During Bassompierre’s absence in England, Louis XIII had paid him the very high compliment of nominating him one of the four presidents of the Assembly of the Notables, which was opened at the Tuileries by the King on December 2, 1626, and continued sitting until February 24 of the following year. This assembly, from which Richelieu had systematically excluded all the makers of cabals at the Court—that is to say, practically all the great nobles—voted in accordance with the Cardinal’s desires and recommended the reduction of useless expenditure, pensions, and the King’s Household, the re-organisation of the Army, which, when on a peace footing, was not to exceed 20,000 men, the strengthening of the Navy, the relief of the lower noblesse as a counterpoise to the greater, and the destruction of all the fortifications of towns and chÂteaux not required for the defence of the frontiers.

Bassompierre, being the junior of the four presidents,[103] does not appear to have spoken very often, but a sentence in one of his speeches is worth recording, in the light of subsequent events. Praising Louis XIII for the economy he had shown in not erecting any new buildings and even suspending the completion of these commenced before he came to the throne, he continued:—

It was this “sorry ChÂteau of Versailles”—then a mere hunting-lodge—which, under Louis XIII’s successor, was to be transformed into the most costly and magnificent royal palace in Europe.

During the winter Bassompierre took part in a ballet organised by the King at the Louvre and the HÔtel de Ville, in which his Majesty danced himself. In this ballet, which was entitled le SÉrieux et le Grotesque, what appeared to be a number of gigantic bottles entered from one wing and a party of Swiss officers from the other. The officers hastened eagerly towards the bottles, which, however, suddenly transformed themselves into women, whereupon the Swiss fled in alarm. But the ladies produced goblets brimming with wine, at the sight of which the officers returned, and Bassompierre, representing the Colonel-General of the Swiss, declaimed several stanzas in praise of Cupid and Bacchus:

And so forth.

In the course of the spring an event occurred which created an immense sensation and showed that Richelieu was no respecter of persons and was resolved to enforce obedience to the royal authority, even at the expense of the noblest blood in France.

One of the greatest social evils of the age was that of duelling, which, bad as it had been in the troublous times of the last Valois, had become even worse under Henri IV, during whose reign it is computed that no less than 8,000 gentlemen lost their lives on the “field of honour.” During the early years of Louis XIII’s reign the evil continued unabated; duels were of almost daily occurrence; men quarrelled and fought for the most trifling difference; they drew upon one another in the public street; they exchanged challenges to mortal combat even in the King’s chamber. From time to time various edicts against duelling had been issued, but the penalties attaching to their infraction had been seldom enforced, and it was not until Richelieu came into power that the first serious attempt to put a stop to it was made. In March, 1626, the Cardinal persuaded the King to issue a new and severe edict against the practice, which was to be punished by confiscation of property, by exile, and, in aggravated cases, by death. At first, however, the edict would not appear to have been taken very seriously, and duels continued to be fought without any very unpleasant consequences to the offenders. But Richelieu was only waiting for a chance to make a terrible example.

In March, 1627, the Seigneur de Boutteville, a member of the great House of Montmorency and one of the most notorious bretteurs of the time, had an “affair” with the Marquis de la Frette, captain of Monsieur’s guards, in which Boutteville’s second, a gentleman named Bachoy, was killed. As this was not the first occasion on which M. de Boutteville had defied the edict,[104] the King, in high indignation, ordered Bassompierre to send three companies of the Swiss Guards to invest the delinquent’s chÂteau of PrÉcy-sur-Oise, to which he was reported to have retired, and sent the Grand Provost with them to arrest him. When, however, the Grand Provost and the Swiss reached PrÉcy, they found that their bird had flown and had taken refuge in Lorraine.

If Boutteville had had the sense to remain there until the affair had blown over, all might have been well, as in his duel with La Frette he had not been the aggressor. But, indignant at the sentence of exile which had been pronounced against him, he boasted that he would fight his next duel in the middle of the Place-Royale. This bravado he duly accomplished some weeks later, and his second, the Comte des Chapelles, killed Bussy d’Amboise, who was acting in the same capacity to Boutteville’s adversary, the Marquis de Beuvron.[105] Beuvron fled to Italy, while Boutteville and Des Chapelles made for Lorraine; but, on their way, they stopped for a night at VitrÉ-le-FranÇais, of which place Bussy d’Amboise had been governor, and the mother of the dead man, who had sent one of her servants after them, learning of their arrival, informed the authorities of the town, who caused them to be arrested.

