Conditions of peace with the Huguenots decided upon--Refusal of the
citizens of Montpellier to open their gates to the King until his
army has been disbanded--Bullion advises Louis XIII to accede to
their wishes, and is supported by the majority of the
Council--Bassompierre is of the contrary opinion, and urges the
King to reduce Montpellier to “entire submission and
repentance”--Louis XIII decides to follow the advice of
Bassompierre, and the siege of the town is begun--A disastrous day
for the Royal army--Death of Zamet and the Italian engineer
Gamorini--Political intrigues--Bassompierre succeeds in securing
the post of Keeper of the Seals for Caumartin, although the King
has already promised it to d’Aligre, the nominee of Condé--Heavy
losses sustained by the besiegers in an attack upon one of the
advanced-works--Condé quits the army and sets out for
Italy--Bassompierre is created marshal of France amidst general
acclamations--Peace is signed--Death of the Abbé
Roucellaï--Bassompierre accompanies the King to Avignon, where he
again falls of petechial fever, but recovers--He assists at the
entry of the King and Queen into Lyons--He is offered the
government of the Maine, but declines it.
The Royal army had now invested Montpellier, which Rohan was determined
to defend to the last extremity, if he were unable to obtain a treaty
for the whole body of his co-religionists; but it seemed as though peace
would intervene to prevent further bloodshed. The Huguenots had abated
many of their pretensions, and Louis XIII, on his side, was not disposed
to press too hardly upon them. Affairs without were becoming more and
more alarming; and if the Ultramontane party, blinded by religious
hatred, desired to continue the war until the Protestants were entirely
crushed, level-headed men saw with grief France rendered impotent abroad
and a prey to civil strife to satisfy the bigotry of fanatics and the
egoistic ambition of the Prince de Condé. Lesdiguières, who desired to
terminate his career by the deliverance of Italy, resumed his
negotiations with Rohan, and in an interview between them at
Saint-Privat conditions of peace were decided upon. The King was
prepared to sign the articles and to make his entry into Montpellier;
but the inhabitants firmly refused to open their gates to him. If, said
they, the King would withdraw with his army to a distance of ten
leagues, they would admit the Constable with what forces he wished to
enter, and a week hence, when his army had been disbanded, they would
receive his Majesty with all possible magnificence.
“The fact was,” writes Bassompierre, “that _Monsieur le Prince_,
mortal enemy of the peace which was being negotiated, had said on
several occasions that, if the King entered Montpellier, he would
cause the town to be pillaged, whatever precautions might be taken
to prevent it. This had so alarmed the people of Montpellier that
they preferred to have recourse to any other extremity than that of
receiving the King; and, as their final answer, which they gave
that day to M. de Bullion,[8] they offered all obedience, provided
the King did not enter their town, of which they considered the
pillage assured, if they opened their gates to him.”
Louis XIII at once summoned the council to consider the answer which
Bullion had brought back, and after the latter had read it to those
present, called upon him to give his opinion.
Bullion, who seems to have been a man of sound common-sense and had been
a witness that morning of the genuine alarm with which the extravagant
boasts of Condé had inspired the people of Montpellier, strongly urged
the King to humour them and “to seek solid advantages, without allowing
himself to be stopped by little formalities which are not essential.”
“If,” said he, “the town of Montpellier were refusing you the obedience
and submission which is your due, I should say that it is necessary to
destroy and exterminate it. But it is a people alarmed and terrified by
the threats which have been launched against them to plunder and destroy
them, to violate their wives and daughters and to burn their houses, who
entreats you in the name of God to receive its obedience through your
Constable, who will enter, when you have withdrawn, with such forces as
he pleases, to make your Majesty’s authority recognised there, which is
the same thing as though you entered yourself. Why do you wish for a
mere punctilio to refuse a peace so useful and honourable for your
Majesty; and prefer to undertake a long war, of which the issue is
doubtful and the expense excessive, in a country where the heat is
immoderate, and to expose your own person to the injuries of war and of
the season, when you can escape them without loss or blame?”
The King was visibly impressed by this excellent advice, and when Condé
sprang to his feet and began angrily declaiming against Bullion and “the
cabal which had forged this peace without the knowledge of the Council
and were endeavouring to conclude it with disgrace and infamy,” he
sternly bade him resume his seat, saying that he would have an
opportunity of giving his opinion when his turn came.
