The Memoirs

Life in England and the Low Countries

* I went to join him in London where we stayed for eighteen months in great peace, although busy all the time with many matters. He was very well received from the first moment, and of the hundred thousand crowns which he begged of the Queen of England she agreed to give eighty thousand. But between the promise and the performance the whole negotiation was upset partly by the capture of la Charite' by the Duke of Anjou (formerly the Duke of Alencon) and partly by the change in the opinions of the Marshal de Montmorenci, the governor of Languedoc.1 The effect of these two events was such that his friends advised him to leave without attempting to do anything more. He made answer that the inconstancy of the sea could be turned to account by those who were wise, and that what one wave let sink in the trough another lifted up, and for his part he meant to try what patience would do. And in truth he brought the Queen back to her first goodwill to his business. A sum was actually sent to Hambourg, in Germany, to be employed in securing foreign aid. M. du Plessis' intimacy with the most important people about the Queen was a great help. So was the confidence of the English government in him, which went to such lengths that his advice was even asked on matters which only concerned England.

During our stay in England the Low Countries, which had in no wise been settled by an Edict of Peace, now

1 Henri de Montmorenci, Comte de Damville, Marshal of France and Governor of Languedoc. After 1579 Due de Montmorenci, Connetable, 1593.

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broke out into fresh troubles in consequence of the behaviour of Don John of Austria. This was of such a nature that even the catholic provinces called upon the Prince of Orange for help, and united their fortunes with Holland and Zealand. Furthermore, in order to resist the power of Spain they wanted to lean upon the friendship and help of the Queen of England. M. du Plessis, being on the spot, was asked to act for the Prince of Orange and the Estates. At the same time the Queen and her council also applied to him, for both sides knew that he put the welfare of the true religion before all other things. His chief friends in England were Sir Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State, and Sir Philip Sidney, son of the Viceroy of Ireland, nephew of the Earl of Leicester, and since son-in-law to the aforesaid Sir Francis Walsingham. Sir Philip was the most highly accomplished gentleman in England. Sometime after this date he did M. du Plessis the honour to translate into English his book on the " Truth of the Christian Religion." Paulet,1 Killigrew,2 Davidson,3 Rogers and others employed in notable embassies were among his English friends. Among the French were the ministers of the French Church in England, Francois L'Oyseleur, generally called de Villiers, who has since had charge of the affairs of the late Prince of Orange, and Robert le Macon, called de la Fontaine, both very excellent pastors. At this date the many virtues of the King of Navarre were not known in foreign countries. By the artful tricks of certain evil speakers he was suspected by most people, as if he were not sincere in his championship of the protestant religion but had really maintained some sort of intelligence with its enemies. This did him a great deal of harm and all the more because these opinions

1 Paulet, Amias, Sir. He was ambassador in Paris 1576-1579. Mile du Plessis' memory for dates is not always correct.

! Sir Henry Killigrew, d. 1603, diplomatist in Scotland, the Low Countries and France.

8 Wm. Davidson, d. 1608, Secretary of State, sent on mission to Low Countries 1577.

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were held by those who professed themselves protestants. M. du Plessis worked hard to root out these errors and succeeded in placing the King of Navarre's reputation on such a sure foundation that it was easy for those who followed to build on it. In September 1577 peace was made in France and this gave him less to do in England. However, he had no mind to cross over to France until the fires of civil war had somewhat cooled down. During this time of leisure he occupied himself with composing a treatise on the Church, for he could see that those who denied the truth or befouled it with lies stumbled oftenest on this point. Having written it he submitted it to Messrs de la Fontaine and de Saulsay, two very learned ministers, and after them to ten or twelve others, begging them to note carefully everything they objected to. This they did and meeting in conference a month later a complete agreement was reached. This treatise was soon afterwards translated into every language and by God's grace bore fruit ; so far no reply to it has seen the light. A monk of Rouen, called Corneille, working to refute it by the request of the Baron de Meneville, a near relative of M. du Plessis and a very learned man, came to a knowledge of the truth by his own efforts to contradict it. He unfrocked himself and went to Geneva where he has since become a minister. Sometime after this the book was approved and printed in Geneva, it was received with high praise by the General Synod at Vitray in France, and in England was of great service in appeasing the distractions of the Church which had arisen on account of the ceremonial still retained in that country.

