Dark Scenes of History

Front matter

DAEK SCENES OE HISTOEY. BV G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ., AUTHOR OF " DARNLEY," " HENRY MA8TERT0N," " RICHE LIEU," "THE FORGERY," &C. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: T. C. NEWBY, PUBLISHER, 30, WELBECK STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE. 1849. J. BILLING, TRINTER, WOKISG, SURREY. CONTENTS. VOL. I. PAGE AMBOISE .... 1 ARTHUR .... 83 PERKIN WARBECK . . .121 VOL. II. THE LAST DAYS OF THE TE.VfPLARS . 1 THE ALBIGENSES . . . .110 THE CONSPIRACY OF CUEVA . . 277 VOL. III. WALLENSTEIN . . . . 1 HEROD THE GREAT . . . DAEK SCENES OE HISTOEY. FRANCE.

Chapter I. Amboise

There is a solitary hall, ceiled hy a vaulted roof, with five tall windows looking to the south, through which the moonlight is pouring on the floor. It is, perhaps, forty feet in length, and somewhat less than thirty in width, with the walls destitute of ornament, and the furniture scanty, though rich. A long table occupies the centre of the hall ; seats are ranged on VOL. I. B either side ; but no guests, for the moment, tenant the chamber, and the only light is that afforded by the bright planet as she wanders farther and farther to the south. Hark, a door opens. It is that of the ante chamber ; and the wind, which it admits, shakes the door of the hall, and makes it rattle on its hinges. Other sounds find their way in also ; those of voices, laughing and talking. They are soon excluded, as the door of the anteroom is closed again ; and then a man, in the dress of a servant, enters, bearing a lighted taper.

His step is slow and quiet ; and, one by one, he lights the candles in the sconces, ar ranges the seats more orderly round the table, and retires. A few minutes after, there comes a buzz, and then the noise of opening doors, and steps ; and then the end of the hall is thronged by some twenty or thirty men, all entering together. They pause for a moment, as if waiting for some one, ere they take their seats ; and a harsh grating sound, like that of a key turning in a lock, is heard from the anteroom. The next instant, passing through the midst of them, as they draw back to give him entrance, comes the lord of the castle of La Ferte himself. Somewhat less than the middle height, but beautifully and gracefully formed, with a face of almost feminine beauty, and a world of fire and intelligence in his bright black eyes, dressed with exquisite taste and neatness, and with a free and dignified carriage, he advances towards the head of the table, looking and feeling the prince.

" Be seated, noble sirs, be seated," said Conde ; " I crave your pardon for detaining you ; but it is better that an empty room should lie between ourselves and listening ears. All my people are doubtless honest ; but yet I am fond of having a lock betwixt them and my counsels." One by one they took their places round the table. The first — who seated himself on the right hand of Conde — was dressed in a scarlet robe, with a broad edge of lace. He advanced b with a quiet gliding step, a graceful air, and a countenance, the general expression of which was mild but shrewd. The features were good, the forehead broad, the eye quick and clear, and there was a bland and polished smile about the mouth, which was wondrous winning. It was the Cardinal de Chatillon. The next who appeared, was a powerful man, of the middle age, with thin white locks, and somewhat shaggy eyebrows.

Thebrow was broad and massive, the lower part of the face square cut, the chin somewhat prominent, and the lips and teeth compressed, as if he feared his thoughts might have too ready utterance. He was plainly dressed in a dark brown suit, and across the back of his large bony hand, was the scar of an ancient wound. His steps were peculiarly slow and considerate, each one falling firm upon the floor and seeming to take hold of it, before another was advanced. It was a very characteristic step ; and those who knew the Admiral de Coligni, could tell his ap proach by his footfall, long before they saw him. Next came his brother, d'Andelot, somewhat taller than Coligni, with his hair much darker, and his forehead higher, but not so broad. His movements were lighter and more free, and though the features of his face were stern, there was a bold and open frankness in the ex pression, and a somewhat sarcastic turn of the lip, which diminished the likeness between himself and his brother.

