred the hatred of the Cardinal from
his favour with Marie de Medicis, was sentenced to lose his head by the
majority of a single voice, and was executed on the following day; while
his unhappy brother expired a short time subsequently in the fortress of
Châteaudun.[170]
Meanwhile the Court of Brussels became a scene of dissension and
violence. The favourites of the Queen-mother and those of the Duc
d'Orléans were engaged in constant struggles for supremacy; the Duc de
Bellegarde and the President Le Coigneux had refused to accompany
Monsieur, who was consequently entirely under the influence of
Puylaurens, with whom he passed his nights in the most sensual and
degrading pleasures; while Marie de Medicis, under the direction of her
constant companion and confidant Chanteloupe, spent her time in
devotional duties, and in dictating to the hired writers by whom she had
surrounded herself, either pamphlets against the Cardinal, or petitions
to the Parliament of Paris.
Alarmed by the execution of Marillac, Monsieur, however, roused himself
from his trance of dissipation; and disregarding the entreaties of the
Duc de Montmorency, resolved to join the army which Gonzalez de Cordova,
the Spanish Ambassador, was concentrating at Trèves, at the instigation
of Charles de Lorraine, who was anxious to delay the threatened invasion
of his own duchy by the French troops.
On the 18th of May Gaston d'Orléans accordingly took leave of the Court
of Brussels; when the Infanta, not satisfied with having during the
space of four months defrayed all the outlay of his household,
accompanied her parting compliments with the most costly and munificent
gifts, not only to the Prince himself, but also to every nobleman and
officer in his service. About the neck of Monsieur she threw a brilliant
chain of carbuncles and emeralds, from which was suspended a miniature
portrait of the King of Spain. Numerous chests of wearing apparel,
linen, and other requisites for the forthcoming campaign, swelled his
slender baggage to a thoroughly regal extent; while her treasurer was
instructed to deliver into his hands the sum of one hundred thousand
_patagons_,[171] with which to defray the expenses of the journey.[172]
Having spent a fortnight at Trèves, and received the troops promised by
Philip of Spain, the Prince resolved at once to prosecute his intention
of entering France; a resolution which was earnestly combated by
Montmorency, who represented that he was yet unprovided with the
necessary funds for the maintenance of the troops, and with the means of
defence essential to the success of the enterprise. Urged, however, as
we have stated, by the Duc de Lorraine, and presuming upon the prestige
of his name, Gaston refused to listen to this remonstrance; and after
having traversed the territories of his brother-in-law, he hurriedly
pursued his march through Burgundy at the head of his slender body of
Spanish cavalry. Contrary, however, to his expectations, he was not
joined by a single reinforcement upon the way, although his position as
heir-presumptive to the Crown secured him from any demonstration of
resistance. Langres and Dijon closed their gates against him, the
magistrates excusing themselves upon the plea that they held those
cities for the King; and on his arrival in the Bourbonnais, after
devastating all the villages upon his route, the imprudent Prince was
met by a request from M. de Montmorency that he would march his troops
through some other province, as no sufficient preparations had yet been
completed for his security in Languedoc. Once embarked in his rash
attempt, however, Gaston disdained to comply with this suggestion; and
pursued his way towards the government of the Duke, closely followed by
ten thousand men, who had been despatched against him by Richelieu,
under the command of the Maréchal de la Force.
Our limits will not permit us to do more than glance at the progress of
this rash and ill-planned campaign, which, in its result, cost some of
the best and noblest blood in France. Suffice it that the Cardinal,
alarmed by the rapidity with which Monsieur advanced towards Languedoc,
and rendered still more apprehensive by the defection of the
Maréchal-Duc de Montmorency, lost no time in inducing the sovereign to
place himself at the head of his army, in order to intimidate the rebels
by his presence; while, on the other hand, the States of Languedoc had
been induced through the persuasions of their Governor to register (on
the 22nd of July) a resolution by which they invited the Duc d'Orléans
to enter their province, and to afford them his protection; they
pledging themselves to supply him with money, and to continue faithful
to his interests.[173]
Montmorency, on his side, had received from Spain a promise that he
should be forthwith reinforced by six thousand men, and a considerable
amount of treasure for the payment of the troops; but Philip and his
ministers, satisfied with having kindled the embers of intestine war in
the rival kingdom, suddenly abated in their zeal; no troops were
furnished, and the whole extent of their pecuniary aid did not exceed
the sum of fifty thousand crowns, which did not, moreover, reach their
destination until the struggle was decided.
