164 THE FRENCH SEIZE THE VALTELLINA. [CHAP. XXXII. fifty-five, was a vain man, with a great conceit of his own abities; hence he seldom convened a Consistory; and when an argument was once advanced against him from the old Papal consttutions, he replied that the opinion of a living Pope was worth more than the maxims of a hundred dead ones. He wished to be regarded as a temporal Prince; he was more addicted to profare than spiritual learning; he studied fortification, read the newest poems; nay, professed to be himself a disciple of the Muses, and turned some of the Psalms into Horatian metre! It was this Pope who made Cività Vecchia a free port; and the consequence was that the Barbary corsairs sold there the plunder of the Christians.1 Such was the man with whom Richelieu had to deal respecting the Valtellina. He determined to call on Venice and Savoy to act on the treaty of 1623. The Archbishop of Lyon, the French ambassador at Rome, was instructed to insist on the evacuation of the Valtellina by the Papal troops; and when that prelate, thinking Richelieu a novice, pointed out in a long letter the crooked and dilatory policy which it was necessary to pursue that Court, the Cardinal laconically answered, "The King w no longer be amused; tell the Pope that he will see an army in the Valtellina." And lest the ambassador, who was aspiring to the cardinalate, should play false, M. de Béthune, a Calvinist, was sent to supersede him. For the attack on Genoa, which would not only engage the attention of the Spanish troops in the Milanese, but also stop the supplies of money furnished to Spain by that Republic,3 France pleaded that she was bound to assist her ancient ally, the Duke of Savoy, in his quarrel with Genos respecting the fief of Zucarello; but though Richelieu asserted, and pretends in his Memoirs, that this was a lawful cause of war, Girolamo Priuli, the Venetian ambassador, at a conference at Susa. rejected the scheme with indignation, as both unjust and impolitic." Richelieu, however, steadily pursued the plans he had formed for the liberation of the Valtellina, in justification of which the alliance with the Grisons was also appealed to; and it was alleged tha France, in helping them against their rebellious subjects, afforde neither Spain nor any other power a reasonable cause of offence. An attack upon the Papal troops did not inspire the Cardinal with any scruples: it was as often his method to plead the reason 1 Ranke, Popes, vol. ii. p. 556. 2 Anquetil, Intrigue du Cabinet, t. ii. p. 201. The Genoese acted as the bankers of Spain, for which they were always a CHAP. XXXII.] HUGONOT INSURRECTION. 165 state with the Pontiff, as to weigh the respect and forbearance due to the Holy See. Already in June, 1624, the Marquis of Cœuvres had been sent into Switzerland, and succeeded in arming the Calvinist Cantons in favour of the Grisons. The ambassadorial functions of Coeuvres were suddenly converted into those of a general; 4,000 Swiss and Grisons were joined by 3,000 French infantry and 500 horse; in November he received from M. de Béthune at Rome the concerted signal, entered the Valtellina, and soon drove out the Papal troops; whose captured standards were returned with marks of great respect to the Pontiff. Loud was the outcry, not only at Rome and Madrid, but even amongst the ultra-Catholics in France, against the "State Cardinal." The Pope, however, who feared Richelieu as much as he hated him, was less noisy than his partisans; and, instead of the censures with which the Cardinal had been threatened, it was precisely at this time that the dispensation arrived for the English marriage. Urban had received a hint that if it were not forwarded it would be itself dispensed with. The expedition against Genoa was interrupted by a Hugonot insurrection. The French government had not faithfully fulfilled the treaty of Montpellier. Fort Louis, near La Rochelle, instead of being demolished had been strengthened; Rohan, yielding to the impulse of the inhabitants, made advances to the Spanish ambassador, and a monstrous agreement was effected, by which the Hugonots received the money of Spain, just as France helped the Dutch. In January, 1625, Rohan's brother, Soubise, seized the Isle of Ré, and, surprising the French fleet in the roads of Blavet in Brittany, carried off four vessels. The revolt gradually spread into Upper Languedoc, Querci, and the Cevennes. Nevertheless the old Constable Lesdiguières, and Duke Charles Emmanuel, invaded Liguria in March with 28,000 men, and most of the places in it were captured. Lesdiguières, however, declined to attempt Genoa itself without the assistance of a fleet; the ships furnished according to treaty by the Dutch being required against the French rebels. It is probable that the Constable acted according to secret instructions from Richelieu, who wished not to see Genoa fall into the hands of the Duke of Savoy, and was only intent on diverting the Spaniards from the Valtellina.2 An Austrian army passing through the Swiss Catholic Cantons ' Ranke, Französische Gesch. B. ii. S. 285. 