Boutteville and Des Chapelles—the latter was also a Montmorency, on his mother’s side—were conducted to the Bastille and brought to trial before the Parlement. The Procurator-General was instructed to demand the extreme penalty, and they were both condemned to death. What was more, the sentence was duly carried out, for, notwithstanding the entreaties and remonstrances of all the great nobles in France, the King, thanks to Richelieu’s efforts, was inexorable, and on June 22, 1627, they were beheaded in the Place de GrÈve.[106]

This most necessary example had, for a time, a very salutary effect, for, however reckless men might be, few cared to face the executioner’s axe. But after Richelieu’s death the practice was renewed, and, though it never attained to anything like the proportions it had reached in the early part of the seventeenth century, duels were still both numerous and sanguinary, as will be gathered from the fact that during the eight years of Anne of Austria’s regency more than a thousand gentlemen lost their lives in them.

On May 29 Madame gave birth to a daughter—the celebrated Mlle. de Montpensier—“contrary to the expectation and the desire of their Majesties and of Monsieur her husband, who would have preferred a son.” The poor lady only survived the birth of her little daughter a few days, and her death cast a gloom over the Court, and from a political point of view was most unfortunate, since it afforded Richelieu’s many enemies an opportunity for fresh intrigues.

About the same time, news arrived of the formidable armament which Buckingham was assembling at Portsmouth, and the French Government did not doubt that the duke was meditating a descent upon the western coast of France, and that his arrival there would be the signal for the Rochellois and probably the bulk of the Huguenots to take up arms. No time, therefore, was lost in assembling an army in Poitou, and Louis XIII gave the command to Monsieur, and appointed Bassompierre and Schomberg as his lieutenant-generals. The King decided also to go to the West himself, and on June 28—the day after Buckingham’s expedition sailed from Portsmouth—he left Paris.

On the morning of his departure, he went with Bassompierre to the Arsenal to inspect the artillery, and then proceeded to the Parlement to take leave of that body and to hold a Bed of Justice for the purpose of securing the registration of the Code Michaut.[107] At the conclusion of the ceremony Bassompierre gave him his hand to assist him to descend from his seat, upon which the King remarked: “Marshal, I have an attack of fever coming on, and did nothing but tremble the whole time I was on my Bed of Justice.” “That is, nevertheless, the place where you make others tremble,” replied the ready courtier; “but if that be the case, Sire, why are you going into the country with a fever upon you? Remain here for two or three days.” Louis, however, declared that it was the crowd of persons who had come to take leave of him that day which had caused him to feel ill, and that, so soon as he got into the country, he would probably be better. But he told Bassompierre to send one of his servants after him to Marolles, where he was to sleep that night, and he would send him news of his health. Meantime, he was to hasten his preparations for leaving Paris, as he wished him to join him so soon as possible.

Next day, the servant whom Bassompierre had sent after the King reported on his return that he had left his Majesty just entering his coach to go to the ChÂteau of Villeroy, and that he had bidden him inform his master that he was worse and desired him to come and see him on the morrow.

In the morning, accordingly, Bassompierre, accompanied by Guise, Chevreuse, and Saint-Luc, who had asked to come with him, started for Villeroy. On their arrival at the chÂteau they were met by Richelieu, “with whom,” says the marshal, “I had fallen out a little”—who, after greeting the princes, turned to Bassompierre and said: “The King would be very pleased to see you, but he is in such a condition that the company which has come with you would inconvenience him. He has broken out in a great perspiration. That is why I advise you not to see him. I will inform him that you have come, and will convey the compliments of these princes to him.” With which he went back to the King’s chamber, and Bassompierre and his friends returned to Paris.

As he was leaving the chÂteau, Bassompierre learned that the Duc d’AngoulÊme was with the King, but he did not attach any importance to this at the time. However, the next day, in Paris, he met that prince riding in his coach, when AngoulÊme stopped, alighted and embraced the marshal, saying: “I bid you adieu, as I am leaving in two hours’ time for Poitou.” “For what purpose?” inquired Bassompierre. “To command the army there,” was the reply.

Bassompierre was profoundly astonished at this news, for, if the King were too ill to continue his journey and Monsieur remained with him, the command of the army naturally devolved upon himself, as the senior marshal of the two lieutenant-generals who had been appointed. He felt convinced that he had been the victim of some intrigue, and this proved to be the case.

It appears that Bassompierre’s conduct of his mission to England had given great dissatisfaction to the High Catholic party in France, and, in particular, to the Bishop of Mende, who complained bitterly that the marshal had blamed his conduct generally, and several of his actions in particular, during the time that he had been Grand Almoner to Henrietta Maria. This prelate, in consequence, had conceived the bitterest hatred of Bassompierre, and, to avenge himself, was doing everything in his power to injure him with Richelieu, whose relative and protÉgÉ he was.