Thus Montmorency found himself crippled on all sides; and when the
rashness of Gaston had directed the march of the royal army upon
Languedoc, he was in no position to make head against them. Nevertheless
the brave spirit of the Duke revolted at the idea of submission, and he
accordingly prepared to protect himself as best he might by the seizure
of a few fortresses; and, finally, he received Monsieur at Lunel, on the
30th of July. Their combined forces amounted only to two thousand
foot-soldiers, three thousand horse, and a number of volunteers,
together with three pieces of ordnance; while, being totally destitute
of funds, there could remain but little doubt as to the issue of the
expedition.
One faint hope of success, however, still animated the insurgents. The
King, although upon his march, had not yet joined the little army of the
Maréchal de Schomberg, which consisted only of a thousand infantry and
twelve hundred horse, while he was totally destitute of artillery; and
Montmorency at once perceived that hostilities must be commenced before
the junction of the royal forces could take place. Schomberg had taken
up his position near Castelnaudary, in order of battle, on the 1st of
September; and, acting upon the conviction we have named, Montmorency
determined on an attack, which, should it prove successful, could not
fail to be of essential service to the interests of Monsieur. It was
accordingly resolved that the Maréchal-Duc should assume the command of
the vanguard, while Gaston placed himself at the head of the main body.
Montmorency was accompanied by the Comtes de Moret, de Rieux, and de la
Feuillade, who, after some slight skirmishes, abandoning the
comparatively safe position which they occupied, recklessly pushed
forward to support a forlorn hope which had received orders to take
possession of an advantageous post. M. de Moret, whose impetuosity
always carried him into the heart of the _mêlée_, was the first to
charge the royal cavalry, among whom he created a panic which threw them
into the utmost disorder; and this circumstance was no sooner
ascertained by Montmorency than, abdicating his duties as a general, he
dashed forward at the head of a small party to second the efforts of his
friend. The error was a fatal one, however, for he had scarcely cut his
way through the discomfited horsemen when some companies of Schomberg's
infantry, who had been placed in ambush in the ditches, suddenly rose
and fired a volley with such precision upon the rebel troop, that De
Moret, De Rieux, and La Feuillade, together with a number of inferior
officers, were killed upon the spot, while Montmorency himself fell to
the ground covered with wounds, his horse having been shot under him.
And meanwhile Gaston looked on without making one effort to avenge the
fate of those who had fallen in his cause; and he no sooner became
convinced that his best generals were lost to him than, abandoning the
wounded to the tender mercies of the enemy, he retreated from the scene
of action without striking a blow.[174]
As, faint from loss of blood, Montmorency lay crushed beneath the weight
of his heavy armour, he gasped out: "Montmorency! I am dying; I ask only
for a confessor." His cries having attracted the attention of M. de St.
Preuil, a Captain of the Guards, who endeavoured to extricate him, he
murmured, as he drew an enamelled ring from his finger: "Take this,
young man, and deliver it to the Duchesse de Montmorency." He then
fainted from exhaustion, and his captors hastened to relieve him of his
cuirass and his cape of buff leather, which was pierced all over by
musket balls. While they were thus engaged, the Marquis de Brézé,[175]
who had been informed of his capture, hastened to the spot, and, taking
his hand, bade him be of good cheer; after which he caused him to be
placed upon a ladder covered with cloaks and straw, and thus conveyed
him to Castelnaudary.[176]
The retreat of Gaston from this ill-fated field was accomplished in the
greatest disorder; on every side whole troops of his cavalry were to be
seen galloping madly along without order or combination; and it was
consequently evident to Schomberg that nothing could prevent Monsieur
and the whole of his staff from falling into his hands, should he see
fit to make them prisoners. The Maréchal possessed too much tact,
however, to make such an attempt, as in the one case he must incur the
everlasting enmity of the heir-presumptive to the Crown, or, in the
other, Gaston, roused by a feeling of self-preservation, might attempt
to renew the conflict, and finally retrieve the fortunes of the day. By
the fall of Montmorency, moreover, sufficient had been accomplished to
annihilate the faction of Monsieur; and thus the royal general offered
no impediment to the retreat of the Prince, whom he permitted to retire
in safety to Béziers with the remnant of his army.[177]
The subsequent bearing of Gaston d'Orléans was worthy of his conduct at
Castelnaudary; as, only three days after the battle, he suffered himself
to be persuaded that his best policy would be to throw himself upon the
clemency of the King. His infantry disbanded themselves in disgust, and
he was compelled to pawn his plate in order to defray the arrears of his
foreign allies; while the province of Languedoc, which regarded him as
the destroyer of its idolized Governor, returned to its allegiance, and
refused to recognize his authority.