In England in the year 1578 and on the first day of June our daughter Elizabeth was born. Her godfathers were Sir Philip Sidney and Mr Killigrew, and her godmother was Lady Stafford, lady-in-waiting to the Queen of England. The chief reason why M. du Plessis left England in a hurry arose from the negotiation for the marriage of the Duke of Alencon (Anjou) with the Queen

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of England, which M. de Rames, of the family of Bagueville, had been sent over to arrange. M. du Plessis heartily disapproved of this marriage both on account of religion and no less for reasons of state, and this notwithstanding that the Queen did him the honour to discuss it with him confidentially. He decided that it would be wiser for him to leave the country and go to Flanders, where he would be able to do more for the service of his master. He took leave of the Queen in the town of Norwich under cover of various matters of business in the Low Countries relating to the King of Navarre. The Queen bade him farewell with fine gifts, and above all with the highest marks of confidence by giving him a cipher to use in secret communications to her. He left me and our children in London until he knew what degree of safety and comfort we should find in the places to which he was going. As on many other occasions God had him in His special care during this journey. For he had intended to cross in the ship, in which all his baggage was, from Gravesend to Flushing. It chanced that the wind was contrary and he therefore rode on to Dover, whence by tacking he got safely to Dunkirk. The master of the ship where his baggage was, on the other hand, just to get a little extra gain, took on board thirty soldiers who pretended they were bound for Flushing. Once out at sea these men pillaged the ship and changing its course they seized the passengers as well as the cargo. In this robbery M. du Plessis lost several works ; among others, I have often heard him regret the loss of a history of the troubles in France written in latin, as well as two petitions for peace. He tried all he could to get them back from Mr Wilson,1 the English Secretary, for soon after these same robbers were captured and hanged and all the papers came into Mr Wilson's hands. But he protested that he had never had them.

M. du Plessis arrived in Flanders in the year 1578

1 Thoma8 Wilson, d. 1581 ; Secretary of State 1578 ; sent on missions to Low Countries 1574 and 1579.

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towards the end of July at the same time that the foreign armies were camped at Rimenem. The Duke Casimir left his army very shortly after, taking with him several cornets of horse. He was bound for Ghent to quell a disturber of the peace there, by name Imbize,1 who was upsetting the whole country. This Imbize sought the advancement of the religion by the most violent means directed against the Pacification of Ghent,2 to which all the Provinces had sworn, and indeed in the end he was the cause of the rupture between them. So both the Prince of Orange and the Estates begged M. du Plessis to travel throughout the Province of Flanders, from town to town, wherever he had made friends in his previous visit to the country. He did this in a quiet way, talking over things with all the most worthy people as well as all the most sensible, pointing out that the methods Imbize was employing were not for edification but very much the contrary. He even wrote a short paper, which can be read in his memoirs arguing that religion must be preached and not imposed by force ; idolatry overthrown by the word of God and not by the hammer-blows of men. The result of this journey was that Bruges, Ypres and le Franc dissociated themselves from Ghent and reunited themselves to the whole body of the Estates ; and, furthermore, Ghent itself appealed to the Prince of Orange a few days later, rejoined the Union more obedient than before, deprived Imbize of all authority and begged Duke Casimir to leave them alone.

By this time I was once more with M. du Plessis, having embarked in the Thames at London for Antwerp. In this voyage we experienced both the wrath and the mercy of God, for the plague broke out in our ship and some died of it, not our own people but some of those who ate and drank with us. The day after we reached

1 Imbize, J. van. He conspired with another young noble of Ghent, Ryhove, to raise Ghent against the catholics.

* Treaty between the calvinist and catholic provinces of the Low Countries, 1576.

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Antwerp the two children of the woman who was foster- / mother to our daughter Elizabeth, of whom one had ^ often been suckled with her, were seized with the illness and both were dead in less than twenty-four hours. M. Trescat, a learned man and a minister of God's word in the church of Brussels, who was husband to our nurse, came in great terror to warn us. After a great deal of worry God provided us with another nurse, and none of our family suffered from the risk of infection. It was at this time that the Duke of Guise began to turn France upside-down, though without clearly knowing at which end to begin. To the catholics he spoke of the State ; to attract the huguenots he promised full liberty, and even approached the leaders of the religion. The King of Navarre sent M. de Chassincourt to Flanders in haste to ask advice from M. de la Noue and M. du Plessis. Their reply may still be read. It was to the effect that however bad was the treatment with which they met yet a tolerable peace was better than a war however successful ; that M. de Guise could not possibly make any honest promises to protestants ; that if the Duke really had any proposals to make to the King of Navarre he ought to approach him directly and not through others whom he only approached in order to detach them. In point of fact these tricks came to an end for the Duke had no mind to negotiate with a chief who meant to be really the chief of the party.