In this he had succeeded, the more easily since Richelieu invariably looked with a jaundiced eye upon those who enjoyed the personal friendship of the King, and had apparently persuaded the Cardinal that Bassompierre had become on such intimate terms with Buckingham and other English statesmen during his embassy, that he ought to be regarded with distrust. The consequence was that when, on Louis XIII being taken ill, AngoulÊme, who entertained an absurdly exaggerated idea of his military capacity, had suggested that, since Monsieur would, of course, remain with his Majesty, he should be sent to Poitou to organise the army there, on the ground that it consisted largely of light cavalry, of which he was Colonel, he supported this proposal, although he was well aware that the prince hoped that his temporary command would become a permanent one.

The King objected. “And Bassompierre,” said he, “what will he do? Is he not my lieutenant-general?” “Yes, Sire,” answered the Cardinal; “but since he has never been of opinion that the English would make a descent on France, he will not be so solicitous to place your army in a fit state to take the field; and M. d’AngoulÊme does not pretend to any command—as he will tell you himself—and will retire so soon as your Majesty arrives, knowing well that the command belongs by right to the marshals of France.” AngoulÊme was then admitted, and, after some further persuasion, the King yielded and signed an order giving him command of the army.

In the course of the next few days Louis XIII became so ill that his physicians were seriously alarmed, and it was deemed advisable for the two Queens to proceed to Villeroy and establish themselves at the chÂteau. Bassompierre, however, did not again visit the King, “contenting himself with sending every day to learn news of his health,” apparently because he feared that his presence at Villeroy might give umbrage to the Cardinal. The Duc de Guise, however, was a frequent visitor, and one day the King called him to his bedside and said: “M. du Bois”—he often called Bassompierre by this name, though why the marshal does not tell us—“is angry with me; but he is under a wrong impression. I beg you to bring him with you the next time you come, and tell him this from me.”

Accordingly, a day or two later, Bassompierre went with the duke to Villeroy; but Richelieu accompanied him into the King’s chamber, and the Queen-Mother came in shortly afterwards, and he had no opportunity of speaking to his Majesty. However, while his mother and Richelieu were at dinner, the King sent Roger, his first valet of his Wardrobe, to request Bassompierre to return, when he told him that he did wrong to be annoyed because he had sent AngoulÊme to Poitou; that he had been forced to do so; that he had not entrusted him with any powers; and that, so soon as his health would permit him to travel to the army, he intended to revoke the commission which he had given the prince, and place the troops under the marshal’s orders. Upon which Bassompierre assured him, like a true courtier, that “he was not troubling himself about the matter; that he could think of nothing for the moment but his Majesty’s health (for the restoration of which he was offering up constant prayers to God), and that, being his creature, he approved everything that he did, though it were to his own prejudice.”

Notwithstanding these assurances, however, it is evident that the marshal was deeply mortified at seeing himself superseded.

In the afternoon of July 10, the English expedition, which consisted of forty-two ships-of-war and thirty-four transports, with 6,000 infantry and 100 cavalry on board, arrived off Saint-Martin-de-RÉ, the principal town of the Île de RÉ, opposite La Rochelle. If Buckingham had made his descent upon Fort Louis, as the Huguenots who accompanied him desired, this fortress, shut in between the English and the Rochellois, must inevitably have been captured, as Toiras, who, on the death of the MarÉchal de Praslin in the preceding year, had succeeded him as governor of Aunis, had withdrawn the greater part of its garrison to strengthen Saint-Martin-de-RÉ, and the result of the fall of Fort-Louis would have been disastrous to France. But the Rochellois had so far refused to commit themselves definitely to an alliance with England; and, apart from this, there were reasons which made Buckingham particularly anxious to get possession of RÉ. If it should fall into English hands, it would be a veritable thorn in the side of French, and to a less degree of Spanish, commerce, since its ports within the still waters of the straits which divided it from the mainland would afford an admirable lair for privateers; while its proximity to the Protestant populations of South-Western France would open the door to a skilful use of religious and political intrigue. Its salt marshes, moreover, would afford a very valuable source of revenue to the English exchequer.

On the morning of the 12th a council of war was held, as a result of which it was decided that Sir William Becher, accompanied by Soubise and an agent of Rohan, should proceed to La Rochelle to ascertain whether the citizens were prepared to accept the hand which his Britannic Majesty was holding out to them, and that the troops should be landed at once.

Toiras had collected about 1,000 foot and 200 horse to oppose the landing, which began about five o’clock in the afternoon, under cover of the fire from the ships. There was a painful lack of discipline amongst the troops, which was not surprising, considering that they were chiefly composed of raw material; and the first boatloads which disembarked gathered in clusters along the beaches instead of falling into line. Buckingham, cudgel in hand, hurried up and down “beating some and threatening others”; but when two regiments were on shore, he was obliged to return to the fleet to do the like there, as some of the troops showed a marked disinclination to leave the shelter of the ships.