Yet, notwithstanding these circumstances, there was a romance and an
interest attached to the position of the Prince, combating and
struggling as he affected to be, not merely for a recognition of his own
rights, but also for those of a widowed and outraged mother, which, had
he proved himself worthy of his exalted station, must have ensured to
him the regard and co-operation of a brave and generous nation; but
Gaston d'Orléans had been weighed in the balance, and had been found
wanting in all the attributes of his rank and birth, and a deep disgust
had replaced among the people the enthusiasm which his misfortunes had
previously excited. He sacrificed his friends without a pang, save in so
far as their fall involved his own success; he was ever as ready to
submit as he had been to revolt, when his personal interests demanded
the concession; and thus, satisfied that in every case he was wholly
governed by a principle of self-preservation, all save those whose
individual fortunes were hinged upon his own fell from him without
hesitation and without remorse.
Convinced that by the capture of the Duc de Montmorency he was rendered
powerless, the weak and selfish Prince, as we have said, sought only to
protect himself from the effects of his revolt; and, accordingly, when
he became aware that he could no longer contend, he expressed an
earnest desire to effect a reconciliation with his royal brother;
although, still infatuated by vanity, he proposed conditions as
exaggerated as though his position enabled him to enforce them in the
event of their rejection. It was, however, an easy task for the
negotiators to convince him that he overestimated his power, and to
induce him in a few days to make concessions as dishonourable as they
were humiliating. Not only did he consent to discontinue all intercourse
with the Courts of Spain and Lorraine, but also to forsake the interests
of the unhappy Queen-mother, who had fondly hoped to find in him a
protector and an avenger, and to abandon to the justice of the King all
those of his adherents who had incurred the royal displeasure, with the
sole exception of his personal household; in whose joint names M. de
Puylaurens pledged himself to reveal "all the particulars of such of
their past transactions as might prove injurious to the state or to the
interests of the sovereign, and to those who had the honour of being in
his service."
Even Richelieu himself could demand no more; and, accordingly, upon
these degrading terms, Monsieur received a written assurance from the
King that thenceforward he would receive him once more into favour,
re-establish him in his possessions, and permit him to reside upon that
one of his estates which should be selected by the royal pleasure,
together with the members of his household who were included in the
amnesty. This treaty was signed on the 29th of September, and the
residence assigned to Gaston was Champigny, a château which had
originally belonged to the ducal family of Montpensier.
Justice must, however, be rendered to the Duc d'Orléans in so far that
before he could be induced to put his hand to this degrading document he
made a vigorous effort to procure the pardon of the Maréchal de
Montmorency; but the attempt was frustrated by Richelieu, who, feeling
that the Prince was in the toils, would admit of no such concession.
The agents of the Cardinal were instructed to assure Monsieur that he
had no hope of escape for himself save in an entire submission to the
will of the sovereign; and this argument proved, as he was aware that it
would do, all powerful with the individual to whom it was addressed;
while he was, moreover, assured that his own pertinacity upon this point
could only tend to injure the interests of Montmorency, which might be
safely confided to the clemency of his royal master, and that his
personal submission and obedience must exercise the most favourable
influence upon the fortunes of both.