He advanced quickly to his seat, cast himself down upon it abruptly, and swung his arm over the tall back of the chair. Some eighteen or twenty more made up the party ; and amongst them, as they ranged them selves round the table, might be seen many a different set of features, many a different expression. There was the hard and stern, the light and gay, the dull and heavy, the look of thought less simplicity, and the keen and fox-like glance of the shrewd and cunning. As soon as they were all seated, the Prince de Conde looked to Coligni, as if expecting him to speak ; but Coligni was silent ; and the prince then began the consultation himself, by saying, with his eyes still turned towards the admiral — " I think we are all agreed, that this is to be borne no longer, and that immediate steps must be taken for wrenching the staff of rule out of the hands which usurp it, for restoring it to our sovereign, from whom it has been virtually snatched, and for freeing France from the op pression of the house of Lorraine."

Coligni bowed bis head slowly ; and the prince went on in the same rapid manner to paint, with a few sharp decided touches, the state to which he said France was reduced by the family of Guise, and ended with a laugh, saying — " So now, noble gentlemen, our business is to consider how we will catch the wolf without getting our fingers bit." " Faith, I mind not if he fix all his fangs in my left hand, so my right be free to cut his throat," replied d'Andelot. " We must leave the choice of which hand he will bite to himself," said the Cardinal de Chatillon, with a quiet smile, " if we do not take care that he shall not bite at all. We must be more wary than we have been, my good brother, not alone because we may be injured ourselves, but because we may irretrievably ruin a good cause, and sacrifice the best in terests of France by any precipitancy.

What say you, Monsieur de Rohan 1" " Decision of counsel, firmness of purpose, careful preparation, and resolute execution, are all needed," said the duke ; " but I think your eminence saw some difficulties in the way, of our acting together as a body, before every preparation is separately made." " Nay, my noble friend/' said the cardinal, with a courtly smile, " your usual generosity attributes to me that wise foresight which you yourself so eminently possess. It was you who suggested, that it would be better for all inferior personages, belonging to the party opposed to the tyranny of the Guises, to be prepared, armed, and on their march before the principal personages took any share in the enterprise." Rohan understood the Cardinal de Chatillon well, and knew that, although apparently as frank and free as d'Andelot, he was at heart as reserved and cautious as Coligni, and never loved to commit himself to an opinion where he could help it.

" True," he answered, " but it was your fore sight of the dangers which induced me to sug gest the course by which they might be avoided. You saw that if we were to superintend all the details of the enterprise ourselves, our frequent meetings would call the jealous eyes of power upon us, and means would be taken to frustrate our efforts ere our plans were well matured." " Well, well," cried d'Andelot, " it matters little which found the hole, and which set the trap, by my faith we must cease compliments. What is the plan suggested 1 I do not under stand it." "To move the pawns forward before the knights and castles," said Conde, with a light laugh. " Not forgetting to keep the bishops out of all danger," rephed d'Andelot ; " but let us hear more of the game." It was then that the voice of Coligni was heard for the first time.

" There are nearly 'two millions of protes tants in France," he said, in a calm grave tone, " and on them we must principally rely to over throw the tyranny of those who have oppressed them, although we may hope for the assistance of all good men who hate tyranny, whatsoever be their faith. Of those two million, there are fully three hundred thousand capable of bearing arms. At the moment of action they must have a leader, who, from his high position will have authority, and who from his military skill will be at once recognized as the fittest person to command them. There is but one on whom the task can fall : the noble prince here on my left. But if he should take any part in these proceedings before the moment for action b is arrived, he will lead the eyes of our enemies to the conduct of the inferior agents, for the very qualities which fit him for the task, render him an object of jealousy of those whom we seek to overthrow.

The protestant party, and all who are inclined to act with them in opposing oppression must be warned, prepared, armed, and directed, and the difficulty to be overcome, is to find a means of effecting this without exciting suspicion. Consider of it, gentlemen. It can be done undoubtedly. The question is, how it may best be done." " If each of us were to employ some secret agent in his own neighbourhood," said a gentle men, some way down the table, " and were to suffer him to make all the arrangements in his own name V " Amongst so many we should find a Judas," said d'Andelot. " You can never make toils to catch a lion out of butterfly-nets," replied Conde. " It must be trusted to one," murmured Co- FRANCE — AMBOISE. ligni, in a low voice. " There is no strong ac tion without unity of design."