Hardly had he reached it, when Toiras, perceiving his opportunity, launched his cavalry upon the disorderly groups on the beach, and, despite the efforts of their officers to rally them, drove them headlong into the sea. Had the French cavalry been properly supported by their infantry, the two regiments must have been destroyed or captured almost to a man; but the infantry were far behind, and, meantime, Buckingham, who, with all his faults, lacked neither courage nor energy, perceiving what had happened, hurried back, and by his exertions, aided by those of their officers, succeeded in rallying the fugitives and forming them into line. Reinforcements were landed, and, after some fierce fighting, numbers prevailed, and the French were obliged to retreat to Saint-Martin. The English lost about 500 men, the French about 400, including a number of nobles and gentlemen, amongst whom were a younger brother of Toiras and the Baron de Chantal, father of Madame de SÉvignÉ.

While this combat was in progress on the shore of the Île de RÉ, Sir William Becher and Soubise had arrived at La Rochelle. They found the gates shut, however; and it was only when the dowager Duchess of Rohan, who was immensely popular with the Rochellois, went out to meet her son and the envoy of Buckingham and demanded that they should be admitted, that they were allowed to enter the town, “to the great joy of the people, but against the will of the mayor and those who governed.” Having been conducted to the HÔtel de Ville, Becher offered the authorities of the town, in the name of Charles I, powerful support on land and sea against the tyranny of their own Government, provided that they would engage to make no treaty without the advice and consent of the King of England, “promising the same on his part.” The municipality replied that they thanked the King of England for his sympathy with the Protestants of France, but that La Rochelle was only one of the Reformed Churches and could not come to a decision except in concert with the others.

The middle classes, in fact, not only at La Rochelle, but in the other Huguenot towns of France, feared war. The party had now only two chiefs, Rohan and his brother Soubise. Bouillon was dead; Sully was old and less than ever disposed to revolt; La Force and ChÂtillon had accepted the bÂton of marshal of France as the price of their loyalty; La TrÉmoille was about to change his religion. The nobles were deserting the cause. The revolt was, besides, difficult to justify. Louis XIII had certainly refused to demolish Fort Louis, but he had only promised to do so when he should judge its maintenance to be no longer necessary; while the fortifications recently constructed on Richelieu’s advice at Brouage, Marans, and on the Îles de RÉ and d’OlÉron, might be explained as much as by fear of the English as by hostility towards La Rochelle. The most clear-sighted amongst the citizens felt that the Government entertained hostile intentions, but their apprehensions were their only proofs.

The Protestants of the South were as undecided as those of La Rochelle. Rohan, determined on war, did not venture to convene a General Assembly of the Churches, but contented himself with summoning deputies from the CÉvennes, and those towns of Lower Languedoc upon whose support he could rely, to meet at UzÈs. This assembly, inflamed by the duke’s exhortations, invited him to resume the post of general-in-chief of the Protestant forces, and decreed the taking up of arms and an alliance with England. At the same time, the deputies “solemnly protested before God that they wished to live and die in obedience to the King, their legitimate and natural prince.” Rohan hoped, by the example of these towns, to draw the rest of the Reformed Churches into the struggle; but in this he was disappointed, as most of them condemned his action and decided to stand aloof.

Having landed the remainder of his troops, with the artillery and stores, an operation which was conducted in so leisurely a manner that it occupied several days, Buckingham advanced upon Saint-Martin, occupied the town without opposition, and proceeded to reconnoitre the citadel, a recently-constructed fortress of considerable strength crowning a steep rock above the town. He would have well been advised had he begun by the reduction of La. PrÉe, a small fortress to the south-east of Saint-Martin, but this he neglected to do. It was an omission which he subsequently had good reason to regret.

Buckingham and his officers at first believed that in a short time they would be able to reduce Saint-Martin; but ere many days had passed they were of a different opinion. The place was strongly garrisoned and vigorously defended, while the surrounding soil was rocky and ill-suited for siege operations. They were therefore obliged to convert the siege into a blockade, with the object of starving the garrison out; and, since it was recognised that it would be very difficult to effect this in the face of the threatened succour from the French army gathering on the mainland, unless reinforcements and stores could soon arrive from England, Becher was sent home to explain the situation and press for their despatch.

By the middle of August the works surrounding Saint-Martin had been completed. On the side of the sea, the approach to the fort was guarded by the English ships, disposed in the form of a half-moon, and by about a score of well-armed shallops, which at night lay close under the citadel. Buckingham had also devised an additional means of strengthening the blockade by throwing a boom across the waterway made of great masts, supported at the end by small boats.