Easily persuaded where his own interests were involved, Gaston
accordingly ceased to persist, and the young and gallant Duke was
abandoned to the vengeance of the Cardinal. Louis XIII was at Lyons when
he received intelligence of the defeat of Monsieur; and he was no sooner
assured that the rebels had not taken a single prisoner, than he
determined to make an example of every leader who had espoused their
cause whom he might encounter on his journey. Ere he reached his
destination three noble heads fell by the hand of the executioner; but
still his vengeance was not sated; nor did the exalted rank and
brilliant reputation of Montmorency serve for an instant to turn him
from his purpose. Private animosity closed all the avenues of mercy; and
the indiscretion of one meddling spirit sealed the death-warrant of the
gallant prisoner. It is asserted that when he was captured Montmorency
wore upon his arm a costly diamond bracelet, containing the portrait of
Anne of Austria, which having been perceived by Bellièvre, the
commissary of Schomberg's army, who was greatly attached to the noble
captive, he affected, in order to conceal the circumstance from less
friendly eyes, to consider it expedient to subject the prisoner to a
judicial interrogatory preparatory to his trial; and when he had seated
himself beside him, ostensibly for this purpose, he succeeded with some
difficulty in wrenching the miniature from its setting. But,
notwithstanding all his precaution, the desired object was not
accomplished without exciting the attention of some individual who
hastened to apprise the Cardinal of what he had discovered, who at once
communicated the fact to Louis, embittering his intelligence by comments
which did not fail to arouse the indignation of the King, and to revive
his jealousy of his wife, while they at the same time increased his
exasperation against the rebel Duke.[178]
Montmorency was removed from Castelnaudary to Lectoure, and thence,
still suffering cruelly from his wounds, to Toulouse, reaching the
gates at the very moment when the bells of the city were ringing a
joyous peal in honour of the arrival of the King, who had hastened
thither in order to counteract by his presence any efforts which might
be made by the judges to save his life. The Duke had been escorted
throughout his journey by eight troops of cavalry well armed, his great
popularity in the province having rendered the Cardinal apprehensive
that an attempt would be made to effect his rescue; and while the
glittering train of the sovereign was pouring into the streets amid the
flourish of trumpets and the acclamations of the populace, the
unfortunate prisoner was conveyed to the Hôtel-de-Ville, where he was
confined in a small chamber on the summit of the belfry-tower, "so
that," says a quaint old historian, "the ravens came about him to sport
among the stone-crop. A hundred of the Swiss Guards were on duty near
his person night and day to prevent his holding any communication with
the _capitouls_,[179] the citizens, and the public companies of the
great city of Toulouse." [180]
Immediate preparations were made for the trial of the illustrious
captive; Richelieu, who could ill brook delay when he sought to rid
himself of an enemy, having prevailed upon the King to summon a
Parliament upon the spot, instead of referring the case to the
Parliament of Paris, by whom it should fitly have been tried. Nor was
this the only precaution adopted by the vindictive Cardinal, who also
succeeded in inducing Louis to nominate the members of the Court, which
was presided over by Châteauneuf, the Keeper of the Seals, who had
commenced his career as a page of the Connétable de Montmorency, the
father of the prisoner.
As the Marshal-Duke had been taken in arms against the sovereign, and
frankly avowed his crime, his fate was soon decided. He was declared
guilty of high treason, and condemned to lose his head, his property to
be confiscated, and his estates to be divested of their prerogative
of peerage.
Not only during his trial, however, but even after his sentence had been
pronounced, the most persevering efforts were made by all his friends to
obtain its revocation. But Louis, as one of his historians has aptly
remarked, was never so thoroughly a King as when he was called upon to
punish,[181] a fact of which Richelieu was so well aware that he did not
hesitate to affect the deepest commiseration for the unhappy Duke, and
even to urge some of the principal nobles of the Court to intercede in
his behalf.
The Princesse de Condé--to win whose love Henri IV had been about to
provoke a European war--deceived by the treacherous policy of the
Cardinal, threw herself at his feet to implore him to exert his
influence over the monarch, and to induce him to spare the life of her
beloved brother; but Richelieu, instead of responding to this appeal, in
his turn cast himself on his knees beside her, and mingled his tears
with hers, protesting his utter inability to appease the anger of his
royal master.[182]
The Duc d'Epernon, who, notwithstanding his affection for Montmorency,
had declined to join the faction of Monsieur, despite his age and
infirmities also hastened to Toulouse, and in the name of all the
relatives and friends of the criminal, implored his pardon as a boon.
Nothing, however, could shake the inflexible nature of Louis, and
although he did not attempt to interrupt the appeal of the Duke further
than to command him to rise from his kneeling posture, it was
immediately evident to all about him, from his downcast eyes, and the
firm compression of his lips, that there was no hope for the culprit.