This all happened in the year 1579, in which year, in spite of all the various affairs in which he had been employed, M. du Plessis began his book on the " truths of the Christian Religion." He had been turning it over in his mind for a very long time and all his early studies had been only a preparation for writing it ; for everything had been directed to the end that he might glorify the name of Jesus Christ. He was interrupted, about the month of August, by a long and severe illness before he had reached his fifth chapter. Our eldest son Philip de Mornay was born at this time at Antwerp, on the

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20th July. We were living in the Camaerstrate, lodging with a certain M. Landmeter. His godfathers were M. Francois de la Noue and Artus de Vaudray Seigneur de Mouy, and his godmother was the Lady Mary of Nassau, eldest daughter of the Prince of Orange. Both M. de la Noue and Mile d'Orange wanted to call the baby after the Prince but I sent an earnest request to them to give him M. du Plessis' name. I was all the more set on this because some months before I was brought to bed I had a dream that I should give birth to a son, and that M. du Plessis and I should dedicate him to God and that his name must be either Philip or Samuel. M. de Mouy finding the other two godparents discussing the child's name, begged on my behalf that he should be called after his father.

M. du Plessis' illness was a low fever accompanied with various dangerous symptoms, among others constant sleeplessness and other very strange troubles. These were attributed partly to overwork, particularly over his book which he worked at every evening after a day busy with all sorts of affairs, and partly to the dregs of a poison which had been given him by a Marseillais the year before. This man very impudently came to supper with him, insinuating himself in the company of the younger M. d'Avantigny in such a way that both gentlemen thought the other knew him. By evening M. du Plessis was dangerously ill with symptoms which seemed inexplicable, and he was ill for several days without any cause which the doctors could assign. Youth and good health and above all continual and violent sickness pulled him through. This Marseillais was seized at Antwerp some little time after, whither he had come with the intention of poisoning the Prince of Orange, induced thereto by the bribes of the Abbe" of St Gertruden after the said Abbe had deserted the party of the Estates. The same Abbe, before his desertion of his old party, had made him poison Don John of Austria, and had promised him twenty thousand florins for doing it although he

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never paid more than the half. Proofs of all these things, as is generally the case in such matters, were defective, but the facts were certainly true. This fine fellow boasted he could kill a man by only touching him and in truth a colonel in Antwerp, called Adam van der Hulst, died raving mad after only accompanying M. du Plessis who went to see him in order to identify him. The part which M. du Plessis took in the affairs of the Low Countries and the Prince of Orange's friendship for him were the reasons for this attempt on his life. Besides which the Duke of Alencon (Anjou) was at Mons, pushing his claim to the Low Countries with the worst of advisers to help him who made him suspicious of every protestant, even M. du Plessis himself.

M. du Plessis' illness lasted four months although he still transacted business in spite of the fact that he entirely lost the power of writing. During his illness the King of Navarre wrote to ask his advice as to what reply should be made to the King of France's insistent demand that the mass and all the Romish ceremonies should be reinstated in Beam. The advice he gave I have found among his papers. To put it briefly it was to this effect : that, for the satisfaction of the King of France, a synod should be convoked after the manner of other Princes in his sovereign principality of Bdarn, and that a safe conduct should be given to all the theologians of Europe, of both confessions of faith, expenses for their journey to be defrayed and the meeting to be proclaimed everywhere, even in Rome and Spain ; whence it would follow that, if they came, the truth would be proclaimed to all his subjects by the very same method by which he designed to instruct the King of France ; while, if they refused to come, he would have a good excuse to give to the said King and would teach his people to hate lies. Certain worldly counsel set the King of Navarre against this plan, some people thinking he was too unimportant a Prince to attempt such a thing. M. du Plessis, on the contrary, cited the Duke of Saxony, John Frederick,

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who ventured even further in the face of an Emperor and in more dangerous circumstances. Half-way through M. du Plessis' illness we left Antwerp for Ghent, partly on account of the plague which broke out in the house where we lodged and partly for the mere pleasure of a change. The people of that town came to Antwerp to fetch us and furnished a noble lodging on purpose for us. In Ghent, so soon as he felt a little better he went on with his book which he finished not very long after at Antwerp. During all this time I was not free from my share of troubles, my own health bad, he in danger, our family in a foreign land, our private affairs in France in a great mess and bothered with debts both in England and Flanders which we had incurred on behalf of public business. But God always gave me patience and comfort and raised up friends and ways and means for me. So that without worrying M. du Plessis, or at least as little as I could, I managed to arrange for everything.