For some time those about the person of Louis XIII did not venture to break the news of Buckingham’s descent upon RÉ to the sick monarch, from fear of aggravating his malady, and, when they did so, they minimised the importance of the affair as much as possible. Monsieur was impatient to go to the army and was bitterly incensed against Richelieu, who declined to advise the King to let him do so, until his Majesty was convalescent. When, however, the King grew better, he accorded Monsieur the permission he desired; but scarcely had he departed than Louis, “jealous of the glory which his brother might acquire,” sent a messenger after him to recall him. Finally, however, at the intercession of the Queen-Mother, he was allowed to continue his journey.

Although a small band of ardent spirits had made their way from La Rochelle to RÉ and joined Buckingham, the authorities of the town had not yet accepted the English alliance, and still remained nominally loyal to their sovereign. As a precautionary measure, however, Monsieur and AngoulÊme had already invested La Rochelle, on its southern side, their headquarters being at AytrÉ—often written NÉtrÉ by contemporary writers—about a league from the town.

Towards the end of August, Louis XIII was sufficiently recovered to remove to Saint-Germain. He had declared his intention of joining the army and personally superintending the measures being taken for the relief of Saint-Martin so soon as he was strong enough to mount his horse, and, in the second week of September, he sent for Bassompierre and told him to prepare to accompany him to La Rochelle in five days’ time. Bassompierre inquired “in what quality his Majesty was pleased that he should accompany him.” The King replied that he would, of course, do so as his lieutenant-general, upon which Bassompierre pointed out that the Duc d’AngoulÊme occupied that position, and that, since the army, when the King was present, had never yet been commanded except by marshals of France, “he begged him very humbly not to take him there to put an affront upon his office.” Louis declared that AngoulÊme’s command was but a temporary one, and that he intended to send him an order to retire; but Bassompierre, who knew how easily Richelieu could persuade the King to go back on his word, asked if the King would direct the Cardinal to give him an assurance that the prince should not continue in the command, since his Eminence, having advised the appointment, might wish to retain him. This Louis promised, and, a day or two later, gave the marshal the assurance he desired.

The King left Saint-Germain on September 17 and travelled by easy stages towards the West. Bassompierre remained in Paris until the end of the month, when he received a message from Louis telling him to follow him as quickly as possible. He set out at once and joined the King and the Cardinal at the ChÂteau of Saumery, near Blois. They both received him most cordially and told him that the King had sent orders to AngoulÊme to leave the army and join his Majesty at Saumur.

Although obliged to remain near the person of the King, Richelieu had practically assumed the direction of the military operations. All his efforts were at present directed towards the re-victualling of Saint-Martin-de-RÉ, the situation of which was rapidly becoming desperate. His ecclesiastical lieutenants, the Bishops of Maillezais and Mende, the AbbÉ de Marsillac and PÈre Placide de BrÉmond, a Benedictine monk, who entitled himself the “Knight of the Crusade,” hurried from one harbour to another along the coast, assembling shallops and flat-bottomed boats, arming them, loading them with stores, and despatching them towards RÉ. “I swear to you,” wrote the Cardinal to his brother-in-law, the Marquis de BrÉzÉ, “that I would as lief die as see M. de Toiras perish from want of provisions.”

At Langeais, where the King arrived on October 4, he received news from Monsieur that the garrison of Saint-Martin was reduced to such straits[108] that it was impossible for them to hold out for more than another week. Louis, in great distress, thereupon proceeded to the church of Notre-Dame-des-Ardilliers, which belonged to the Oratorians, and was held in great veneration in all the country round, to offer up prayers for the relief of his brave soldiers.

On the following day they arrived at Saumur, where, to the great satisfaction of Bassompierre, the King informed AngoulÊme, who had come to meet him, that so soon as he (the King) reached La Rochelle, he would have to resign his post of lieutenant-general and content himself with that of Colonel of the Light Cavalry.

On the 8th Bassompierre left his Majesty to pay a visit to his friend Bertrand d’Eschaux, Archbishop of Tours, at the Abbey of l’Hort de Poitiers, but rejoined him next day at Niort, where good news awaited him. On the night of the 7th-8th, a flotilla of thirty-five boats and small vessels, laden with men and provisions which had been collected at the Sables d’Olonne, had set out to make an attempt to run the blockade, to the cry of “Passer ou mourir,” and, aided by the darkness of the night and a strong north-west wind, the great majority of them had succeeded in getting through the English fleet and in bringing to the famished defenders of Saint-Martin-de-RÉ a reinforcement of 400 men and provisions for a month.