The resolute silence of the King ere long impressed M. d'Epernon with
the same conviction; and, accordingly, having waited a few moments for a
reply which was not vouchsafed, he requested the royal permission to
leave the city.
"You are at liberty to do so at your pleasure, M. le Duc," said Louis
coldly; "and I grant your request the more readily that I shall shortly
follow your example."
Nor were the citizens less eager to obtain the release of their beloved
Duke; and the house in which the King had taken up his temporary
residence was besieged by anxious crowds who rent the air with cries of
"Mercy! Mercy! Pardon! Pardon!" On one occasion their clamour became so
loud that Louis angrily demanded the meaning of so unseemly an uproar,
when the individual to whom he had addressed himself ventured to reply
that what he heard was a general appeal to his clemency, and that should
his Majesty be induced to approach the window, he would perhaps take
pity upon the people.
"Sir," replied Louis haughtily, "were I to be governed by the
inclinations of my people, I should cease to be a King!" [183]
From any other sovereign than Louis XIII a revocation of the sentence
just pronounced against one so universally beloved as Montmorency might
well have been anticipated, but the son of Henri IV was inaccessible to
mercy where his private feelings were involved; and not only did he
resist the entreaties and remonstrances by which he was overwhelmed, but
he even refused to suffer the Duchesse de Montmorency, the Princesse de
Condé, and the Duc d'Angoulême--the wife, sister, and brother-in-law of
the prisoner--to approach him. He was weary of the contest, and eager
for the termination of the tragic drama in which he played so
unenviable a part.
While all was lamentation and despair about him, and the several
churches were thronged with persons offering up prayers for the
preservation of the condemned noble, the King coldly issued his orders
for the execution, only conceding, as a special favour, that it should
take place in the court of the Hôtel-de-Ville, and that the hands of the
prisoner should not be tied.[184]
Thus, on the 30th of October, the very day of his trial, perished Henri
de Montmorency, who died as he had lived, worthy of the great name which
had been bequeathed to him by a long line of ancestry, and mourned by
all classes in the kingdom.
The unfortunate Marie de Medicis, who received constant intelligence of
the movements of the rebel army, had wept bitter tears over the reverses
of her errant son; but she had no sooner ascertained that by the Treaty
of Béziers he had pledged himself to abandon her interests, than her
grief was replaced by indignation, and she complained vehemently of the
treachery to which she had been subjected. With her usual amiability,
the Archduchess Isabella sought by every means in her power to
tranquillize her mind, representing with some reason that the apparent
want of affection and respect exhibited by Gaston on that occasion had
probably been forced upon him by the danger of his own position, and
entreating that she would at least suffer the Prince to justify himself
before she condemned him for an act to which he was in all probability
compelled by circumstances. But the iron had entered into the mother's
soul, and the death of the Comtesse du Fargis, which shortly afterwards
took place, added another pang to those which she had already endured.
The beautiful lady of honour had never been seen to smile since she was
made acquainted with the fact of her mock trial and her execution in
effigy in one of the public thoroughfares of Paris. The disgrace which,
as she believed, would thenceforward attach to her name, not only
wounded her sense of womanly dignity, but also broke her heart, and a
rapid consumption deprived the unhappy Queen-mother of one of the most
devoted of her friends.
It can scarcely be matter of surprise that, rendered desperate by her
accumulated disappointments and misfortunes, Marie de Medicis at this
moment welcomed with avidity the suggestions of Chanteloupe, who urged
her to revenge upon the Cardinal the daily and hourly mortifications to
which she was exposed. At first she hearkened listlessly to his
counsels, for she was utterly discouraged; but ere long, as he unfolded
his project, she awoke from her lethargy of sorrow, and entered with
renewed vigour into the plan of vengeance which he had concerted.
Whether it were that she hoped to save the life of Montmorency, of whose
capture she had been informed, or that she trusted to effect her own
return to France by placing herself in a position to make conditions
with Richelieu, it is at least certain that she did not hesitate to
subscribe to his views, and to lend herself to the extraordinary plot of
the reverend Oratorian.
"Your Majesty is aware," said Chanteloupe, "that Monsieur has not dared
to avow his marriage with the Princesse Marguerite; and I have sure
information that the minister who endeavoured to effect a union between
his favourite niece and the Cardinal de Lorraine without success, has
now the audacity to lift his eyes to your own august son. The Queen is
childless, and Richelieu aspires to nothing less than a crown for La
Comballet."
