Bassompierre

“ Sire," exclaimed Bassompierre, "will you never cease to pain us by these constant allusions to your approaching death? These are things which should not be said. You will live, please God, long and happy years. What fate can be more enviable than your own? You are now in the prime of life, strong and healthy; surrounded by honour and respect; in tranquil possession of the most flourishing kingdom upon earth; adored by your subjects; rich in money, palaces, and lands; wooed by fair women; loved by handsome favourites; with a host of noble children growing up about you. ”

“ Such being my state of mind, and such the suspense I suffered during two days, it may be imagined that M. Bassompierre was not more happy. Despairing of the King's favour unless he could clear up the matter, and by the event justify his indiscretion, he became for those two days the wonder, and almost the terror, of the Court. ”

“ Sir Dudley Carleton, whom Charles despatched to Paris to explain the whole affair, was at first refused admittance to the king's presence, and the queen's mother and Richelieu gave him a very cold reception. But at length it was resolved to send marshal de Bassompierre to London, as ambassador, to hear from Henrietta herself the statement of her injuries. Bassompierre was a witty, accomplished, and gay courtier, having the reputation of considerable profligacy, but clear-sighted, and as his conduct showed in the whole affair, a very capable and straightforward man. ”

“ On learning of what had occurred, the King ordered Bassompierre, who was with the advance-guard, to invest the town, which he proceeded to do; but, on going forward to reconnoitre the place with Praslin and Chevreuse, he had a narrow escape of his life, being fired upon from a distance of twenty paces by a party of the enemy, whom he had mistaken for some of his own men.
“There was not in Négrepelisse,” says Bassompierre, “anything better than a musket; no munitions of war save what each inhabitant might have had to go out shooting; no foreign soldier, no chief to command them ”

“ The Diet assembled on the 12th, and its first business was to pass a resolution that the deputies should go in a body, preceded by their beadles, to salute the Maréchal de Bassompierre. This, Bassompierre tells us, was an honour which had never been paid to anyone before. The following day the deputies sent six of their number to escort the Ambassadors of the King of France to the Diet,{423} where Bassompierre laid his proposals before them and addressed them at considerable length. ”

“ When morning dawned, the good citizens of Marmande, having satisfied themselves that there were no Huguenots lurking in the vicinity, at length summoned up courage to open their gates, and the unfortunate Bassompierre was carried to an inn and put to bed. Here he lay for a fortnight between life and death, “stricken with a purple fever,” and it was only his iron constitution which eventually turned the scale in his favour. ”

“ Bassompierre spoke to Puisieux as one friend might{397} speak to another, and, of course, believed that the latter would regard it as a private conversation. But the Minister, “to play the good valet,” reported what the marshal had said, very possibly with some little embellishments of his own, to Louis XIII, who, in turn, informed La Vieuville; and La Vieuville, delighted to find an opportunity of injuring Bassompierre, professed the utmost indignation, and “told the King that such words were criminal, and that they deserved the Bastille or worse.” ”

“ Bassompierre had meanwhile greatly distinguished himself at the Pass of Susa, which had been forced by the French troops; and his vigour, activity, and courage had rendered him the idol of the soldiers, who justly attributed to his able exertions no small portion of the success which had attended the royal arms. ”

“ By dint of persuasive speeches and lavish hospitality, Bassompierre experienced no difficulty in inducing the Diet to accord him permission to raise whatever troops he might require for the service of France, and on the 11th he was able to write to the Cardinal that his mission had been entirely successful. ”

“ Bassompierre among others, with his usual frankness, replied to his royal mistress, when she urged him to declare his sentiments upon the subject: "You have been well advised, Madame; you do not sufficiently consider your own interests; and one of [pg 403] these days the King will be taken from beneath your wing. His adherents have commenced by exciting him against your friends, and ere long they will excite him against yourself. Your authority is only precarious, and must cease whenever such may be the will of the sovereign. ”

“ Bassompierre replied that, if they did succeed in establishing a battery there, the town must fall; but he very much doubted whether the enemy would allow them to do it. “And I,” exclaimed the King angrily, “refuse to wait for what they wish to do. For they are deceivers; and I will never believe anything they say again.” The Constable here interposed, and begged his Majesty to remember that the generals at Le Moustier were as much mortified as he was at the fiasco of the previous day. ”

“ Having obtained his Majesty’s consent to this arrangement, they sent Roucellaï to sound Bassompierre on the matter and “even offered to add to this charge that of marshal of France.” But Bassompierre preferred to wait upon events and to see into whose hands the management of affairs would fall, foreseeing that whoever might secure it would not be strong enough to maintain his position without support, and “being assured that he would be very pleased to have him for a friend, and to give him a larger share of the cake than they [Retz and Schomberg] were offering him.” ”

“ So sink the shadows of Night, blustering, rainy; and all paths grow dark. Strangest Night ever seen in these regions,—perhaps since the Bartholomew Night, when Versailles, as Bassompierre writes of it, was a chétif château. O for the Lyre of some Orpheus, to constrain, with touch of melodious strings, these mad masses into Order! For here all seems fallen asunder, in wide-yawning dislocation. The highest, as in down-rushing of a World, is come in contact with the lowest: the Rascality of France beleaguering the Royalty of France ”

“ Death of Richelieu—Bassompierre is offered his liberty on condition that he shall retire to his brother-in-law Saint-Luc’s Château of Tillières—He at first refuses to leave the Bastille, unless he is permitted to return to Court—His friends persuade him to alter his decision—He is authorised to reappear at Court—His answer to the King’s question concerning his age—He recovers his post as Colonel-General of the Swiss—His death—His funeral—His sons, Louis de Bassompierre and François de la Tour—His nephews. ”