Not improbably influenced by the attitude of the King, counsellor after
counsellor rose and expressed his approval of the advice given by
Bullion. When Bassompierre was called upon, Condé exclaimed impatiently:
“I know his opinion already, and we can say of it _ad idem_.” To the
general astonishment, however, Bassompierre was for once in accord with
Condé, and advised the King to break off the negotiations forthwith and
“show, by a noble and generous disdain, how deeply he was offended by
the propositions of those of Montpellier.” “If,” said he, “your Majesty
were before Strasbourg, Antwerp, or Milan, and were concluding a peace
with the princes to which those towns belong, the stipulation that you
should not enter them would be tolerable; but that a King of France,
victorious and supported by a powerful army, in place of granting peace
to a handful of his rebel subjects, without resource and reduced to
extremity, should receive it from them on the disgraceful conditions
which they have just proposed, is a proposition so insulting that it
cannot be suffered nor even listened to.... The King who accepts those
conditions must be prepared to receive terrible insults from the other
towns, who will be rendered audacious by this example and assured of
impunity by this unworthy toleration.... Sire, in the name of God, take
a firm resolution and persevere in it, and insist even upon the ruin of
this people, because it is rebellious, and because it is also insolent
and impudent; or to reduce it to entire submission and complete
repentance.”
He then pointed out that his own interests were opposed to the advice
which he was offering the King, and that he was actuated entirely by
regard for his Majesty’s service and honour, since he had already been
promised the marshal’s bâton and had nothing to gain at the siege of
Montpellier, “save much toil, dangerous wounds and perhaps even death.”
It was also possible that unfortunate accidents might arise which might
oblige the King to defer his promotion to the office of marshal or even
compel him [Bassompierre] to refuse the honour. “Nevertheless,” he
concluded, “I shall take these risks, and I beg your Majesty very humbly
to delay my reception [as marshal] until the town of Montpellier shall
be reduced to its obedience, and your Majesty avenged of the affront
which these rebels have desired to inflict upon you.”
“When I had finished speaking,” says Bassompierre, “_Monsieur le
Prince_, who had listened to me attentively, rose and said to the
King: ‘Sire, here is an honest man, devoted servant of your
Majesty, and jealous of your honour.’ The King rose also, which
obliged all the others to rise, and his Majesty said to M. de
Bullion; ‘Return to Montpellier and tell the people of the town
that I grant conditions to my subjects, but that I do not receive
them from them. Let them accept those which I have offered them or
let them prepare to be forced to do so.’ And thus the council
ended. _Monsieur le Prince_ did me the honour to approach and
embrace me and to say aloud so many kind things of me that I was
covered with confusion.”
There can be no doubt that Bassompierre, who was an honest man and a
devoted servant of the Crown, was actuated by what he considered to be
his duty in tendering this advice to his sovereign, which had touched
Louis XIII on his weakest spot--his exaggerated regard for his own
dignity. But it is equally certain that he had committed a disastrous
mistake, both from a political and military point of view, in
counselling the King to sacrifice the interests of his realm for what
Bullion had rightly described as “a mere punctilio.” For, not only was
an immediate peace of the most vital importance to the interests of
France, both at home and abroad, but the reduction of the people of
Montpellier to “entire submission and complete repentance” was a task
which, in the most favourable circumstances, could not be effected
except at immense expense and at the cost of hundreds of valuable lives.
It is indeed amazing that, after the terrible lesson of Montauban,
anyone could have been so rash as to embark upon another great siege for
reasons so inadequate.
* * * * *
The siege began in anything but an auspicious manner. In the early hours
of September 2, Bassompierre and Praslin advanced against the ridge of
Saint-Denis, where the citadel now stands, and carried it without any
resistance, since there was only a guard-house there, the occupants of
which fled at their approach. Leaving Valençay there with some 1,500 men
to hold it, they returned to camp, and, after attending a meeting of
the Council, Bassompierre, who had to be up all the following night to
superintend the opening of the trenches, went to his tent to snatch a
few hours’ sleep. About midday, he was awakened by the sound of heavy
firing, and, hurrying out, he saw the troops whom he and Praslin had
left on the ridge of Saint-Denis in disorderly retreat, hotly pursued by
the enemy.
It appears that Valençay, believing that there was no possibility of his
being attacked in broad daylight, had not only neglected to entrench
himself, but had even allowed his men to pile arms and scatter about the
ridge; and, to crown all, had permitted a trumpeter from the town, who
had been sent to demand the bodies of the dead, to approach without
taking the precaution to order his eyes to be bandaged. On his return to
Montpellier, this man duly reported what he had seen to his officers;
and the garrison, sallying out in considerable force, fell upon the
astonished Valençay and utterly routed him.
