On the death of Charles IX. the king of Poland, who succeeded him under the name of Henry III. hastened to take possession of the throne. Dreading lest the Poles should detain him, he withdrew privately, as if he had been a prisoner making his escape. As he passed through the dominions of the Emperor and the Republic of Venice, he was advised to treat the Protestants with justice, if not with gentleness and kindness, and to avoid persecuting them, if he wished to restore tranquillity to France ; but this advice was given in vain to a man who had been cne of the advisers of the massacre, and who, to the utmost depravity of manners, added the external observances of the lowest superstition. Scarcely was lie seated on the throne of France, when he manifested a total unfitness for his situation, even independent of his bigotry and depravi ty; for be was totally averse to business,—occupied and interested only in the most low and trifling pursuits and objects ; and utterly devoid even of the manners and dig nity of a sovereign.
As the kingdom was still divided by factions, Catherine persuaded Henry to take advantage of this circumstance, and by acting as umpire between them, to restore the royal authority to its pristine dignity and extent ; but the king, though not unfit for this line of conduct, in respect to his habits of dissimulation, was totally disqualified for it, on account of his want of vigour, application, and sound un derstanding ; instead therefore of acquiring a superiority over both factions, he lost the confidence of both, and taught the partizans of each to regard him with suspicion, and to adhere more closely to their respective leaders.
In the mean time, A. D 1575, the Duke of who, as has already been stated, had put himself at the head of the political party, united with the while they were further encouraged and strengthened by the presence of the King of Navarre, and by the arrival of the Prince of Conde at the head of a German army. The king upon this found himself under the necessity of con cluding a treaty with them, by which they obtained the pub lic exercise of their religion, except within two leagues of the court; party chambers, composed of an equal number of Protestants and Catholics, were established in all the par liaments of the kingdom; all attainders were reversed, and eight cautionary towns were put into their possession.
But while Henry by this treaty pacified the Protestants, he excited the greatest disgust and indignation among the Catholics ; and affording the Duke of Guise the pretext, which he had long sought, of putting himself at the head of a most formidable party, for the express purpose of en tirely suppressing the Protestant religion in France. This was the origin of the famous League, the members of which openly declared, that they would withstand the royal authority in all cases where that authority was at va riance with the commands or the interests of the Catholic religion. Henry now saw the error which he had commit
ted in making peace with the Protestants ; and as he pos sessed neither the justice nor the vigour that might have prompted and enabled him to protect the Protestants against the League, while he saw that the members of it had it in their power even to shake the foundations of his throne, be resolved to unite himself to it, and was accord ingly declared its head, and in the year 1577 he took the field as the leader of the Catholics. This circumstance was probably favourable to the temporary tranquillity of the kingdom ; for the dilatory, feeble, and indecisive cha racter of the king, prevented the troops of the League from acting tvith vigour or success, and a new peace was brought about, which, though less favourable than the for mer to the Protestants, was equally displeasing to the lea ders of the Catholics. The king, now suspected by both -parties, retained little weight or influence ; while the Duke of Guise on one side, and the king of Navarre on the other, engaged by degrees the bulk of the nation to enlist them selves, either with the Protestants or Catholics. Foreign aid was also called in by both ; the Protestants being en couraged and supplied with money by Queen Elizabeth ; and Philip II. of Spain declaring himself Protector of the League, and entering into the closest correspondence with the Duke of Guise.
In 1581, hostilities between the two parties commenced, and the King of Navarre signalized himself at the siege of Cahors. About the same time, the Duke of Anjou, Henry's brother, secretly retired from France, to put him self at the head of the Dutch, who had risen against Philip II.; but his caprice and perfidy disappointed the hopes which he entertained, and he was obliged to return into France, where he soon afterwards died. This event com pletely unfolded the real views of the members of the League ; for as the king of Navarre, by the death of the Duke of Anjou, was presumptive heir of the aown, they inflamed the people with the dread of an heretic sovereign, and avowed their resolution to support the pretensions of the Cardinal of Bourbon, uncle to the King of Navarre, a zealous Papist, but incapable from age and weakness, of holding the reins of government. In the proclamations issued by the League, the character of the king of France was not spared ; he was held up to his subjects as debauch ed,—the instrument of unworthy favourites, and especially as the secret friend of the King of Navarre, and the pro tector of the sectaries of Geneva. The people were led away by these representations, and filled with the most violent bigotry.