[188] Marville, Melanges d’Histoire et de Litterature.

[189] Nicolas Le Fevre was born at Paris, in 1544, and devoted himself to literature.  Henri IV entrusted to him the education of the Prince de Conde; and he subsequently became, under Marie de Medicis, the preceptor of Louis XIII.  He died in 1612.

[190] David de Rivault, Sieur de Flurance, was born at Laval in 1571, and died at Tours in 1616.  He was the author of several works, which elicited the admiration of Malherbe and other distinguished writers.

[191] Guy, Comte de Laval, was the brother of the Duc de la Tremouille.

[192] Bernard, Hist, de Louis XIII, book i.

[193] Sismondi, Hist. des Francais, vol. xxii. p. 296.

[194] Bernard, book iv. Additions aux Memoires de Castelnau, book vi. pp. 455-457.  Richelieu, Hist, de la Mere et du Fils, vol. i. p. 284.

[195] Richelieu, Hist, de la Mere et du Fils, vol. i. pp. 284, 285.

CHAPTER VII

1615-16

Close of the States-General—­The Bishop of Lucon—­Declaration of the royal marriages—­Ballet of Madame—­State of the Court—­Cabal of Concini—­Death of Marguerite de Valois—­Conde seeks to gain the Parliament—­Distrust of Marie de Medicis—­Conde leaves Paris—­He refuses to accompany the King to Guienne—­Perilous position of the Court party—­The Marechal de Bois-Dauphin is appointed Commander-in-Chief—­The Court proceed to Guienne—­Illness of the Queen and Madame Elisabeth—­The Court at Tours—­Enforced inertness of M. de Bois-Dauphin—­Conde is declared guilty of lese-majeste—­He takes up arms—­Murmurs of the royal generals—­The Comte de St. Pol makes his submission—­The Court reach Bordeaux—­The royal marriages—­Sufferings of the troops—­Disaffection of the nobility—­Irritation of the Protestants—­Pasquinades—­Negotiation with the Princes—­The Duc de Guise assumes the command of the royal army—­Singular escape of Marie de Medicis—­Disgrace of the Duc d’Epernon—­He retires to his government—­The Queen and the astrologer.

The assembly of the States-General occupied the commencement of the year 1615; and was closed on the 22nd of February, by their Majesties in person, with extreme pomp.  When the King and his august mother had taken their seats, and the heralds had proclaimed silence, Armand Jean du Plessis, Bishop of Lucon,[196] presented to the sovereign the requisition of the clergy; and after a long harangue, in which he detailed their several demands, he entered into an animated eulogium of the administration of the Queen, exhorting his Majesty to continue to her the power of which she had so ably availed herself during his minority.  He spoke fluently, but in a broken and uncertain voice, and with an apparent apathy, which, according to contemporaneous authors, gave no indication of the extraordinary talents that he subsequently displayed.