This success turned the tables on the besiegers, who were themselves running short of food, while sickness was making such havoc in their ranks that there were now only 5,000 men fit for duty. The French forces, too, were gathering on the mainland, and an attempt to relieve the fort might be expected at any moment. In these circumstances, it had already been decided to raise the siege, when news arrived that an expedition under Lord Holland, which Charles I had, after infinite difficulties, at length succeeded in organising, was on the point of sailing from Plymouth, while, at the same time, the Rochellois, after two months of tergiversations, decided to throw in their lot with the Protestants of the South and the English, and signed a treaty with Buckingham.[109]

On the 11th Louis XIII reached SurgÈres, where he was met by his brother, AngoulÊme, and Louis de Marillac. Monsieur spoke to the King in favour of AngoulÊme, and recommended that he should be allowed to retain his command, and “M. d’ AngoulÊme recommended himself.” But the King replied that he had appointed Bassompierre and Schomberg as lieutenant-generals of his army and that he could not do anything to their prejudice. However, as it was known that his Majesty

was seldom in the same mind for two days together, except when Richelieu had made it up for him—and they believed that the Cardinal was none too well disposed towards Bassompierre—AngoulÊme’s friends continued to press his claims.

The following day the King took up his quarters at AytrÉ, Monsieur having removed to the ChÂteau of Dompierre, to the north-east of La Rochelle, on the road between that town and Niort, and, to the intense mortification of Bassompierre, who had flattered himself that the matter was settled, his first business was to hold a council to discuss the position of AngoulÊme. The Council summoned the duke before it and called upon him to state his case, when he declared that, having served the King faithfully as lieutenant-general for three months, he would regard it as an affront if he were called upon to resign in favour of the MarÉchaux de Bassompierre and de Schomberg, who, while he had been enduring all the toils and hardships of active service, had been passing their time agreeably in Paris; that he could see no reason why he should not be associated with them in the command, unless it were the enmity which the MarÉchal de Bassompierre bore him, because he happened to be the half-brother of Mlle. d’Entragues, and that he did not believe that the MarÉchal de Schomberg would make any difficulty were it not that he was instigated thereto by his colleague. And he cited various precedents to show that marshals of France had several times served under Princes of the Blood.

AngoulÊme then withdrew, and the King sent for Bassompierre and Schomberg, who had been waiting in an adjoining room, and Richelieu having read to them the substance of the duke’s speech, invited them to reply. Bassompierre, as the senior of the two marshals, thereupon rose and harangued the Council at great length—his speech occupies several pages of his MÉmoires—maintaining that his Majesty had repeatedly assured him that M. AngoulÊme’s command was to be but a temporary one and that he would be removed so soon as the King joined the army; that it was contrary to all precedent for anyone but marshals of France to command, or to be associated in the command of, an army when the Sovereign was present, and that, though it was certainly true, as M. d’AngoulÊme had stated, that marshals had served under Princes of the Blood, they had never done so when the King had been with the army. Finally, he declared that rather than acquiesce in so great a degradation of his office, he would prefer to lay down the bÂton which the King had given him and return to Paris, “to live the life of a citizen, while awaiting the honour of his Majesty’s commands to serve him in some other capacity.”

It is a singular illustration of the morals of the time to find Bassompierre, in the course of this speech, making the following reference to his former relations with Marie d’Entragues:—

Schomberg followed in much the same strain as his colleague, after which the two marshals withdrew and went to inspect the Fort d’OrlÉans, a partially-finished work which AngoulÊme had erected near the point of Coreilles, to the south-east of La Rochelle. On their return to AytrÉ the King inquired of Bassompierre what he thought of Fort d’OrlÉans. The marshal replied that it was “a useless work, situated in the most unsuitable spot that could have been chosen in all Coreilles, three times as large as was necessary, badly constructed, a great expense, and of little profit, built not according to the rules which ought to be observed in constructing a fort intended only to serve during a siege, but as a permanent work, and, in short, defective as a whole and in every part.” The King then told him that he spoke thus out of professional jealousy, and that, if he himself had caused this fort to be constructed, he would find as many reasons to praise it as he now found to condemn it. Bassompierre retorted that he was not so foolish as to condemn a work which the King could go and judge of himself, and that he saw clearly that his Majesty had changed his mind and intended to support the pretensions of M. d’AngoulÊme. The King replied that he had not changed his mind, but that he would be very pleased if the marshal could accommodate himself to an arrangement which would be for the good of his service.

That night AngoulÊme sent two of his friends, Louis de Marillac and the Marquis de Vignolles, to Schomberg to endeavour to persuade him to accept the prince as his colleague in the command of the army. 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; and that, by these insidious arguments, they succeeded in so inflaming the marshal’s ambition that, regardless alike of his honour, the dignity of his office, and the claims of friendship, he consented to what they proposed.

However that may be, next morning Schomberg went to the King and informed him that he was prepared to accept AngoulÊme as his colleague in the lieutenancy-general of the army, since he was already established in that post, adding that he considered that Bassompierre had been very ill-advised to contest the point so warmly.