"_Per Dio!_" exclaimed Marie, trembling with indignation.
"The lady is at present residing in the Petit Luxembourg," pursued the
monk calmly; "in the very hôtel given by your Majesty to his Eminence
during the period when he possessed your favour--"
"Given!" echoed the Queen-mother vehemently. "Yes, given as you say, but
on condition that whenever I sought to reclaim it, I was at liberty to
do so on the payment of thirty thousand livres; and have you never heard
what was the result of this donation? When he proved unworthy of my
confidence I demanded the restoration of the hôtel upon the terms of the
contract, but when the document was delivered into my hands, I
discovered that for livres he had substituted crowns, and that in lieu
of 'whenever she shall desire it,' he had inserted 'when the King shall
desire it.' I remonstrated against this treachery, but I remonstrated in
vain; Louis pronounced against me, and the Cardinal established his
wanton niece in my desecrated mansion, where she has held a Court more
brilliant than that of the mother of her sovereign. Nay," continued the
Queen, with increasing agitation, "the lingering atmosphere of royalty
which yet clings to the old halls has so increased the greatness of the
low-born relative of Jean Armand du-Plessis, that she has deemed it
necessary to destroy one of the walls of my own palace in order to
enlarge the limits of that which she inhabits." [185]
"It were well," said Chanteloupe, with a meaning smile, "to prove to the
lady that it is possible to exist in a more narrow lodging. The King is
absent from Paris. The Luxembourg is thinly peopled; and La Comballet
would serve admirably as a hostage."
"_Veramente, padre mio_," exclaimed Marie de Medicis, bounding from her
seat; "the thing is well imagined, and cannot fail to do us good
service. Richelieu loves his niece--too well, if we are to credit the
scandal-mongers of the Court--and with La Comballet in our hands we may
dictate whatever terms we will. To work, _padre_, to work; there is
little time to lose."
Such was the plot to which the Queen-mother imprudently accorded her
consent; and for a time everything appeared to promise success. The
nephew of Chanteloupe and a confidential valet of Marie herself were
entrusted with the secret, and instructed to make the necessary
arrangements. Relays were prepared between Paris and Brussels, and nine
or ten individuals were engaged to assist in the undertaking.
Carefully, however, as these had been selected, two of their number,
alarmed by the probable consequences of detection, had no sooner arrived
in the French capital than they revealed the plot, and the whole of the
conspirators were committed to the Bastille, while information of the
intended abduction was immediately forwarded to the King. Irritated by
such an attempt, Louis commanded that they should instantly be put upon
their trial; and at the same time he wrote with his own hand to
congratulate Madame de Comballet on her escape, and to assure her that
had she been conveyed to the Low Countries, he would have gone to
reclaim her at the head of fifty thousand men. In return for this
condescension the niece of Richelieu entreated the King to pardon the
culprits, a request with which he complied the more readily as the names
of several nobles of the Court were involved in the attempt, as well as
that of the Queen-mother.[186]
The Cardinal, however, proved less forgiving than the destined victim of
this ill-advised and undignified conspiracy. Enraged against Marie de
Medicis, and anxious to make her feel the weight of his vengeance, he
found little difficulty in inducing Louis to request Isabella to deliver
up to him Chanteloupe and the Abbé de St. Germain;[187] but the
Archduchess excused herself, declaring that as the two ecclesiastics in
question were members of the Queen-mother's household, she could not
consent to be guilty of an act of discourtesy towards her Majesty by
which she should violate the duties of hospitality; and the only
immediate result of the notable plot of the reverend Oratorian was the
increased enmity of Richelieu towards his former benefactress.
Monsieur had no sooner ascertained the fate of Montmorency, whose life
he had been privately assured would be spared in the event of his
acknowledging his fault, than he at once felt that should he remain
longer in France, not only his own safety might be compromised, but that
he must also sacrifice the confidence of his few remaining adherents; as
no one would be rash enough to brave the vengeance of the minister in
his cause, should he not openly testify his indignation at so signal an
offence. A rumour, moreover, reached him that several of the officers of
his household were to be withdrawn from his service; and Puylaurens soon
succeeded in convincing him that should he not leave the kingdom, he
must be satisfied to live thenceforward in complete subjection to
Richelieu; who, when he should ultimately ascertain the fact of his
marriage with the Princesse Marguerite, would not fail to have it
dissolved.