“ Bassompierre began the year 1630 by purchasing from the widow of Président Jeannin her château at Chaillot, upon the enlargement and decoration of which he, during the next few months, expended very large sums, and converted it into one of the most sumptuous country-residences in the neighbourhood of Paris. Unhappily for him, it was to prove a case of sowing for others to reap. On January 16, “after having placed his affairs in some degree of order,” he set out for Switzerland, and on the 21st arrived at Lyons, where he was to receive his final instructions from the Cardinal. ”

“ If any one can accomplish so desirable an object, you are the person."
Bassompierre lost no time in opening the important negotiation with which he was entrusted; and the wiliness with which he first enlisted the ambition and cupidity of the females of the family presents a curious picture of the manners of the time. His success could not long remain doubtful at a period when the allegiance of the highest nobles of the land was bought and sold like the most common merchandise ”

“ During the next fortnight Bassompierre was occupied in arranging for the levy which the Diet had authorised, so that the troops might be ready to take the field so soon as they were required. On March 27 a courier arrived from the Cardinal with the news that the armistice between France and Savoy was at an end, and that Richelieu had entered Piedmont and was going to lay siege to Pinerolo. The Cardinal ordered Bassompierre to mobilise 6,000 Swiss immediately, and informed him that he had written requesting the King to send him other troops and a patent as general for the conquest of Savoy. ”

“ Perceiving that the King seemed very reluctant to take this course, though, at the same time, he was unwilling to refuse so pressing a request, Bassompierre, like a true courtier, came to his aid, and declared that, as he had “always preferred to deserve great honours than to possess them,” he was not so eager for the bâton as Schomberg, and would “without envy or regret” resign his claims in favour of one who was six years his senior, and one of his Majesty’s Ministers, and therefore entitled to the preference. ”

“ A few days later, Bassompierre and the prince again{370} came into collision. Condé had proposed in the Council to attack Carmain, a nest of Huguenots which was a great annoyance to the people of Toulouse, who had petitioned that its reduction should be undertaken; [7] but Bassompierre objected that to conquer these small places was to waste time which might be more usefully employed in besieging important strongholds of the enemy like Nîmes and Montpellier. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If we are to believe Bassompierre, they pointed out to Schomberg that if Bassompierre were to carry out his threat to retire, he would have all the power in the army, since Angoulême pretended only to the rank of lieutenant-general and would never dream of disputing his authority, whereas, if Bassompierre, who was the second marshal of France, a favourite of the King, and very popular with officers and soldiers alike, were to remain, he would occupy a subordinate position ”

“ On the other hand, the courtiers who were anxious for peace, and who desired to see Louis once more quietly established in his capital, were earnest that he should advance Bassompierre to the coveted dignity; nor were they without sanguine hope of success, as even before the death of De Luynes, the wit, courage, and magnificence of the courtly soldier had captivated the admiration of the King, who had evinced towards him a greater portion of regard than he vouchsafed to any other noble of his suite ”

“ A day or two after this, Bassompierre requested permission of Louis XIII to bring an action against La Vieuville before the Parlement, so soon as he should cease to be a Minister, for having falsely accused him to his Majesty of being a pensioner of Spain, in order that he might be punished as he deserved. But the King assured the marshal that he intended to punish him sufficiently himself, by dismissing him with ignominy from office and imprisoning him. ”

“ Once more the father and lover appeared in the library. M. de Bassompierre shut the door; he pointed to his daughter.
"Take her," he said. "Take her, John Bretton; and may God deal with you as you deal with her!"
Not long after, perhaps a fortnight, I saw three persons, Count de Bassompierre, his daughter, and Dr. Graham Bretton, sitting on one seat, under a low-spreading and umbrageous tree, in the grounds of the palace at Bois l'Etang. They had come thither to enjoy a summer evening: outside the magnificent gates their carriage waited to take them home ”

“ It is indeed astonishing that so great a man should have descended to such paltry exhibitions of spite, and have persuaded, not only his colleagues in the Ministry, but his sovereign as well, to lend themselves to them. But Richelieu was a strange character, and combined in a singular degree qualities worthy of the most profound admiration with others which can provoke nothing but contempt.
But the cruel disappointments inflicted upon him by the malice of the Cardinal were far from the only mortifications which Bassompierre had to endure. ”

“ From his closet Henry proceeded to the last place on earth which might, under the circumstances, have been anticipated. He went straight to the chamber of the Queen, where her Majesty was still unable to leave her bed, and there he gave full scope to the anguish under which he was labouring. "Never," says Bassompierre, "did I see a man so lost or so overcome." ”

“ From the question of domestic difference, Bassompierre and the king in council proceeded to topics of national difference. Each party had something to complain of. Bassompierre complained that the marriage treaty had been violated at every point; that Charles had bound himself both to permit the tree exercise of the queen's religion, and toleration of the catholics at large; but that his treatment of the queen and her retinue, and his persecution of the catholics were, notwithstanding, patent breaches of this contract. ”

“ The three marshals of France, Créquy, Bassompierre, and Schomberg, had come to an arrangement by which each in turn commanded the army for three days at a time; and, when Cominges returned with this bellicose answer, Bassompierre, who happened to be in command that day, approached the King, who had taken up his position a little way behind the storm troops, and said to him: “Sire, Sire, the company is ready; the musicians have come in to demand permission to begin the fête; the masks are at the door. ”