An hour or two later, when Bassompierre went to the King’s quarters to accompany him to Le Plomb, some two leagues to the north of La Rochelle, where a fine view of the English fleet and Saint-Martin-de-RÉ was obtainable, his Majesty received him very coldly and avoided speaking to him; and he learned that Louis had complained to Monsieur, the Cardinal, and others that his obstinacy was hindering the operations of the army. Before they left AytrÉ, Du Hallier came up to Bassompierre and told him that he had been sent by the King to persuade him to be reconciled to M. d’AngoulÊme. This the marshal refused to hear of, and told Du Hallier that it was his intention to retire from the army two days later.

On the way to Le Plomb, Richelieu also spoke to the marshal on the subject, and then Schomberg rode up, and counselled him to yield to the King’s wishes, “like a good courtier.” Upon which Bassompierre angrily declared that “though his King and his master might abandon him, his friends betray him, and his colleague, united to him by the same interest, leave him, he would not abandon or betray himself,” and that he (Schomberg) might, if it pleased him, remain with infamy, but, for himself, he preferred to retire with honour.

On the following day Bassompierre learned that the King had directed Monsieur, the titular general of the Royal army, to inform the two marshals that he had decided that the Duc d’AngoulÊme was to serve conjointly with them. Bassompierre declared that he absolutely refused to be associated with M. d’AngoulÊme, and next morning the disgruntled veteran presented himself before the King and addressed his Majesty as follows:—

Louis XIII must have had some little difficulty in preserving his gravity during this grandiloquent oration. He had, however, not the least intention of dispensing with the marshal’s military services, which he valued highly, and he knew that his retirement would create an exceedingly bad impression in the army, where he enjoyed great popularity. He was, besides, attached to Bassompierre, so far as his cold nature permitted him to be attached to anyone, and his lively company would contribute not a little to relieve the monotony of the long and tedious siege upon which he was about to enter. He therefore endeavoured to persuade him to remain and accept AngoulÊme as his colleague, and then, “perceiving that he was unable to conquer him,” bade him adieu, after having first made him promise that he would go and see the Cardinal. He then sent one of his gentlemen to Richelieu with instructions to induce Bassompierre to remain at any cost.

When the marshal arrived at Richelieu’s quarters, the Cardinal received him with a great display of affection and “even shed tears,” after which he begged him to name the terms on which he would consent to continue to give his Majesty the benefit of his military services. Bassompierre replied that under no consideration would he prejudice the dignity of his office by being associated with AngoulÊme, but that if he were willing to give him a separate army, quite distinct from that of the King, with his own artillery, commissariat and so forth, to besiege La Rochelle on the other side of the canal, he would remain. The Cardinal embraced him, assured him that he would give him all he demanded, and asked him to name the troops of which he desired his force to be composed; and the same day he was appointed to the command of an army, composed of three companies of the Swiss Guards, the Navarre Regiment, and five other regiments, Monsieur’s company of gensdarmes and six companies of light cavalry, together with the garrison of Fort Louis. His headquarters were to be at Laleu, a village situated about a league and a half to the north-west of La Rochelle.

This arrangement, so far as Bassompierre was concerned, was a very satisfactory termination to the dispute; but, by accepting a separate command, he lost a far greater opportunity for military distinction than had yet come his way. For the task of relieving Saint-Martin-de-RÉ and driving Buckingham from the island was entrusted by the King to Schomberg, whereas if Bassompierre had consented to serve as lieutenant-general, it would certainly have been given to him, as the senior of the two marshals. It was a heavy price to pay for the gratification of his amour-propre.

Bassompierre established himself at Laleu on October 23, where three days later he held a review of his army, several hundred men from which were subsequently detached to go with Schomberg to the Île de RÉ. At the beginning of November, while returning from a visit to the King at AytrÉ, he fell into an ambuscade which the Rochellois had laid for his benefit. His usual good fortune, however, did not desert him and he succeeded in effecting his escape.

A day or two later news arrived of the death of the MarÉchal de ThÉmines, who had succeeded the imprisoned Duc de VendÔme as Governor of Brittany. The King offered the vacant post to Bassompierre, but, though this most important and lucrative office, which until the disgrace of VendÔme had generally been reserved for a Prince of the Blood, might well have tempted him, the marshal refused it. “I told him,” he says, “that I rendered very humble thanks for the honour which he did me in deeming me worthy of it, but that, for my part, I did not desire these great governments, which obliged me to reside there, because they were not suited to my disposition and would divert me from the course of my fortune.”

Meantime, the situation of Buckingham’s army in the Île de RÉ was becoming every day more difficult and perilous. It is true that since the treaty which the duke had signed with La Rochelle, a great number of their sick and wounded had been admitted to that town, and they were better provided with provisions; but the weather was cold and wet, and the troops suffered severely in consequence. What was worse was that by October 20 more than 2,000 French troops had succeeded in getting across to the island from the mainland, and had been received within the walls of Fort La PrÉe and the entrenchments which had been thrown up in front of it, and their numbers might be expected to increase every day.