2 See a Letter from Marshal Créqui to Louis XIII., quoted by Le Jay, Hist. du Ministère du Cardinal de Richelieu, t, i. p. 54, note. 166 MARRIAGE OF CHARLES I. AND HENRIETTA. [CHAP. XXXI and over the St. Gothard, compelled the French and Piedmontese to evacuate Liguria, and even assumed the offensive against Piedmont and the Valtellina; which, however, with the exception ct Riva, the French succeeded in retaining. It was in the midst of these affairs that the marriage of Charles and Henrietta was completed. The unexpected death of James I after a short illness, March 27th, 1625, compelled the royal bridegroom to celebrate his nuptials by proxy; which were solemnized. May 11th, by the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld, on a scaffold erected before the western portal of Notre-Dame, with the san ceremonies as had been observed at the marriage of Henry IV. and Margaret of Valois. The English King was represented by the Duke of Chevreuse. Buckingham afterwards arrived in Paris for the purpose of escorting Queen Henrietta-Maria inte England; when that handsome, vain, and insolent favourite inspired many with astonishment and admiration at his magnificence, a few with disgust and aversion at his presumption.' Buckingham had given offence in Spain by making love to the wife of the prime minister; in France he was presumptuous enough to address the Queen herself. Anne of Austria, now twenty-four years of age, was tall and well-shaped, with an air at once majestic and engaging. Her eyes were full and soft; her nose rather too large perhaps for perfect beauty; her mouth small and ruby, with just enough of the Austrian feature to give it additional charms. Her bright chestru: hair fell in luxuriant tresses. But her distinguishing attraction was the dazzling whiteness of her skin; more remarkable, however, in her neck and hands than in her face; as she never wore 1 mask, as was the custom in those days, to preserve her complexion. She had little of the gravity of a Spanish education, and what sh had brought with her had not been increased by the manners · : the French Court, then abounding with coquettes, among whe the handsome and intriguing Duchess of Chevreuse shone coLspicuous. All Anne's charms, however, had made but littimpression on the cold and apathetic Louis, who did not live wil her like a husband. The dominant passions of that King, afte the chase, seem to have been an inordinate penchant for gingerbread, and an almost morbid aversion to red hair. Louis XIII., his brother, the Queen-Mother, and Queen Aniaccompanied Henrietta some way on her road to England. Th They who are curious in such matters may see in the Mémoires d'un Favory, by Bois d'Annemets, an account of the impression Buckingham produced, and a description of one, and that apparen not the most splendid, of the twer seven suits which he took with him. chives Cur. t. iii. p. 293, 2de ser.) CHAP. XXXII.] RICHELIEU BORROWS ENGLISH VESSELS. 167 King went no further than Compiègne; and at Amiens the three Queens were detained some days by the illness of Mary de' Medici. It was here that Buckingham carried his audacity to extremes. As the town afforded but little accommodation, the three Queens lodged in separate houses. To that of Anne of Austria was attached a large garden, skirting the Somme, where the Court was accustomed to promenade. One fine evening, Anne of Austria, who was fond of prolonging her walks till a late hour, was strolling in this garden attended by Buckingham, whilst the handsome but effeminate Lord Holland gave his arm to the Duchess of Chevreuse. The turning of an alley having suddenly separated the Queen and her cavalier from the rest of the party, Buckingham, emboldened by the shades of evening, seized the opportunity to make advances incompatible with the honour of Louis XIII. The Queen shrieked, her equerry arrived and arrested the Duke, but was discreet enough to let him depart; and the rest of the company coming up, it was agreed to keep the affair as secret as possible. The English ships being detained at Boulogne by rough weather, Buckingham and Lord Holland returned to Amiens, where Anne