_Savoy_, he would not have undertaken the taking of _Bourg_, almost
against the Kings will, without any other help then of those that were
ordinarily with him; that of fourty Convoys that were brought to relieve
the Town, he had routed thirty seven, and the other three entered in his
absence; that the King knoweth very well he was offered 200000. Crowns
to let the succours enter into the Citadel of _Bourg_; that although his
Majesty had commanded him in the time of a Truce made with the Duke of
_Savoy_, to let those of the Citadel of _Bourg_ have every day 400. Loafs
of Bread, 50. bottles of Wine, half an Oxe, and six Sheep, he did only
let them have fifty bottles of Wine and one Sheep, by which means the
Town was surrendred within the time promised; that if he had had any evil
design against the King and Kingdom, he would not so freely and willingly
put the Town into the hands of him that is now Governour of it; that the
Governours of Places that were in the Duke’s service, and are now in that
of the King, can witness whether he shewed them any favour; that for his
giving advice to the Duke to defeat the Regiment of _Chambauld_, he will
prove that _Chambauld_ did not come into the Army, but one Month after
the time mentioned in his Calumny; besides that, this advice was without
appearance of reason, for from _Chambauld_’s quarters to his, there was
at least six days journey, and as much to go to the Duke, and as much
to come back, besides the time required for the marching of the Forces;
therefore all that was a meer invention of _la Fin_.
Upon the fourth, That he intreated his Majesty to call to memory, that he
was the onely man who dissuaded him to go and view the Fort, representing
unto him that there was in it extraordinary good Gunners, and that he
could not view it without great danger, and upon that he offered the King
to bring him the next day the Plat-form of it, and to take it with 500.
Musquettiers, and that himself would be in the Head of them.
Upon the fifth, That it was true all the evil he had done was in two
Months time that _la Fin_ had been with him, during which, he did hearken
and write more then he ought: but that with the same he had written, he
had so long served the King, that it was enough to prove the sincerity
of his intentions; that the refusal of the Citadel of _Bourg_, which he
thought the King had promised him, had put him into such a discontent,
that he found himself in a capacity to hearken to any thing, and to do
any thing, that if he had been a Protestant, it may be the place should
have been refused him no more then it was to _de Boaisse_, who was such
an one, as he told the King himself at _Lyon_; that _la Fin_ had also
once told him, that the King speaking of him, and of his Father, said,
that God had done well for to take him out of this world when he was
killed, for he was a very chargeable and unprofitable servant; and for
the Son, it was not all Gold that shined; that these words had so much
incensed him, that he could have found in his heart to be all covered
with blood. Upon that the Chancellor asked him of what blood he meaned?
he answered, of my own: desiring not to live any longer, after he had
heard such reproches, as blemished the services of his Father and his
own; that nevertheless his anger and discontent went never so far, as to
attempt upon the King; that his fault was only in words, and it may be
little in Writting; that his Majesty seeing with how much ingenuity he
did acknowledge his fault, had forgiven him all what was past, in the
presence of the Lords _Villeroy_ and _Sillery_, and that if since that
time he was found to have done any thing amiss, he would blame his Judges
of Injustice, if they did not condemn him to death, that if he had done
nothing amiss since, he thought the Kings pardon to be sufficient for
what was, and if there was need to ask for it again, his knees were as
supple and plyable as ever.
But a Letter, which he had written to _la Fin_ since the pardon of
_Lyon_, and the Birth of the Dolphin, did spoil all, for it was a
manifest evidence of the continuation of his ill designs, and the
Chancellor having produced it, he answered, he would never deny his
hand, but that _Imbert_ and _Renazée_ Domestick Servants to _la Fin_
could counterfeit it; that though he might have some ill thoughts, he
had always well done; that although the King would not forgive him this
fault, it was not in the power of men to condemn him justly for single
words, which were contradicted by the effects; that his consolation was
in his misfortune, his Judges were not ignorant of the services he had
done to the Kingdom, which he had Sealed with five and thirty wounds;
that his body whose life and death was in the disposition of their
Justice, had not a vain but had bleeded for their service, and to restore
them into their places, from whence the League had driven them; that the
hand which had written the Letters produced against him, was the same
that had done contrary to what it did write; that he had written and
spoke more then he ought, but that it could not be proved he had ever ill
done; that there was no Law that punished with death the lightness of a
single word or motion of the thoughts; that anger and discontent had made
him capable of saying and doing any thing, but that his reason had not
given leave to say or to do, ought but what deserveth to be commended;
which words were as carefully considered, as he repeated them often with
several Oaths and Imprecations.