" There must be a leader, I think," said the Cardinal de Chatillon, in his quiet insinuating manner, " during the time of preparation as well as a chief at the moment of action." " And that leader," said the Duke de Ro han, " must be one not sufficiently distinguished to attract observation, but sufficiently resolute and energetic to obtain authority by the force of his own mind, sufficiently docile to follow the course pointed out to him, and sufficiently trustworthy not to betray the cause in which he is engaged." ""A combination of rare qualities," exclaimed d'Andelot, " only to be found united, I be lieve, in myself — and the other gentlemen pro sent." He spoke with an abrupt laugh, as if he thought it impossible to find a suitable person ; and the conversation became for a few moments broken up into low consultations at different parts of the table between the gentlemen placed near each other.

At length a name began to be mentioned — though who originally brought it forward no one ever knew — and, at first passing about in whispers, it was at length pronounced aloud. Conde, as soon as he caught it, exclaimed, " La Renaudie? The very man !" Several of the gentlemen looked doubtful ; and the Cardinal de Chatillon, although he knew the man's history well, said in a quiet tone, " La Renaudie . Who is he ?" " I will tell you all about him in a few words," said Conde. " He is a man without scruples and without fears. As to his religion, he will give offence to no church and no sect by that. He has the courage of a lion, the activity of a deer, the perseverance of a ferret, the cun ning of a fox. His eloquence is extraordinary, and can be used for any purpose he has in view, for he can find equal arguments for all sorts of persons, and has no hesitation in using them.

FRANCE — AMBOISE. He once nearly persuaded me that robbery is honest, and lying truth." " I think I have heard of him," said the Cardinal. " Was he not tried for forgery in Perigueux 1" " No, he was not tried," answered Conde. " He was only arrested ; but prison walls have little hold upon him. He soon got out, and went to Switzerland till the storm had blown over. He has lived among storms indeed all his life, but always got his boat safe into port." " Were it not dangerous to trust such im portant secrets to such a man ?" asked a grave personage from the bottom of the table. " No, my noble friend, no," answered Conde. " He has one principle ; and it is all the stronger for being solitary. He never betrays any one, and some five years ago had nearly lost his life by this discreet honesty.

But I may as well answer all objections at once, for the moment his name was mentioned I saw that he was the man for our purpose. He is of a good family in the south, so that he will have no difficulty in communicating with all our best friends ; and I have no fear whatever in taking upon myself the task of communi cating with him, without risking the interven tion of any one else. Thus no one will be put to hazard, and as soon as your plans are fully sketched out, I will send for bim, and propose the enterprise to him." " I hope your Highness will take care of paper," said Rohan. " One never knows how it will appear when it comes out of La Renau die's hands." Conde nodded with a smile, replying, " Word of mouth, word of mouth, my friend. He will undertake the task I am sure, for I believe he would steal the thunderbolts out of the hand of Jupiter, or filch the keys from Saint Peter."

" Is he of the reformed church ?" demanded the Cardinal. " Oh, we ask no questions about religion," exclaimed d'Andelot. " No one enquires into yours, my good brother ; and we must not narrow down our operations into a mere reli gious movement. It is one in which all good men of France may join who seek to throw off oppression. Otherwise," he added with a smile, " how happen we to have you amongst us to-day ?" " One thing ought to be made clear," said a heavy looking man, who had hitherto taken no share in the conversation. " Are we justified in taking arms for the purposes in view V Coligni turned his calm thoughtful eyes upon him with a look of some surprise ; and the gentleman added, " Depend upon it, it is a question which will be put by many, when the matter is first proposed to them."