Whilst we were at Ghent war in France broke out again in April 1580. The King of Navarre sent the late M. d'Hagraville, whom he had already employed more than once in a similar manner, to M. du Plessis, with orders that he was to cross over to England to explain this fresh appeal to arms and to ask for help. This mission annoyed M. du Plessis very much for he considered the war to be neither right nor necessary. He set off to say good-bye to M. de la Noue who was on the point of carrying out an attempt on Lille which they had planned together. M. de la Noue had left his infantry to take part in the siege of Ingelmunster, under the command of M. de Marguettes. On receiving a warning that the Vicomte de Gand was on his way to raise the siege M. de la Noue abandoned his own enterprise to go to the help of his men and thereupon was defeated and taken prisoner. I remember clearly that M. du Plessis never thought well of this siege because of the inexperience of the man in command, and he told M. de la Noue his opinion. M. du Plessis had no sooner

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reached Dunkirk than the bad news about M. de la Noue followed him. The Provincial estates sent two of their worthiest members after him to beseech him to turn back in consequence of this disaster. He hesitated to do so because he was leaving the country by the King of Navarre's orders. All the same he consented to delay a few days and joined with them in putting matters into good order, in strengthening various places, in collecting the scattered troops and in garrisoning certain necessary spots so that the trouble did not spread. The Prince of Orange thanked him for his services and so did the Estates General. They sent M. de Saint Ald^gonde * to him, chief Counsellor of State and a very great person, to talk over the affairs of Flanders with him. As for the provincial Estates of Flanders the whole body besought him to assume control during the absence and captivity of M. de la Noue, with the same authority and appointments. But M. du Plessis excused himself setting his master's need before his own convenience and advancement. ,

The results of the aforementioned defeat of M. de la Noue having been guarded against M. du Plessis again set out for England. He found it not a little difficult to persuade the Queen that the fresh fighting in France was the result of ripe deliberation. Not that the enemy had not given plenty of provocation but yet not enough, in the opinion of the best informed, to lead to war. Nevertheless, he got fifty thousand crowns from the Queen to be used in Germany, and she furthermore lent the weight of her authority by sending a special embassy to assist in the raising of troops. But in the middle of these negotiations the Prince (Duke of Anjou) arrived in England before M. du Plessis had the slightest warning. He came partly to press his suit to the Queen and partly because Duke Casimir wanted before anything to be rid of him. Contrary to M. du Plessis' advice the Prince asked the Queen for 300,000 crowns, thinking to swell her liberality

1 Philippe de Marnix, Seigneur de St Aldegonde.

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by his own importance which request so offended her that she declined to give anything at all, telling him plainly that the war was unjust, blaming the bad advice he had listened to and bidding him go without further delay. M. du Plessis wanted to stay behind in England to see if he could patch matters up, and this was what all his friends advised him to do. However, the Prince peremptorily forbade him. He told M. du Plessis that he would not have any Frenchman staying behind and M. du Plessis least of all because the Queen had complained bitterly of his behaviour. So he was forced to follow the Prince. He wrote to the Queen on his departure expressing his grief at displeasing her. Whereupon she sent a messenger after him, post-haste, with a letter partly in her own handwriting (which may still be seen among his papers) in which she declared that no foreign gentleman had ever visited England whom she esteemed more highly than she did M. du Plessis, that she had never spoken nor even thought of him in disparaging terms, and she put anything reported to the contrary down to the Prince's deafness.

The Prince landed at Sluys in Flanders and thence went first to Bruges and then on to Ghent, where he stayed one day, and was everywhere very well received. The following night on the point of daybreak the enemy under the Vicomte de Gand and la Motte, governor of Gravelines, attempted to scale the city wall by the help of one of the elbows of a bastion, at which they were working. M. du Plessis had warned them of the danger of this spot before he left for England. By God's help the enemy was repulsed and the next day they continued their march to Antwerp. I remember that on the alarm of this attempt being given M. du Plessis, alone and almost naked, had barely time to bid one of the members of the Estates of Flanders (a man named Burgrave, deputy from Franc, who brought him the news that the enemy had captured the bastion, which was not true), to send for the French troops camped at Audenarde, for

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the Scots at Menin and for other troops in various places. For it was better to fight the enemy in the town itself, if they should get in, rather than lose it. He also ordered that some of the bridges in the town should be broken in order to give more time to retard the enemy's advance as well as to give time for help to arrive. Having given these orders he next told me to retreat to the Antwerp gate with my children because this would be the last place where the troops would rally if the city were taken, and that I must be sure to save his nearly finished book ; I did as he bade me.