Upon that the Chancellor having asked him why then he did not open
himself more to the King, who desired him with great affection to do
it at _Fountain-bleau_, seeing he knew in his conscience to have done
nothing against his duty since his pardon. There he cut himself in his
answer, and said he thought _la Fin_ had revealed nothing of what was
between them, and that he had lately assured him so with Oaths and
fearful imprecations, that he would never have thought _la Fin_ had been
such a damnable man, as to reveal that which with so many deep Oaths and
Imprecations they had promised to keep secret between themselves; that
having propounded the question to a Monk of the Order of _Minimes_ at
_Lyon_, whether he might with a safe conscience reveal what was between
them, and what he had promised with Oath to _la Fin_ to keep secret,
because he suspected that _la Fin_ would deceive him, and tell all to
the King, and so ruine him. The _Minime_ had answered, that seeing they
had no more intention to put in execution the things they had projected,
he was not to reveal them, and if _la Fin_ did it, he should go to Hell,
and himself to Heaven; that he did so firmly believe this, that although
the Archbishop of _Bourges_ had visited him in Prison, and alledged many
reasons to the contrary, yet his soul was so settled in that belief, that
he thought it was only the part of an Atheist to swear with intention to
deceive.
Upon this he begin to accuse _la Fin_ of the most execrable crimes that
a man is capable of, saying that he made use of _Renazée_ for _Sodomy_
that he was a Witch, and had ordinary communication with the Devils,
that he had so be witched him with enchanted Waters and Wax Images, that
spoke, that he was constrained to submit himself to all his will; that
he never spoke to him but whispering, and in unknown words, and after
he had kissed him in the left eye, and he could not deny but he had
shewed him a Wax Image, speaking and saying, _Rex impie morieris_, _thou
shalt die ungodly King_, and called him continually his Master, Lord,
Prince and King; that he was a false Coiner, and had persuaded him many
times to attempt upon the King, but that he would never hearken to it,
that the quality of the Accusators was to be considered, who not only
were partners, but instigators of the Fact; that certainly the Duke of
_Savoy_ was his mortal enemy, for having since his pardon left of all
his intelligences with him, and seeing that after a long detention he
had released _Renazée_, to come and to be a witness against him; that
the King had forgiven him at _Lyon_ and that upon his acknowledging many
times to the King, that the refusal of the Citadel of _Bourg_ had very
much incensed him, his Majesty did comfort him with these words. Marshal
never remember _Bourg_, and I will never remember what is past, that in
22 Months after he had not offended, that if he had continued his ill
designs, he might have done it easily in _England_ and _Switzerland_.
That above 100. Gentlemen shall be Witnesses of his first Embassy,
and for the second, he desireth no other Witnesses than the Kings
Embassadors themselves, that if they would be pleased to consider how
he was come, and in what case he had left the Province of _Burgundy_,
it was impossible to have an ill opinion of his designs; for there was
not one Souldier in all the Countrey, and at his going away he gave no
other charge to the Commanders and Captains, than to serve the King
faithfully, that every one disswaded him to come to Court, and in the
way he received many Letters to that purpose, that he was come upon the
Kings word, trusting upon his own Conscience and Innocency. If the King
be not pleased to consider my services (said he to the Court) and those
assurances he hath given me of his Mercy, I acknowledge my self guilty of
Death, and do not expect my life from his Justice, but from yours, (my
Lords) who will remember better than he what dangers I have undergone
for his service. I confess I had a mind to do ill, but I never proceeded
to effects: It would be a hard matter if I should be the first in whom
thoughts should be punished; Great offences require great clemency. I
do implore that of the King, and nevertheless I am the onely one in
_France_, that is made an example of his severity, and that can have no
hope in his clemency, which he never denyed to those that had done worse:
However I trust more in you my Lords, than I do in the King, who having
heretofore looked upon me with his Eyes of love, looketh upon me now with
those of his anger, and thinketh it a Vertue to be cruel unto me, and a
Vice to excercise upon me the act of clemency.
Thus pleaded the Prisoner, with so much eloquency and boldness, that if
his Judges had not seen evidently the truth of the fact, under his own
Hand and Seal, the respect of his first condition might have perswaded
them to believe his Innocency, and to take compassion of his ruined
fortune.