Springing on a horse, Bassompierre galloped off to the quarters of the
Swiss Guards, who were the troops nearest the ridge of Saint-Denis,
called them to arms and led them against the enemy. Meantime, the Duc de
Montmorency, the young Duc de Fronsac and other nobles and gentlemen,
who happened to be in attendance on the King, who had just finished
dinner, had mounted the first horses they could find, and, with more
valour than discretion, thrown themselves into the _mêlée_, in a vain
endeavour to rally the fugitives. Montmorency’s life was saved by
d’Argencourt, the lieutenant-governor of Montpellier, who fortunately
recognised him, and he escaped with a couple of not very serious wounds;
but his companions perished almost to a man, amongst them being Fronsac,
whom Bassompierre describes as “a young prince of great promise, who, in
his opinion, would have been one day a great captain,” the Marquis de
Beuvron, d’Auctot, who commanded Condé’s company of light horse and was
a great favourite of the prince, and Luynes’s nephew Combalet, brother
of the young lady whom Bassompierre would in all probability have
married, had the late Constable lived a few months longer.[9]
However, Bassompierre had now brought up the Swiss, and before the
advance of these veterans, the enemy, who had pursued the routed troops
almost to the confines of the Royal camp, fell back into the town, and
the ridge of Saint-Denis was recovered. But it had been a most
disastrous day for the besiegers, for Valençay’s force had been terribly
cut up and his best officers killed.
Next day, the defenders of Montpellier, encouraged by this success, made
a determined attack on Montmorency’s troops, encamped to the west of the
town, who gave way before them. Zamet,[10] who had taken over the
command from the wounded duke, succeeded in rallying them and driving
the enemy back. But almost immediately afterwards he was mortally
wounded by a cannon-shot from the town, and died a few days later.
The trenches were opened without any further disasters, but very little
progress was made, for the enemy stubbornly disputed every yard of
ground. The Italian engineer Gamorini was killed on the 11th, and his
death was a severe loss to the besiegers. The same night the defenders
made a fierce sortie, which was not repulsed until the work of several
days had been destroyed. During the fighting a captain of the Navarre
Regiment named Des Champs was surrounded by the enemy and would have
been killed, had he not cried out: “I am Bassompierre; I am worth 20,000
crowns to you!” Upon which they spared his life and made him prisoner,
thinking that they had secured a valuable prize.
In the night of the 13th-14th, the besiegers attacked the advanced-works
on the north side of the town in three places simultaneously, and
carried them. This placed them in a favourable position for bringing
their cannon to bear upon the main fortifications; but, on the advice of
a young engineer named La Magne Chavannes, and notwithstanding the
opposition of Bassompierre and other officers, Condé insisted that they
should first concentrate their efforts against a ravelin situated
between the two bastions. The task of approaching this work proved a
most difficult one, as they were exposed to a heavy flanking fire from
the town which repeatedly levelled their traverses, and to
bombing-attacks, which did considerable execution; while one night the
trenches were completely flooded by a violent storm.
Meantime, the generals were devoting what time they could spare from
their military duties to political intrigue. The Cardinal de Retz had
died at the end of August, and the Keeper of the Seals, De Vic, in the
first days of September, and their deaths had greatly weakened Condé’s
party. He and Schomberg succeeded in replacing the former in the Council
by their friend the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld, and thus contrived to
exclude Richelieu, though they could not prevent him being recommended
for the vacant cardinal’s hat, which was immediately solicited for him
by the Queen-Mother. Condé then pressed the King to confer the post of
Keeper of the Seals upon d’Aligre, a Counsellor of State who was devoted
to his interests, and would appear to have extracted a promise from his
Majesty that he should be appointed. At any rate, when retiring to rest
on the night of September 21, the King had told the courtiers who were
present that it was his intention to make d’Aligre Keeper of the Seals,
and they had informed Condé.
Next morning, flushed with success and convinced that he was on the
point of triumphing over his enemies and dominating both the King and
the State, Condé sent Roucellaï to Bassompierre with what amounted to an
ultimatum. As Bassompierre was entering the King’s quarters, with
Praslin, to attend a meeting of the Council, the abbé drew him aside
and informed him that he had a communication of great importance to make
to him on behalf of _Monsieur le Prince_, and that he desired to speak
before Praslin.