Conde looked impatient ; and d'Andelot's lip quivered ; but the Cardinal de Chatillon interposed with his mellifluous voice and soft courtly manner, saying, " That is a subject which should have been touched upon before. My noble friend, Monsieur de Seez might be quite sure he would not see me here unless I had ascertained that we are justified in law as well as in conscience. The first jurisconsults in France have been applied to, as to the ques tion of how far it is lawful to take arms for the purpose of freeing the king and the state from the oppression of those who now rule it. I have the answers of three of them here in writing. Look at them, Monsieur de Seez, and let all scruples vanish. Copies of these must be given to La Renaudie, in order to re move doubts wherever he finds they exist."

He handed the papers down the table, each person taking a glance at them before he passed them to the next ; and these several great points being determined, a long consulta tion ensued in regard to the details of the en terprise. Several times Conde quitted the room : once to seek a map, once to bring a large paper register in which were inscribed numerous names of families and villages. The party did not separatee till nearly three o'clock in the morning ; and after he had reached his chamber, Coligni sat for nearly half an hour in deep thought, with his cheek resting on his hand, but without any change of expression crossing his calm and marble countenance.

Chapter II. Amboise

In various parts of France, now here, now there, in cities, in hamlets, in castles, and in cottages, sometimes by night, sometimes in the broad day, passing from place to place with a rapidity which seemed to give him the quality of ubiquity, coming and going no one knew whence or whither, and leaving no trace of his passage, but a stern and thoughtful look on the faces of the men with whom he conversed, was seen a powerful man, somewhat above the middle height, with a handsome countenance, a pre possessing air and manner, and a dress plain but rich, savouring somewhat of the military, somewhat of the mercantile man. He was always well mounted, always well furnished with money, always alone. Sometimes he stopped with those he sought, only for a moment ; sometimes he remained for an hour or two.

Sometimes he spoke with gay and laughing tenderness to the children, sometimes with light gallantry to the women, and at others in a graver tone to the men ; but in almost all cases, he left them pensive. Even the children drew back and gazed. His eye had a peculiar fascination in it, which drew attention at once : his voice a strange power which seemed to carry the words beyond the ear, direct to the heart and mind : and on he went, ever as I have said alone, sometimes stopping, it is true, to speak with a horseman who met him on the road, but passing forward speedily, and neither seeking nor suffering companion ship on his journey. At Christmas he was at Rheims ; on new year's eve in Paris ; on the third of January' 850, at Rennes ; on the fifth at Angers ; on the sixth at Nantes. No one seemed to know his business ; no one called him by his name ; few asked him any questions ; but all listened to him ; and all remained thoughtful.

It was a gay and busy time in the good old town of Nantes. The parhament of the pro vince was assembled within its walls ; fetes and ceremonies were going on ; multitudes thronged the streets and the churches ; and little boys, who had come with their parents from the country, stood by the side of the Loire, and dropped stones upon the thin ice. But many a one in that old town sat quietly in some pri vate room, reading, with a heavy brow, " The defence against tyrants," or " The history of the house of Guise, masters of all France," or " The chapter of St. Michael ;" or some of the other lampoons or satires of the day. But towards nine o'clock at night, one by one, up a narrow street in the older part of the city, went man after man, wrapped in general in a short cloak, and with the bonnet pressed over the brow.

There seemed nothing re markable about them, except that they all went in the same direction, and all stopped opposite a large ancient house, and all went in at the same door. It was neither church, nor spec tacle, nor private dwelling that they sought ; but they found their way to a very spacious old hall, dimly lighted, with a table towards the upper end, and some benches around. Tbe room soon grew crowded ; and at length the doors were shut. For some time, no order prevailed, men stood together in groups and talked in low tones, or seated themselves on the benches and con versed with their neighbour in a whisper. That man who had been so lately at Rheims, and Paris and Angers, was amongst them there ; and he went from one to another at the lower part of the hall, saying a few words to many, but to none speaking much.

At length, some gentlemen ranged them selves on the upper side of the table. Those be low left as much space round it as they could ; and several persons, who seemed of authority, spoke to the assembly, descanting in general terms on the evils of the times, the misgovern ment under which France laboured, and the oppression of the house of Guise ; but none proposed remedies, none pointedly mentioned the cause of their meeting. There were occasional murmurs and some signs of impatience ; for most of the persons there were more fully prepared for speedy action than their leaders thought. A voice had gone forth amongst them, telling that the evils under which France groaned were intolerable, and they required something definite. They did not come to hear things which they had all heard a hundred times ; they did not come to learn what they all knew right well.