The Court did hear him as long as he would speak, with so much patience,
that never a man had the like audience. The Prisoner spoke so much, that
his last reasons were found contrary to his first, his allegations did
not shew his Innocency; for the Embassadors themselves which he took for
Witnesses of his carryage in _Switzerland_, did report many words of his,
which shewed his anger and passion. Besides the King had not given his
word, that he might come in Safety, and those Letters which he alleadged
for his justification, did prove the continuation of his treacherous
designs, seeing that he had sent _la Fin_ and _Hebert_, to _Turin_ and
_Milan_, since the pardon, He could not then expect but Justice, in a
case where neither passion nor favour could alter Judgment: Nevertheless
he shewed himself much satisfied with his answers, and therefore being
come back again to the _Bastille_, he passed the rest of that day, and
the two next, to relate unto his Guards the questions of the Court and
his answers therereunto, counterfeiting the gesture and the words which
he Imagined the Chancellor had spoken after his going away, though that
grave and venerable old man neither said nor did any thing, but what
was becoming to his Age and quality, having shewed himself as full of
compassion, as the prisoner was of his vanity; for when he was nearer to
death he thought less upon it, and thinking himself the only man capable
of commanding an Army, he found some fault in those that were thought
capable of it, saying, that one was unhappy in his undertakings, the
other was not respected by the Souldiers, such a one was a brave man, but
he wanted experience, and another that hath both was a Protestant. To
conclude, he did so please himself with his own praise and deserts, that
he thought no body could come near him, and that he was so useful to the
Kingdom, that it would be a great Crime to think to undo him.
He had spoken so long the 27 of the Month, that there was no time left
to gather the Voices: The Chancellor therefore went into the Palace the
29 following to gather the Voices of the Judges. _Fleury_ the reporter
of the Proces, did conform his opinion to the conclusions of the Kings
Attorney, all the rest agreed to it, either by Words or by Signs, and
all the proofs necessary for the verification of a Crime meeting in this
case, as his Answers, Confessions, Writings, Letters, Instructions, and
Evidence of Witnesses not reproached; It was found, that the unnatural
Conspiracy against the State, the detestable attempt upon the Kings
Person, makes him guilty of high Treason in the first and second degree.
He confesseth he had evil intentions, it is enough, the Laws do punish
the Councels, the resolutions, and the effects; for if the Traitor be not
prevented, time may give him the opportunity to accomplish his Design
and Will, and the Will of a Subject in point of State, doth depend
immediately upon that of the Prince. He sayeth moreover, that without the
Kings Mercy he is undone, and that if he would have put in Execution the
ill designs that were propounded to him against his Majesty, he should
have been gone long ago: Did he ever give notice of them to the King or
to any body else. If the Prisoner had brought to pass his intent, we
might have said, farewell State, farewell Justice, it is too late to
believe the Conspiracy against Princes, when they are murdered by the
Conspirators.
He hath well Served the King, it is true; but his Offices and Dignities
did call him to that Duty, he hath had notable rewards for it, and from
the time that he hath shewed himself so unfaithfull, he hath diminished
the lustre of his deserts. His deserts had made him capable of the first
dignities of the Kingdom, but the merit of them is vanished away, by the
greatness of his Crime.
And what is the State beholding to him, if after he hath contributed
so much for its restauration, he goeth about to turn up side down the
Foundation of it, and to betray it to the Enemies. It is nothing to begin
well unless you end well, the actions are judged by the end: Those that
have deserved best of the States, are the most severely punished when
they fall into Sedition and Rebellion. There is many sheets of Paper in
the Hands of the Court, containing in them one hundred advices given to
the Enemy, the least of which is capable to make him guilty.
The Prisoners quality is not considerable in this case; Justice is blind
to all distinctions, and rather considereth the offence according to
the quality of the offender; Crimes of high Treason are not considered
by things past, but by things present and that are to come; we must not
put in an account what he hath done, but what he had a mind to do. The
quality of a Duke and Peer of _France_, of Knight of the Kings Order, of
Marshal, doth not exempt him from the Law, and from being judged as an
Enemy to the State, and to the Majesty of the Prince, seeing he would
have troubled the State, and attempted upon the Kings person. Who in
_France_ besides is more obliged to the King? the greater then is the
Obligation, the greater the ingratitude. God forbid that the respect of
the quality should stop the course of Justice: a Limb must be cut off to
save all the body.
But his offence hath been forgiven: The pardon cannot extend but to the
things that are confessed; but he acknowledgeth himself that he hath not
told all, therefore he hath confessed as little as he could, his own
confessions Witness, he only asked forgiveness, that he might continue
his Crimes with more security: Besides, he would not acknowledge his
fault to the King, for all the King promised to forgive him, and lately
he told the Court, he did not believe that _la Fin_ had revealed what was
secret between them; and thought he would have kept his word, which he
had confirmed with so many Oaths, and that if he had doubted of it, he
would have cast himself at his Majesties Feet as readily as he, and asked
him forgiveness. It followeth then that there was some thing left behind
that was not confessed: Thus he accuseth himself, thinking to excuse his
fault; besides, he mistaketh himself thinking to persuade the Court,
that since the pardon he hath done nothing amiss, for the Pardon was in
_January_ 1600. and here be Letters of _September_ last, by which he
recalleth _la Fin_, telleth him, he will think no more upon the Vanities
that were past since, God was pleased to have given the King a Dolphin.