After assuring Bassompierre that he was deeply sensible of the
obligations under which he had placed him,[11] and that, in return, he
had done everything in his power to secure for him the good will of
Condé, Roucellaï declared that, despite all his efforts and those of his
friends, _Monsieur le Prince_ was as ill-satisfied with him as he could
well be, and was convinced that, not only did he prefer Puisieux’s
friendship to his, but had actually assisted that Minister to prejudice
his Majesty’s mind against him. He had therefore charged him to offer
Bassompierre once more his entire friendship, provided that he were
willing to abandon that of Puisieux; and he required an answer that very
day, as he declined to wait any longer. And the abbé entreated him to
accept his patron’s offer and so escape the disastrous consequences
which would inevitably follow a refusal.
“M. d’Aligre,” said he, “will be to-morrow Keeper of the Seals, and he
and M. de Schomberg, closely united with _Monsieur le Prince_, will not
only ruin M. de Puisieux, but also all his abettors and adherents, of
whom you are the chief. I wished to tell you this before the Maréchal de
Praslin, who loves you as a father, and who will be my witness that I
have striven to avert from your head the storm which I perceive ready to
burst upon it. For assuredly these three persons united together will
possess the State, and will exalt or abase whomsoever they please.”
“As he concluded these words,” says Bassompierre, “the King called
me, and since he saw me looking thoughtful, he inquired of what I
was dreaming. ‘I am dreaming, Sire,’ I answered, ‘of an extravagant
harangue which Roucellaï has just made me, before M. de Praslin,
on behalf of _Monsieur le Prince_, which has astonished me both on
my own account and yours. He declares me incapable of ever
possessing his good graces if I do not accept them in the course of
to-day, on condition of abandoning the friendship of M. de
Puisieux, and says further that he, Schomberg and d’Aligre (who is
to-morrow to become Keeper of the Seals) will be three heads in one
hood, who will govern the State according to their whim, and,
without any contradiction, ruining or aggrandizing their enemies or
their partisans or servants at their pleasure. Judge, Sire, the
condition to which you and those who desire to depend only upon you
will be reduced!’
“It was unnecessary to say any more to the King to exasperate him.
‘They are not where they think they are,’ he replied, ‘and I have a
rod in pickle for them.’ I begged him not to detain me longer, lest
Roucellaï should believe that I had told him of his harangue, and,
without appearing to notice anything, to ask the Maréchal de
Praslin whether he had not said this, and more.”
Bassompierre then went back to Roucellaï and told him that “neither
threats nor disgrace were able to make him abandon his friends, but, on
the contrary, served only to bind him more closely to them,” and that
“though he should always be _Monsieur le Prince’s_ very humble servant,
he would never do anything unworthy of himself to acquire his good
graces.”
Meantime, Praslin had confirmed what Bassompierre had told the King and
contrived to anger him still more against Condé and Schomberg; and his
Majesty told Bassompierre that he would discuss the matter with him
after dinner, when he would decide what must be done.
When the Council rose, Puisieux came up to Bassompierre and said: “The
matter is decided; d’Aligre is Keeper of the Seals.” Bassompierre
replied that he would believe it when he saw it; and that, meantime, he
did not intend to worry about the matter. The Minister, however,
declined to be comforted and went away, looking very disconsolate. Louis
XIII then spoke to Bassompierre, and told him that he feared that he
would be obliged to make d’Aligre Keeper of the Seals, as there was no
one else who possessed all the necessary qualifications for so important
a post. Bassompierre replied that his Majesty was doing an injustice to
Caumartin, one of the oldest Counsellors of State, who had been
entrusted in his time with several embassies and other important
commissions, of which he had acquitted himself with credit. The King
objected that Caumartin stammered, as he did himself, and that, as it
was one of the duties of the Keeper of the Seals to prompt his sovereign
when he was making a speech, this would entail serious inconvenience.
“The man who ought to assist me when I am speaking,” said he, “will
require someone to speak for him!”
However, Bassompierre waited in the King’s chamber until his Majesty
returned from dinner, when, finding that he was much incensed at Condé’s
presumption, he skilfully fanned the flame and then again proposed
Caumartin to him, pointing out that, if at the end of three months the
King found that he was incapable of discharging the duties of his post
to his satisfaction, he could call for his resignation.