Already predisposed to the measure, the Prince yielded at once to the
arguments of his favourite, and secretly left Tours on the 6th of
November, accompanied only by fifteen or twenty of his friends. On his
way to Burgundy, at Montereau-faut-Yonne, he wrote a long letter to the
King, declaring that should his Majesty feel any displeasure at his thus
leaving the country, he must attribute his having done so to his
indignation against those who had caused him to take the life of the Duc
de Montmorency, to save which he would willingly have smothered his just
resentment, and sacrificed all his personal interests. He also
complained bitterly that he had received a pledge to that effect which
had been violated; and declared that he had been assured in the name of
the King that should he march towards Roussillon it would seal the fate
of the Duke, from which declaration he had inferred that by obeying the
will of his Majesty he should ensure his safety; whereas, after having
condescended to the most degrading proofs of submission, no regard had
been shown to his feelings, and no respect paid to his honour. Finally,
he announced his intention of seeking a safe retreat in a foreign
country, alleging that from the treatment to which he had been subjected
in France, he had every reason to dread the consequences of the
insignificance into which he had fallen there.
In reply to this communication Louis coldly observed: "The conditions
which I accorded to you are so far above your pretensions, that their
perusal alone will serve as an answer to what you have advanced. I will
not reply to your statement that the prospect which was held out to you
of Montmorency's life caused you to submit to those terms. Every one was
aware of your position. Had you another alternative?" [188]
Had Gaston been other than he was, the King would have been spared the
question; for it is certain that had Monsieur only possessed sufficient
courage to make the attempt, nothing could have prevented him after his
retreat from Castelnaudary from retiring into Roussillon; but to the
very close of his life, the faction-loving Prince always withdrew after
the first check, and sought to secure his own safety, rather than to
justify the expectations which his high-sounding professions were so
well calculated to create.
FOOTNOTES:
[169] Henri II, Duc de Montmorency, Governor of Languedoc, etc., was the
son of Henri I, Duc de Montmorency, Connétable de France. He was born on
the 30th of April 1595, and was created Admiral of France when only
eighteen years of age. His personal attractions, combined with his high
moral qualities and singular accomplishments, secured to him great and
deserved popularity. After having rendered the most brilliant services
to his country, he was induced to espouse the cause of Gaston d'Orléans,
and having imprudently exposed himself at the battle of Castelnaudary,
he was made prisoner, put upon his trial for high treason at the
instigation of the Cardinal de Richelieu, and executed at Toulouse on
the 30th of October 1632.
[170] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 401-405. Capefigue, vol. v. pp. 90-105.
Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 188-190. Le Vassor, vol. vii. pp. 192-217.
[171] A Spanish coin, equal in value to a French crown.
[172] Gaston d'Orléans, _Mém_. p. 131. Capefigue, vol. v. p. 129.
[173] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. vii. p. 552.
[174] Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 58-60.
[175] Urbain de Maillé, Marquis de Brézé, the brother-in-law of the
Cardinal de Richelieu.
[176] Capefigue, vol. v. p. 142.
[177] Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 411.
[178] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 415, 416.
[179] Principal magistrates of Toulouse.
[180] Histoire véritable de tout ce qui s'est fait et passé en la ville
de Tholoze, en la mort de M. de Montmorency, 1632.
[181] Sismondi, vol. xxiii. p. 212.
[182] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. vii. p. 565.
[183] Pontis, _Mém_. vol. ii. p. 37.
[184] Le Vassor, vol. vii. p. 216.
[185] Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 83, 84.
[186] Le Vassor, vol. vii. pp. 412, 413. Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. vii. p.
575. Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 82-84.
[187] The Abbé de St. Germain was the author of a multitude of satirical
pamphlets, powerfully written, and directed against the administration
of Richelieu.
[188] Sismondi, vol. xxiii. pp. 212, 213. Le Clerc, vol. ii. pp. 84-86.
Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 417, 418. Le Vassor, vol. vii. pp. 421-427. Siri,
_Mém. Rec_. vol. vii. p. 578. Capefigue, vol. v. pp. 195-201.