It was about this time that the Prince's negotiations came to a head. At the beginning he pretended to help the Low Countries, next he spoke of protecting them and finally he aspired to their lordship. He based his claim on the argument that the country could not defend itself alone, and that the French were the only people who could help it against Spain. M. du Plessis, who knew the late Duke of Anjou's character as well as the wickedness and rashness of his advisers and their hatred of the true religion, was convinced that their open protestations were incompatible with their secret intentions. He often told the Prince of Orange that if he could get along without the Duke he would be wise to do so ; if he could not he had better have him for a helper than for a master ; if he had to accept him for a master he ought, at least, to tie him down by conditions that would prevent him from being mischievous. The Prince of Orange, worn out with suffering, broken down by the long-drawn war and by the bitter slanders he had had to endure, made up his mind to take the final step and begged M. du Plessis' assistance. After various public declarations the first result of this decision was seen at Ghent, where the resolution to renounce all obedience to the King of Spain was definitely taken and the election of a new Prince decided on. M. du Plessis gave his help, but only on the assurance that the new prince was to be bound by such conditions, that, humanly

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speaking, no harm could follow ; these conditions, however, were immediately relaxed solely because people were too ready to be deceived. I could see that M. du Plessis was shocked at the carelessness with which such a weighty matter was managed. The deputies, in whose hands the negotiations with the Duke of Anjou were placed, allowed themselves to be taken by country roads all the way to Gascony, being feasted wherever they went, instead of going direct to Paris where they could have learnt from their friends what they really had to expect from the Duke.

On M. du Plessis' return to Antwerp whither the hurry of all this business about the Duke called him, he finished his book on the Christian religion. It was printed by Plantin.1 This work finished he went to France both on urgent private as well as on public business, and was commissioned by the Prince of Orange and the Estates General to point out to the Duke of Anjou the best way to relieve Cambrai, and thence to march triumphant to Antwerp. He first met the Duke secretly at la Ferte Gaucher, and later in open council at Chateau Thierry.

The Duke contented himself with relieving Cambrai without going further, being advised, by his usual councillors, to leave his people alone in their need so that he might get more out of them later on. From Chateau Thierry M. du Plessis went on to Gascony to join the King of Navarre. The King told him that he wanted to keep him with him and never let him go again, making use of the strongest words possible to express his wishes. This settled, the King gave him leave to return to Flanders to fetch his family. He certainly did not find us sorry to see him back. God had given us a son during his absence, who was called Maurice. His godfathers were Count Maurice, the Prince of Orange's son, and M. Languet. His godmother Mile de Perez, of the family of Lopez Espagnol, a woman of great piety. Three months after his birth we lost the

1 Christophe Plantin, 15 14-1589, celebrated printer.

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child, while his father was still away and while my other children lay dangerously ill. M. Languet, who was just like a father to us, also died at this time, and he and our son were both buried at Antwerp. M. Languet's only regret was at not seeing M. du Plessis once more before he died, and had it been possible, he would have left his loving heart with him.

It was about this time that the French troops under Colonel la Garde, who were in garrison at Bergen-op- Zoom, mutinied for their pay and some among them even went so far as to talk of surrendering the town to the Spaniards. Their captains were not involved in the mutiny but all the same they were not sorry to take advantage of it. The Estates begged M. du Plessis to go to Bergen and bring the troops back to their duty, which he did. The same evening that he arrived news came that the enemy were only five leagues away. He was taken the round and shown how strong the guard was so that he might report favourably to his superiors. This was lucky, for just before daybreak, by an arrangement with two carpenters within the walls, the sluices of the Zoom were raised where the river flowed into the town under a tower, and the enemy waded in through the water up to their knees, and seized the corn market. M. du Plessis, who lodged with M. de Fouguerolles, one of the captains, ran thither half-dressed, where he rallied all the men he could. It was God's will by the bravery of some of the captains, that the enemy should be repulsed with the loss of many of their best troops. Humanly speaking, a blunder saved the town, for the invaders meant to have opened the Porte du Havre to their cavalry, an easy gate to force, whereas their guides took them by mistake to the Porte du Vauve which had a drawbridge and a portcullis, and this upset all their plans. But all this can be read in the history books.