After some hesitation, the King told him that he had decided to give the
Seals to Caumartin, and would inform him of it when he came to the
Council on the following morning, but until then he should say nothing
about the matter to anyone. The battle, however, was not yet won, for
Louis was so easily influenced that if Condé were to see him in the
interval, he would probably have no more difficulty in persuading him to
break the promise he had just given Bassompierre than Bassompierre had
had to induce him to break the promise he had given Condé. Aware of
this, Bassompierre determined to get his Majesty to commit himself in
writing, and demanded permission “to send a note on his behalf to
console by this good news M. de Puisieux, who had gone to his lodging
stricken to the heart.” To this the King consented, provided that
Puisieux should be enjoined to keep the affair secret; and
Bassompierre, taking Louis’s escritoire, which was on the table, wrote
the letter and then begged the King to add a few words in his own hand.
And his Majesty wrote at the foot: “I confirm this note.”
In order to get the King to commit himself still further, Bassompierre
then asked if he would permit him to write to Caumartin, to which Louis,
after making some little difficulty, also consented.
It was well that Bassompierre had taken these precautions, for, next
morning, Condé, having learned what was in the wind, came to the King to
inquire whether there were any truth in a report that had reached him
that his Majesty intended to make Caumartin Keeper of the Seals. Louis,
greatly embarrassed, assured him that it was without foundation, and he
returned the same answer to several other persons whom the prince had
put up to question him on the matter. It is probable, indeed, that had
he not been persuaded to commit himself in regard to Caumartin, Condé’s
candidate would, after all, have got the Seals. As it was, he had gone
too far to draw back, and, to the intense mortification of _Monsieur le
Prince_, he that afternoon gave them to Caumartin.
The appointment of Caumartin in place of his own nominee,
notwithstanding the promise which Louis XIII had given him, was a
serious rebuff to the presumptuous Condé, nor did he succeed any better
in his military than in his political operations. On October 2, against
the advice of Bassompierre, he gave orders that an attempt should be
made to carry the ravelin by assault. It failed, and the besieged
retaliated by a furious sortie on the flank of the Royal troops, which
one of the latter’s own mines had laid open, and compelled them to
abandon their trenches. Through the united efforts of Bassompierre[12]
and d’Épernon, the enemy were driven back, but the losses had been
heavy, and included a number of officers. Montpellier was threatening to
become a second Montauban.
A few days later, Lesdiguières, who had returned to his government of
Dauphiné before the siege began, arrived in the Royal camp, at the head
of considerable reinforcements. The Constable came ostensibly to take
command of the operations, but his real object was to resume his
negotiations for peace, which Louis XIII had, unknown to Condé,
authorised him to do. The prince, deprived of his command and perceiving
that peace was about to be concluded, despite all his efforts to prevent
it, comprehended that his favour was at an end, and, in high dudgeon,
quitted the army and set out for Italy, on the pretext of acquitting
himself of a vow which he made during his imprisonment to perform a
pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Loretto.
The following morning (October 14), the terms of peace having been
agreed upon, Rohan was permitted to pass through the camp and enter
Montpellier, in order to persuade the citizens to accept the conditions,
which included the admission of a Royal garrison into the town.
On the morning of the 12th, Bassompierre came to the King’s quarters to
attend a meeting of the Council. It seemed to him that the King, who was
in his aviary, did not look at him as kindly as usual, nor did he
address him. Presently, his Majesty requested the members of the Council
to follow him into his chamber, and told the Cardinal de la Vallette and
Chevreuse, d’Elbeuf and Vendôme, who had come to pay him their respects,
that he desired their presence also.
“As we entered,” says Bassompierre, “the Keeper of the Seals said
to me: ‘It was my intention to recognise the obligations under
which you have placed me, by sending you your letters perfumed, but
the King pressed me so much to seal them, through Beautré, whom he
sent to me yesterday evening, that I had not the time.’ ‘What
letters?’ I asked. ‘Those creating you marshal of France, whose
oath you are about to take.’ I was very astonished and rejoiced
likewise at this unexpected news, and, at the same time, the King
spoke these very words:--
“‘Messieurs, it is my intention to recognise the good and great
services which M. de Bassompierre has rendered me for several
years, both in the wars which I have waged and on other occasions,
by the office of marshal of France, believing that he will serve me
worthily and usefully therein. I desire to have your opinions on
this matter, to see whether they are in conformity with my own.’
