The Marquis D'Ancre, though deserted and despised by all the nobility of France, had hitherto upheld his pow er in spite of their efforts to destroy him; but he met with a more dangerous enemy in young Licenes, whose fortune as remarkable as his own. Licenes had been placed by the marquis himself about the person of the young ling, into whose favour he soon ingratiated himself by his assiduities, and the ardour with which he entered into his childish amusements. The Marshal thought that no dan ger of rivalship could be apprehended from one who was occupied by such frivolous pursuits ; but this behaviour Licence only pursued, in order to conceal his ambitious views and designs. He soon succeeded in inspiring the king with a jealousy of the authority of the Marquis, and in persuading him to shake off the yoke of his mo ther. The resolution of Licenes to destroy the authority of the Marquis, was strengthened by the refusal of the lat ter to unite his niece to Licenes's brother. From that mo inent his ambition was whetted by the spirit of revenge. The king listened attentively to the repeated suggestions of Licenes, respecting the removal of the Marquis and the Italian favourites of the queen ; and was struck with his representations, that his father Henry had regarded with aversion their influence over her mind, and had only been prevented, by her tears and entreaties, from sending them back to their own country. Nor was this the only topic on which he dwelt ; he insisted on the unpopularity which the king was exposed to, from having imprisoned, at their suggestion, the first prince of the blood, and on the calamities which were impending over France. The restoration of tranquillity and loyalty, both among the no bility and the great mass of the people, he said, were easy ; and the same means which would render the king respected and beloved by his subjects, would pot 1,iin in possession of that authority of which he had been so long deprived. Louis listened attentively. At first, the habits of dependence and submission in which he had been brought up, rendered him timid and apprehensive; hut afterwards, the love of power, and a sense of his own dan ger, from the disturbed state of the country, made him anxious to free himself from the influence of the Italians. This resolution he immediately communicated to Licenes ; and, by his advice, he exacted an oath from the captain of the guard to execute what he should command. Having obtained this oath, he informed him, that the royal orders were, that he should arrest the Marquis. Ile immediately prepared to obey. By this time, he, as well as his wife and the queen, had intimation given them of the danger which was hanging over them. The marchioness, intimi dated, wished to leave France ; but her husband declared, that he never would desert the fortune which had hitherto befriended him. On the morning of the day fixed for his destination, he had gone to the Louvre, sot rounded by forty of his favourites or dependants; and was attentively employ ed in reading a letter, when the captain of the guard, and a few friends whom he had associated with him in the en terprise, made their appearance. The attendants of D'An cre, supposing that the king was approaching, gave way ; and the captain of the guards advancing, arrested him in the name of the king. Astonished, and suspecting treachery, he laid his hand on his sword. This mark of his resistance was the signal for his destruction: three pis tols were instantly fired at him, and he fell lifeless on the ground. As the king was at a window where he could see what was going on, his presence prevented the adherents of D'Ancre from rising in their master's behalf. His son and his wife were immediately arrested. The latter, in stead of being tried for her real crimes, though they were sufficiently notorious, was principally accused of sorcery and magic. The judge having demanded what charm she made use of for the purpose of fascinating the queen, she replied, nobly and truly, 44 The ascendant which a supe rior genius always has over a weak mind." She was con demned, and suffered the severest tortures.
The disgrace of the Queen-mother followed the de struction of her favourites. Licenes succeeded to the honours and situations of D'Ancre ; the captain of the gaurds was raised to the rank of marshal; and the Bishop of Lucon was compelled to resign the seals of secretary of state. The submission of the Dukes of Mayence, Ven dome, Nevers, and Rohan, were among the first conse quences of the fall of the Italian favourites. Licenes now turned his attention to the best means of securing the per manency of his high situation, and of ennobling his ob scure birth by an illustrious alliance. At first, he aspired
to the sister of the Duke of Vendome, the natural daugh ter of Henry IV.; but he afterwards judged it more pru dent to lower his views to the daughter of the Duke of Montbazon, who with pleasure received as his son-in-law the favourite of the king. Still, however, further mea sures were necessary, to make the nobility and people for get that one favourite had only been destroyed to make room for another. Licenes, therefore, who had been cre ated Duke, assembled the states of Rouen in the year 1613, and abolished the most burdensome imposts : lie also appeared zealous to procure the freedom of the Prince of Conde, in order to secure the favour of the princes of the blood. By these proceedings, and by the appointment of the Duke of Mayence to the government of Guienne, and the Marshal Ornano to that of Normandy, Ile succeeded, in 'a great measure, in accomplishing his object. The go vernment of the Isle of France he reserved to himself, as allowing him, at the same time, to attend to his interest at court.
The Queen.mothcr, however, was still formidable, even in her exile at' Blois : and Licenes, consequently, could not deem himself perfectly secure. She entered into a plot with the Dukc of Epernon, who suddenly quitting Metz at the head of 100 horse, and advancing to Blois, succeed ed in rescuing Mary from her captivity, and immediately conveyed her into Angoulcme, at the very time when Li cenes had persuaded Louis to commit her a close prisoner to the castle of Amboise. The king at first was highly enraged, and resolved to recover his mother by force of arms ; but Licenes, apprehensive that such a proceeding would excite universal disgust and dissatisfaction, had the prudence to oppose this resolution. The Duke of Eper non and Mary, on their part, were sincerely desirous of a reconciliation with the king. In order to effect this, Li cenes recalled the Bishop of Lucon, and by his influence tranquillity was again established. The Queen-mother was restored to liberty, and in lieu of the government of Nor mandy, she received that of Anjou : her adherents were reinstated in their offices ; but the Bishop himself, who bad been so instrumental in bringing about this wished-for reconciliation, concealing his passion for power till a more favourable opportunity, at present displayed the appear ance of an honourable disinterestedness, and refused to ac cept of any situation.
From the beginning of the reign of Louis, the Protes tants had been treated in such a manner, as justly render ed them apprehensive that the privileges granted them by Henry IV. would be infringed. In 1617, the King gave them great offence by an arret of council, ordering the restitution of the church lands in the district of Berne, which the Protestants in that province had enjoyed above 60 years. Upon this a meeting ;vas held at Rochelle, and they resolved to erect a republic on the model of the Dutch. About the same period, the people at large began to murmur at the imposition of new taxes ; and the nobili ty were displeased at the increasing fondness of the king for his favourite the Duke of Licenes. The Duke of Mayence retired to his government of Guienne ; the Count of Soissons, the Dukes of Vendome, Nevers, Rohan and Retz, repaired to Angers, where the Queen-mother resi ded, who had already begun to intrigue again. The Duke of Epernon also declared in her favour ; so that she found herself in a condition to assume a lofty and decided tone, and to declare that she never would consent to any future treaty, unless it were gauranteed by the Parliament of France, or by some foreign power. The King's character for indecision and weakness, on this occasion, had induced the Queen-mother and her adherents to pass all bounds of decency : But, to their surprise and terror, he acted with vigour, activity, and firmness: assembling his forces as rapidly as possible, he went into Normandy, where he re duced Caen, and prevented Rouen from joining the rebels. Mary on this took the alarm ; and the Bishop of Lucon, in whom she still placed the greatest confidence, persuading her to try the effects of a new negociation, she deserted her party, and a new treaty, which confirmed the former, was signed. The Bishop of Lucon, on this occasion, threw of the mask which had so long concealed his aspiring and ambitious projects ; and entered into an agreement with the Duke of Licenes, to bestow the hand of his niece on his nephew, on condition that the Duke should use his influ ence to raise him to the lank of Cardinal.