It is apparent then that he hath employed _la Fin_ at least since the
Pardon, till the birth of the Dolphin, and _la Fin_ maintaineth that
there was a note quite to the contrary, and that they did continue their
intelligences and practises unknown to the King. That the Duke did recal
him, fearing he should discover the Conspiracy, when a man continues in
his faults and abuseth his Pardon, the last fault payeth for all.
Besides, the Court hath not seen that Pardon, he oughted to have produced
it in writing under the Kings Hand and Seal, and to forgive him once
more, would put him into such a condition, as to contrive always Treasons
against the State; the remedy of a present evil is not to be neglected
upon the hope of an uncertain good; he is in a case to be no more useful;
nothing can be expected from his courage but revenge; he that can bring
no profit by his virtue and faithfulness, must do it by being made an
exemple.
Such were for the most part the reasons of the Court, according to which,
and to the conclusions of the Attorney General, the Chancellor did
pronounce Sentence of death against the Prisoner; some were of opinion
that _la Fin_ should be arrested, as one that could not justifie himself,
for having concealed such a damnable Conspiracy, till he saw that the
_Spanish_ affairs went to wrack. The Chancellor did moderate these
opinions, representing that the Conspiracy was not yet wholly discovered,
and that such things would hinder the rest of those that knew some thing
of it to reveal it; that a man that saveth the Kings Person and his
Estate, ought rather to be rewarded then punished. And in confirmation of
this, the King sent Letters to _la Fin_, by which he assured him, that
such a service done to him and his Kingdom, should never prove his ruine.
The Court stayed onely for the Kings intention upon the execution of the
Sentence, which _Sillery_ had carried to St. _Germain_. The Scaffold was
ready to be set up in the place of _Greve_, but the execution might have
proved dangerous, in the middle of so much people of different humors and
tempers; and already there was a rumour, as if some body should throw
him a Sword, with which he should make himself a passage, or else have
died with a blow less shameful then that of the Hangman; upon his friends
intreaty the execution was ordered to be done in the _Bastille_.
The next day about noon, the people knowing that the Sentence was past,
went some to the _Greve_, thinking that the execution should be done
there, others to St. _Antony_ street, to see the Prisoner pass by; he
saw from his Chamber that multitude, and guessed that he was to be the
Spectacle of those Spectators; here the anguish of the Grave began to
beset him, and drawing a consequence from the shadow of death, that the
body was not far of; he sent _Baranton_ a _Scotish_ Gentleman to intreat
the Marquess of _Rhosny_ to come to see him, or if he could not come, to
sue for his Pardon to the King. He sent him answer, he could do neither,
and that he was extreamly sorry for his misfortune, that if he had
believed him at his coming to Court, he should have confessed what the
King did desire to know of him, for by concealing of it, he did hinder
the King to give him his life, and all his friends to sue for it.
The next day last of _July_ 1602. the Chancellor, the first President,
_Sillery_, three Masters of Requests, some Officers of the Chancery,
_Rapin_ Lieutenant of the short Gown, his Lieutenant, _Daniel Voisin_
Register of the Court of Parliament, six Sergeants, and seven or eight
more went to the Bastille, about ten of the Clock in the morning, as
soon as they were come in the Chancellor commanded that the Prisoners
Dinner should be carryed, without giving him notice of his coming, and
in the mean time he and the first President made a List of those whom
they would have to be present in that action: Some Presidents, three
Masters of Requests, three Auditors, six Serjeants of the Parliament,
the Lieutenant Civil, the Kings Attorney at the _Chastelet_, _Rapin_ and
his Lieutenant, the Knight of the Watch, the Prevost of the Merchants,
four Aldermen, four Councellors of the City, and some few others, to the
number of fifty.
About noon the Prisoner looking through the Grates of his Chamber
Windows, perceived the Wife of _Rumigny_, Captain of the Castle, weeping
with her hands up and guessed that those Tears were drawn by the
compassion of his Fortune. He was confirmed in his opinion, when he saw
the Chancellor followed by the Serjeants, _Rapin_ and his Lieutenant, and
some others go through the _Bastilles_ Yard into the Chappel, then he
began to cry aloud, O my God I am a dead man, ah, what injustice it is to
put an Innocent Person to death, thereupon he intreated _Rumigny_ to tell
his Brothers, Sisters and Kindred, that they should not be ashamed of his
death, because he was Innocent of that he was accused.