“Then all, with one voice, did me the honour to say more good of me
than I deserved; upon which, without saying anything further to me,
he [the King] took me by the hand, and being seated in his chair,
made me kneel and take the oath. Then he placed in my hand the
bâton, for which I rendered him the most humble thanks that I could
think of. All present advanced to embrace and to felicitate me; and
next every corps in the army, both of the infantry and the cavalry,
came to offer very humble thanks to the King for the choice that he
had made of my person, their first brigadier-general, to make him a
marshal of France. And those of the artillery having demanded
permission to fire a salvo of all the cannon in the army, the
infantry did the same, to make a salvo of rejoicing. And the Sieur
de Calonges, governor of Montpellier, sent to inquire of our
soldiers in the trenches why this salvo was being fired, and, on
being acquainted with the reason, he gave orders that the people of
Montpellier should do the same as the army; and there also a
general salvo was fired.”
It was a fitting tribute to a very brave man and a most capable officer,
who had most thoroughly earned the high honour which had just been
conferred upon him.
The same night the authorities of Montpellier sent to inform Louis XIII
of their acceptance of the terms of peace, and on the 18th the
ratification was brought to the King. The King signed the edict which
put an end to this miserable war which had cost France so dear on the
following day,[13] and Créquy and Bassompierre with the French and Swiss
Guards took possession of the town. His Majesty made his entry on the
20th, and “all was as peaceable as if there had never been a war.”
On the 22nd, Roucellaï, who had been very ill for some days with
petechial fever, sent an earnest request for Bassompierre to come to
him. He went and found the unfortunate abbé almost at his last gasp, and
he had only just time to confide his papers to Bassompierre, with
directions to burn all those which he thought advisable, then he died.
As Roucellaï had been one of the most inveterate intriguers of his time,
these papers must have furnished interesting reading, and have contained
the wherewithal to set the whole Court by the ears. It was just as well,
therefore, that Bassompierre had authority to destroy them.
On the 27th, Louis XIII left Montpellier and two or three days later
made his entry into Arles, “where for the first time,” says
Bassompierre, “I marched in my quality of marshal of France, immediately
before the King, on the left of the Maréchal de Praslin.”
From Arles Bassompierre was despatched with the greater part of the army
to reduce some small places from which the Sieur de Brison, a Huguenot
chief who had refused to make his submission, was pillaging the
surrounding country. This he successfully accomplished, and towards the
middle of November rejoined the King at Lyons. On the way thither he
spent a night at Valence, “where he found M. de Lusson (_sic_), who had
been nominated cardinal and was on his way to receive the hat from the
King.”[14] From Lyons he accompanied Louis XIII to Avignon, where the
King received a visit from Charles Emmanuel of Savoy, who came to lay
the basis of a treaty between France, Savoy and Venice, which was signed
at Paris on February 7 of the following year, and which had for its
object to compel Spain to execute the Treaty of Madrid and to restore
the Valtellina to the Grisons.
On the day following the Duke of Savoy’s arrival, the marshal was taken
ill while attending a play given in honour of the King at the Jesuit
College. His illness developed into another attack of petechial fever,
though happily not in so severe a form as the one he had had after the
siege of Montauban. However, it kept him at Avignon for a fortnight and
prevented him from accompanying the King to Grenoble, though he was well
enough to assist at their Majesties’ entry into Lyons, which took place
on December 12 and would appear to have rivalled in magnificence that of
Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici into the same city in 1548, though on
this occasion there was no Diane de Poitiers present to dispute the
honours with the Queen of France and give piquancy to the ceremony.
The entry was followed by a week of balls, banquets, theatrical
performances, and displays of fireworks, all of which festivities were
no doubt much appreciated by the marshal after so many months of war’s
alarms, capped by a severe illness, and all the more, since, he tells
us, in the course of them he was reconciled to a fair lady--her name is
not recorded--from whom he had had the misfortune to be estranged.
Louis XIII left Lyons to return to Paris on December 19. At La Charité,
where he spent Christmas, news arrived of the death of the Prince de
Guéméné, governor of the Maine, and the King offered the vacant office
to Bassompierre. The marshal, however, declined it, on the ground that
he desired “to receive his [the King’s] favours and benefits at such
intervals that the King should be praised for his kindness and he
himself for his modesty, and that, as only two months had elapsed since
he had honoured him with the office of marshal of France, if he were to
make him so soon governor of a province, people would talk about it.” We
are, however, inclined to think that the real reason of his refusal was
his disinclination to leave the Court--for the governor of a province
was obliged to reside there for several months in each year--partly
owing to the attraction which court life had for him, and partly because
he knew that to retain the favour of a king like Louis XIII it was
necessary to be with him constantly.