of Austria still lingered; and, in spite of the insult she had received, admitted Buckingham to an interview in her bedchamber, though in the presence of one of her ladies.1 The English alliance was useful to France in the Hugonot rebellion. The Cardinal, relying on the warmth of a new connection, succeeded in obtaining the loan of some English vessels, but without their crews; for the English' sailors, almost to a man, refused to serve against the Hugonots, and it was not deemed expedient to treat them like the Dutch, on board of each of whose vessels the Cardinal insisted on putting a hundred French soldiers, in order to prevent any treachery on the part of the sailors. Soubise was now attacked in the Isle of Ré; and on the It has been said by some writers that Richelieu was also an admirer of Anne of Austria, and that he was jealous of Buckingham's reception; but there seems to be no adequate foundation for these statements. The Cardinal, however, was addicted to gallantry, and is said to have been one of the very numerous lovers of the celebrated Marion de l'Orme, as well as of Mademoiselle de Fruges, a cast mistress of Buckingham's. When engaged in these intrigues, the Cardinal used to exchange his ecclesiastical dress for that of a cavalier, with a mask and green breeches. See De Retz, t. i. p. 11 sq. (ed. Amst. 1731); Le Vassor, Louis XIII. t. v. p. 168 sq. 2 M. Martin, indeed, asserts the cortrary: "Les huit vaisseaux, promis par Jacques 1er, avaient enfin été envoyés par son successeur et garnis de soldats Français, au grand dépit du peuple et surtout des matelots Anglais. Les marins Anglais de la flotte royale ne manœuvrèrent que l'épée sur la gorge," &c.-Hist. de France, t. xi. p. 220 sq. But this statement is totally unfounded. The only Englishman who consented to serve was a gunner. See the Articles preferred against Buckingham in Rushworth's Collections, pt. i. p. 332. 168 HENRIETTA'S RECEPTION IN ENGLAND. [CHAP. XXXII. 15th of September, 1625, he was completely defeated; on shore by Toiras, at sea by Montmorenci. Soubise succeeded in escaping to England with two or three ships which he had saved; and his cause was so popular in that country that the government could not refuse him shelter. Here he employed himself in making interest with the parliamentary leaders; and Buckingham, to whom the loan of the English vessels was imputed as a crime, found himself compelled to demand them back. The misunderstanding between the two Courts had been increased by complaints of ill treatment made by Queen Henrietta and her attendants; whose grievances had begun before they landed on the shores of England. As a mark of respect, some of the largest vessels in the English navy had been sent to Boulogne to convey the Queen and her suite to Dover; and the French officers complained that they had been compelled to embark and disembark in boats! When the Queen had landed at Dover, June 24th, 1625, she was lodged in the Castle, which was said to be badly furnished; and when Charles visited her on the following day, he came ill attended, and without a shadow of the grandeur which distinguished the King of France. The Catholic priests were put under arrest on the evening of their arrival, and were released only at the Queen's earnest entreaty. On the journey to London Henrietta was separated from her ladies; and could at last obtain a place for one of them in her carriage only through the intercession of the French ambassador. The reception in London was equally sombre and disagreeable. The state-bed was one of Queen Elizabeth's, so antique that the oldest person could not remember one of such a fashion. That many of these grievances were imaginary and exaggerated appears from the testimony of Brienne, who accompanied Henrietta to England. Dover Castle, he says, had been fitted up with the royal furniture, and a magnificent supper was given there. He mentions not the imprisonment of the Catholic priests; and though he relates that some English ladies were put into the Queen's carriage, he is silent about her tears. This, indeed, was only a usual practice at all Courts, and the French themselves had pursued the same course with Anne of Austria. If Henrietta was received with less than usual state at London, it was because the plague had broken out in that capital. These real or imaginary affronts Henrietta See Brienne, Mémoires, t. i. p. 407 sqq. Compare Charles I.'s account of these matters in his Instructions to Sir D. Carlton (Harris, Lives of the Stuarts, vol. ii. p. 24). It is painful to read this detail of his matrimonial squabbles, drawn up with his own hand. |