Everything now depended upon the arrival of Holland. If he arrived before the French in the island were sufficiently numerous to take the offensive, and Buckingham succeeded meantime in preventing Saint-Martin from being again revictualled, the place must fall, for by the second week in November he calculated that the provisions of the garrison would be exhausted. If, however, Holland’s arrival were delayed beyond the first days of that month, he dared not, with his steadily dwindling forces, take the risk of having to give battle to superior numbers and would be obliged to abandon the enterprise.

Buckingham and his officers “blinded themselves with looking” for the first signs of the coming of Holland’s fleet, but it came not. Endless difficulties had to be surmounted before it was ready to start, for men were hard to obtain and money still harder, and those charged with the fitting out of the expedition were deficient in both capacity and energy, though the King and Holland appear to have done their utmost to spur them on. At last, on October 19, Holland, with part of the expedition, sailed from Portsmouth, but was driven back to the coast by a storm. For ten days the wind blew strongly from the South-West; then on the 29th it changed, and the fleet again set sail, this time from Plymouth. But in the night a violent westerly gale came on, and it was again forced to return, with some of the ships severely damaged.

Before the end of the first week of November, Buckingham, obliged to recognise that his position was fast becoming untenable, reluctantly yielded to the counsels of those who urged him to raise the siege. He could not, however, bring himself to abandon the prey which had been so nearly his, without one last attempt to seize it; and learning that Toiras had but 500 men left capable of bearing arms, he determined to endeavour to carry the place by assault, notwithstanding that almost from the first an assault had been regarded as a hopeless operation.

The attempt was made on the morning of November 6. The raw troops who had landed in the island in July were by this time seasoned soldiers, and they advanced to the attack gallantly enough. But Toiras had been forewarned, probably owing to Buckingham’s want of reticence; and the assailants were received with a murderous fire, while huge stones were rained down upon them as they clambered up the rocky slope on which the fortress stood. When they reached the walls, their scaling-ladders were found to be too short; the troops from La PrÉe came out to threaten their rear, and they were obliged to retreat with the loss of several hundred men.

During the following night, Schomberg, who had been waiting his opportunity for some days, sailed out of the Charente, evaded the English fleet and disembarked at Sainte-Marie, in the south-east of RÉ, with his relieving army. Then, having been joined by the troops at La PrÉe, at the head of over 6,000 men he advanced towards Saint-Martin. Buckingham, however, had already raised the siege and retreated towards the Île de Loix, a narrow tongue of land separated from the rest of RÉ by marshes and a canal, where he intended to re-embark.

On Schomberg’s arrival at Saint-Martin, Toiras at once proposed that he should join him with all his men who were fit to take the field, and that they should follow and attack the English at once, declaring that the enemy was so demoralised and enfeebled by sickness that, in that case, not one of them would escape. Louis de Marillac, who commanded under Schomberg, strongly opposed this suggestion, and, though finally it was decided to follow Toiras’s advice, so much time had been lost in disputing that the greater part of Buckingham’s army had already gained the Île de Loix. The rearguard, however, were still defiling across a narrow wooden bridge which had been thrown across the marshes and the canal which separated RÉ from the Île de Loix; and the French generals saw at a glance that, owing to the carelessness with which the preparations for retreat had been made, these hapless troops were entirely at their mercy.

An entrenchment had been constructed on the further side of the bridge, but, by some blunder, the causeway which led to the bridge was quite unguarded, except by a handful of cavalry. The French horse, who outnumbered this detachment by nearly four to one, charged and routed it, and the flying cavalry, galloping wildly towards the bridge, threw the infantry into hopeless confusion. Almost simultaneously a body of French infantry fell on the rear of the troops crossing the bridge, who were, of course, unable to offer any effective resistance. It was a massacre rather than a fight. Hundreds were killed, while a great number fell from the bridge, which was unprotected by a parapet, and were drowned. The troops who had been detached to guard the entrenchment on the Île de Loix were at first borne away by the rout; but they soon rallied and drove back the enemy, and when night fell were still in possession. Next morning the bridge was destroyed, and the remnant of Buckingham’s unfortunate army re-embarked without any interference from the French.

The English losses in this lamentable affair have been variously stated, but Bassompierre’s estimate of 1,200, which includes prisoners, is probably well within the mark. What is certain is that, although on October 20 6,884 men drew pay at Saint-Martin-de-RÉ, only 2,989 were landed at Portsmouth and Plymouth three weeks later.

More than forty English standards which had been captured were displayed amid great rejoicings in Notre Dame on Christmas Day; and Paris saw in it a proud victory over her rival, on that rival’s own element.