Licenes having thus succeeded in enlisting on his side the great and useful talents of Richelieu, turned his thoughts towards the reduction or the conversion of the Protestants; and resolved, for this purpose, inmiediatelv to have re course to arms, while, at the same time, he did not neglect every art of intrigue. The Protestants were apprised of their danger ; and scarcely needed the exhortations of the Duke of Rohan, son-in-law to the Duke of Sully, and of his brother the Duke of Soubese, to induce them to resolve on defending their religious liberties at the hazArd of their lives. They were, however, deprived of the talents of Du Plessis Mornai, who, in the reign of Henry, had distinguish ed himself by his ardour in the cause of Calvinism ; for he now declared that he could not conscientiously oppose his sovereign, and from this conviction he surrendered the castle of Saumur, which commanded the passage of the Loire. The Dukes of Bouillen and Tremouelle followed his example. The first enterprise of the royal army, com manded by the king in person, was the reduction of St Jean d'Angeli ; this place was gallantly, though ineffectu ally, defended, for 35 days, by the Duke of Soubese ; and, on its surrender, Louis had the magnanimity, as well as the policy, to permit the garrison to depart unmolested. From this place, in 1621, the army proceeded to Montauban, into which the Protestants had thrown a numerous garrison, commanded by the Marquis de la Force. The royal army consisted of 25,000 men ; but the place was so gallantly defended, that Louis, in spite of their most vigorous-efforts, was obliged to abandon the enterprise. Licenes died soon after this shameful expedition ; and Lesdeguiers, who had already deserted the Protestants, was, on solemnly renoun cing Calvinism, honoured with the Constable's sword ; while the Cardinal de Retz succeeded to the presidentship of the council, in conjunction with the Count of Schomberg. The advice of his new ministers was equally hostile with that of his old to the cause of the Protestants. The Duke of Soubese, after the reduction of St Jean D'Angeli, had put himself at the head of a desperate band, and ravaged the country. On the approach of the royal army, he retir ed into the isle of Rhe, separated from the continent by a small arm of the sea, which was fordable at low water : this arm Louis crossed in the night, and stormed the en trenchments of the Duke, who succeeded in escaping by swimming to the main land. Negrepelesse was also taken by storm ; and all the inhabitants, without regard or sex, were put to the sword. This cruelty, however, only filled the breasts of the Protestants with deeper indignation, and roused their courage to a higher degree of enthusi asm. The Duke of Rohan commanded in Montpellier, and prepared to offer a most formidable resistance ; hither the Prince of Conde marched with a numerous and well appointed army ; but Montpellier was defended as gallant ly as Montauban had been, and the prince beheld the flow er of his army consumed in ineffectual assaults. Rochelle also, though invested by sea and land, still held out ; and Louis, to prevent a second disgrace, listened to the advice of the Constable, and consented to a treaty with the Pro testants in 1622. The edict of Nantes was again confirm ed; the royal forces were withdrawn from the gates and harbour of Rochelle ; and the inhabitants of Montpellier agreed to surrender to their sovereign.
The Cardinal of Retz dying about this time, Cardinal Richelieu, by the influence of the queen, was introduced into the royal councils : scarcely had he got a share in the administration, (which in a short time he entirely govern ed,) before he formed three mighty projects ; to subdue the turbulent spirit of the French nobility ; to reduce the rebellious Protestants; and to curb the encroachments of the House of Austria. But it was, in the first place, ne cessary to remove his rivals in the cabinet ; the care of the finances, therefore, about which he was most anxious for the prosecution of his designs, was taken from the Duke of V ienville, and given to Alorillac, a man upon whose sub serviency he could completely depend : other changes of a less important nature were also made. His next project,
before he entered on the execution of his grand designs, was the expulsion of the Pope from the Valteline, which lie accomplished, regardless of the remonstrances of Gre gory X V. These, however, were only preliminary steps, or rather intended as indications of the extent of his ambi tion and of his means ; but in order to put his grand designs in execution, it was necessary to preserve peace with Eivr land. Janes I. at this time sat on the throne of that kingdom, and had determined not to bestow the hand of his son Charles, except on a Princess of France or Spain. Richelieu, aware of this, negotiated, in spite of the courts of Rome and Madrid, a treaty of marriage between the Prince of \Vales and Henrietta of France, sister of Louis XIII.
He now turned his abilities to the destruction of the Pro testants. As the last treaty had been violated in several respects by the court, they were preparing for renewed hostilities, when a new subject of discontent arosc. A roy al fleet was stationed at L'Orient, to block up the harbour of Rochelle. This the Duke of Soubese offered to attack ; and if he failed, the Protestants were to disown his conduct. He succeeded, and his brother the Duke of Rohan imme diately displayed the standard of revolt. A sharp but de sultory war was carried on, which was terminated for the present by the mediation of the Queen of England ; the edict of Nantes was again confirmed ; the harbour of Ro chelle freed from blockade ; and the King of France agreed that the King of England should guarantee to the Protes tants the articles of the peace.
A powerful faction now rose at court against Richelieu. Not one prince of the blood was sincerely his friend. Gas ton, the Duke of Orleans, the King's brother, was his de clared enemy. The Queen-mother herself was become jealous of him ; and even the King was attached to him rather through fear than affection. But the intrigues of the courtiers, thus supported and encouraged, could not escape the vigilance of the Cardinal : he discovered and dissipated all their conspiracies, and at last made himself absolute master of the King and kingdom.
During these cabals, the Protestants, complaining that the terms of the last treaty had not been strictly complied with, displayed a disposition once more to render them selves independent ; and in this they were confirmed by the assurances of support which they received from England, where a fleet of 100 sail, and an army of 7000 men, were fitted out for the invasion of France. These preparations, however, were entrusted to a man by no means fit for the enterprise, the Duke of Buckingham, whose measures were so ill concerted, that the inhabitants of Rochelle, when he appeared before their harbour, refused to admit his troops. They were but a part of the Protestant body, they observed, and they must consult their brethren before they gave admittance to an army, of whose coming they had not been previously informed. The Duke next directed his force against the isle of Rhe, which was well garrisoned and fortified, instead of attacking Oleron, a fertile and de fenceless island. He did indeed succeed in effecting a landing in Rhe, but he left behind him the small fort of Prie, which covered the landing place ; allowed Thorias the governor to amuse him with a deceitful negotiation, till St Martin, the principal fort, was provided for a siege ; and then attacked it before he had made any breach, and thus threw away the lives of his soldiers. He likewise guarded the sea in such a negligent manner, that a French army got over in small divisions, and obliged him to lc treat to his ships.