Such was the beginning of the civil wars, that desolated and weakened France for so long a period of time. The Prince of Conde having consulted with the admiral, put himself at the head of 2000 cavalry, pushed forward, and made himself master of Orleans. Here having established his head-quarters, it became necessary for him to strength en his cause by every means in his power. His first ob ject was to quiet the suspicions of the Catholics in France as much as possible. With this view, he declared that he had taken up arms, to relieve' the King and his mother from captivity. Ile next dispatched messengers into Ger many, to solicit the aid of his Protestant brethren ; and he gave up Havre to Elizabeth, Queen of England, in order to obtain her assistance. The chancellor De I'llospital made an attempt to prevent the dreadful evils of a civil war ; but this failing, both parties prepared for hostilities. The Catholic army was first in a condition to take the field, and after plundering Blois, Tours, and Bourges, it sat down before Rouen. This place was occupied by a garri son under the command of that Montgomery, who had been the innocent cause of the death of Henry II. In consequence of his having been pursued by the implacable resentment of Catherine, he had taken refuge in England, where he had embraced the reformed religion, and from which country he had returned as soon as the civil war commenced. His courage naturally great, and his talents and experience by no means of an ordinary description, were called into full action on this occasion ; and the in habitants, encouraged by his example, refused all oilers of capitulation. At last, after a most obstinate defence, the city was taken by assault. Montgomery escaped with a few companions in a boat, but the inhabitants suffered every species of outrage which an enraged soldiery could inflict. In the course of the siege, the King of Navarre received a wound, which soon afterwards caused his death.
The Prince of Conde hitherto had not been able to act offensively ; but having now been joined by 12,000 men from Germany, he attempted to surprise Paris; but not succeeding, he retired into Normandy. In his retreat, he was pursued by the Catholic army, which came up to him at Draix. Here, in 1563, the first civil battle took place, and it was fought with the rancorous obstinacy which al ways fatally distinguishes civil wars. In the beginning of the engagement, nothing could withstand the impetuous charge of the Protestants; and the Constable Montmorency having been wounded, was taken prisoner. But the Duke of Guise, by his calm and circumspect courage, more than compensated for these disasters. The Protestants, in their eagerness of pursuit had weakened their line : on it the Duke fell suddenly, and with great force. The prince of Conde, being dismounted and surrounded, was obliged to surrender to the second son of the constable. The com mand now devolved on Coligny, and it required all his ta lents, and the animating example of his courage, to rally his troops, and conduct them, before a superior force, te wards Orleans.
Although the queen-mother, in consequence of this vic tory, was fully sensible that the influence of the Princes of Lorraine was become much more formidable than it had ever been before, yet the military talents of the Duke had been so conspicuously displayed in atchieving it, that she found herself under the necessity of conferring on him the chief command of the army, with which, indeed, he had been already invested by the tumultuous acclamations of the soldiers. The capture of Orleans was the next object at which the Duke aimed. Coligny, having gone into Nor mandy in order to receive the supplies which he expected from England,had left in that city his brother D'Andelot with 2000 of his troops, with instructions to defend it to the last extremity. These orders, the Duke, from the tried valour of D'Andelot, had every reason to conclude would be obey ed.in their fullest sense ; but he was rather urged on than
intimidated by this consideration. In less than a month, he had made himself master of the bridge across the Loire, and of the suburbs ; and the fate of Orleans seemed at hand, when the duke was assassinated by a gentleman of the name of Poltrot. In his last moments, he exhorted Cathe rine to extinguish the civil war, which was just begun: he lamented the massacre of Viessy as the cause of it, but declared, that, with respect to it, he was completely inno cent ; and he recommended to his eldest son, Henry, an in violable attachment to his sovereign.
The command of the army before Orleans was given, on the death of the Duke, to the Marshal Iiiisac; but Ca therine, at the same time, discovering a wish for peace, the terms were soon settled by the constable and the Prince of Conde. By this treaty, the free exercise of their religion was granted to the Protestants, on condition that they laid down their arms, gave up the places which they occupied, and renounced their alliance with England.
In 1564, Catherine having obliged the parliament of Pa ris to declare the regal authority at an end, though Charles had not yet completed his 14th year, made a progress through France, along with him, under the pretence of as certaining its state and resources. At Bayonne, they were met by the Queen of Spain, sister to Charles, and by the Duke of Alva. A long and mysterious conference took place, which, it is said, was held at the solicitation of the Pope. Every thing was conducted in the most private manner ; but when the Protestants considered the character of the Duke of Alva, and of his master the King of Spain, both avowed and most bitter enemies to their religion, and the duplicity of Catherine, they were filled with alarm and suspicion. Their apprehension of impending danger was further increased, by the conduct of the Catholic magistrates towards them, who, in direct and open violation of the edict which had recently passed, securing them the free exercise of their religion, threw every obstacle in the way of their assemblies, and rather encouraged than restrained the populace in insulting them. In this state of apprehension, they had recourse to the Prince of Conde ; but he, either from prudential or because he still hoped to be appointed lieutenant-gene ral of the kingdom, strongly advised them to suffer quiet ly. This they did for nearly two years, till the prince, perceiving that the court was not sincere in its conduct towards him, and that it was only waiting for a fit oppor tunity to crush effectually and for ever the Protestants, de termined to have again recourse to arms. Catherine had hoped that her measures were so well concerted, and at the same time kept so secret, that the Protestants would not proceed to open violence, at least till she was fully prepared to resist and overwhelm them. She was there fore surprised and astonished, when she learnt that the ruin which she had plotted against them, was likely to fall on herself and on her party. The king, Catherine, and the ministers, were at this time at Monceau, when she was in formed that the Prince of Conde was preparing to march against that place, for the purpose of seizing the person of Charles. She therefore hastily retired with him into Meaux, and afterwards to Paris. On his way from Meaux, to the capital, he was surrounded and protected by a body of 6000 Swiss troops. Scarcely had he proceeded two leagues, before the Prince of Conde appeared in sight at the head of 200 cavalry. The Constable Montmorency, upon this, sent the monarch forward by private roads to Paris, under the escort of a body of cavalry, and with the remainder of the troops succeeded in repulsing the Prince. Thus was a second civil war begun.