M. du Plessis, partly on account of the promise he had given to the King of Navarre, partly because he believed no good was likely to come of the treaty with the Duke

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of Anjou, made up his mind to return to France. He settled his debts to the satisfaction of every one and bade farewell to the Prince of Orange and all his friends. As I was sitting in my carriage by the water's side, waiting to cross the Scheldt by the ferry-boat, M. Junius, burgomaster of Antwerp, accompanied by several of the sheriffs, came to stop me, declaring that they had need of M. du Plessis and really could not let him go. I protested with all my might but in the end they escorted me back and made the same declaration to him. The Prince of Orange wrote from Ghent in the same strain and the Princess, his wife, was also asked to persuade us. It was extremely inconvenient to us after making all our arrangements to leave. Finally, M. du Plessis said he could not consent unless he had permission from his master, the King of Navarre. A messenger was immediately sent to His Majesty who brought back a further leave of absence for six months. When the Duke of Anjou arrived in the Low Countries and learnt what had happened, his dislike of M. du Plessis was redoubled, and so was the jealousy of his advisers, however much they all pretended to the contrary. Nor was this dislike lessened by a message which the Queen of England and her special servants sent to the Estates ; to wit : that the Duke's intentions would be judged by the way in which he used M. du Plessis. The result was to make the Duke very friendly to him in public but never to divulge any of his secret plans. It had been agreed that the Duke should have two French counsellors added to the Estates, the choice to lie with the Estates, but, as he was convinced that M. du Plessis would certainly be chosen for one, he preferred to have none at all. The four provinces of Flanders wanted someone to take command and asked to have M. du Plessis appointed. The Duke replied that he could not spare him. People thought from this he was all-powerful whereas in truth he was of very little account and was likely to be of less. For this reason he explained his position to some of his friends, and, so as to

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avoid being used as an instrument to deceive the people as well as being blamed undeservedly, he made up his mind to leave the country. The Duke, who was afraid that M. du Plessis' departure might be prejudicial to his schemes put a chance in his way which was as fraudulent as it was complimentary. A proposal came before the Council of State to send a solemn embassy to the Emperor and the Imperial Diet at Augsburg to justify the Estates in their election of a new prince, and to offer homage for the Duchy of Brabant and the other provinces included in the Empire. Whereupon the Duke named the Duke of Bouillon * and M. du Plessis as ambassadors, knowing that every one would approve of his choice. The necessary papers and instructions were drawn up, even his speeches were prepared, and yet M. du Plessis was always of opinion that this journey would never be undertaken and that it was only a trick to get him decently out of the country. He was so certain that he could not pretend that he believed in it even to the Duke himself. I have seen him argue over it with his brother, M. de Buhy, who was completely taken in. Lodgings were engaged at Augsburg and his suite arranged. But when M. du Plessis got to Paris, where he had to go for money and for the King's authorization of the mission, Renand, the treasurer, whispered in his ear that the Duke had countermanded all payments to the Duke of Bouillon and himself for their expenses as ambassadors, as well as for the presents which they properly ought to take with them. Thereupon M. du Plessis sent back his dispatches to the Duke and excused himself from the journey.

During the brief time that he stayed at Antwerp after the Duke arrived there he gladly withdrew from all public business, for the reasons which I have mentioned before. He spent his time in translating his book on the Truths of Christianity into latin, which was also printed by Plantin at Leyden. We still have it all in

1 Guillaume Robert de la Marck, 1564-1588.

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his own handwriting. A book printed in Paris treating of the genealogies of Lorraine • fell into his hands about this time ; on reading it he saw that it had no other object than to prove that the crown of France really belonged to the House of Lorraine. He thereupon made a copy of certain passages, word for word, and sent it to King Henri III. The King thanked him for it, put it carefully by and asked him to write a refutation of it ; which he did. The author, one Rosieres, archdeacon of Toul, was called before the King's Privy Council and censured. Everybody has seen the consequences of this claim later on.

The first attempt to assassinate the Prince of Orange happened at this time. He was dangerously wounded and was not expected to live. M. du Plessis was constantly with him, and the Prince, thinking he must die, bade him farewell with every sign of friendship and a prayer that he would be a good friend to his children. In spite of all the worries we had in Flanders I will not deny that I was very sorry to leave the country. This was partly because I was afraid of the miserable state of France and partly because I anticipated, and rightly, that I should see less of M. du Plessis than I had done hitherto.

1 Sttmmata Lotharingiae ac Barri ducum, by Fr. de Rosieres. This book was written to prove the descent of the House of Lorraine from Charlemagne.