What they asked in their hearts was, " how was their state to be redressed ?" At length a tongue pronounced aloud the name of " La Renaudie," and a dozen others took it up instantly. There was a pause; and then a clamour of the same name, in the midst of which, that solitary traveller over the face of the land came forward to the table, and was greeted by a shout as if he were destined to be the saviour of France. Then poured forth the stream of eloquence, the most subtle, the most plausible, the most powerful, the most persuasive. There was a mixed multitude before him, of different classes, characters, feelings, passions, interests, objects, prejudices ; but by a peculiar and wonderful power, he seemed to hold their reasons and their wills at his disposal. The prejudices of each seemed to be courted and enlisted in turn, the objects of each seemed certain to be obtained by the course he advocated, each man found something to win him, each something to persuade him.

No one saw that the ends were incompatible, the interests irreconcileable, the means inharmonious with the object. He prophesied boldly ; he flattered expectation ; he obscured all risks ; he displayed all hopes ; he offered change to men enduring evil. He was the" prototype of an agitator of the present day. It would be impossible to report what he said ; and were it possible, the report would not convey the truth ; for one half of his eloquence consisted of his knowledge of the men whom he addressed. He began by assuring those who beard him of his loyalty and attachment to his king, and went on to declare that it was the interests of the king that first he sought. The authority of the monarch, if not his life, was in danger, he said, from the ambition of the house of Guise. The people of France were mere serfs to the family of Lorraine.

The princes of the blood royal were trampled under the feet of upstarts. Nobles and pea santry groaned beneath one yoke. In a few bold powerful words he drew a fearful picture of the state of the land ; and as briefly but as powerfully displayed what it might be. He assured his hearers that all the principal per sonages of the realm were ready to cooperate with them, that success was certain and the end prosperity. He spared no assertions ; he refrained from no prophecies ; and then he sketched out his scheme in its broad details. There was to be an universal arming, merely to overawe. The preparation for resistance would paralyse the arm of oppression. A de putation of gentlemen unarmed were to present a petition to the king for the redress of the grievances pointed out. If rejected, they were to seize the Duke of Guise, the cardinal his brother, and their principal supporters, and to place the gallant Prince de Conde at the head of affairs till the king was old enough to rule firmly.

The people were to stand by armed, and to see this effected. In the mean time secret levies were to be made in all parts of France, and persons were to be chosen from those present to superintend the raising of the troops. No burst of applause followed his eloquence ; but a low well satisfied consenting murmur ran through the assembly. A voice from the head of the table exclaimed, " We are all agreed. Let us to action." vol. i. c An oath was proposed and administered, to aid in carrying out the scheme suggested. Every one took it readily ; sixteen persons were chosen to raise the necessary troops in all the provinces ; and then began the movement of many feet towards the door. La Renaudie was the last to quit the hall, except a servant who extinguished the lights ; and in darkness and in silence each man carried to his home the dangerous secret with which he was loaded.

Chapter III. Amboise

In a fine old chateau, in one of the midland parts of France, now called the department of Cher et Loire, sat a gentleman of the middle age, with a fine broad forehead, eyes full of mild and intelligent light, and an expression of countenance betokening a calm, high-toned, resolute spirit. There was a deep scar upon his cheek, but it diminished very little the placid beauty of his face ; and his tall manly form, and graceful, dignified carriage, seemed to speak the soldier and the gentlemen. At c2 his knee stood a beautiful little girl of eight or nine years of age, half reclining on his bosom, and looking up with her large dark speaking eyes, into his face, while he gazed down upon her, and played with the shining curls of her hah. She had no mother, and the memory of buried affections, mingled with and deepened the tenderness of the surviving parent for his only child.

Her light prattle seemed like music to his ear, though he was a man of high thoughts and commanding intellect. But all really great men have loved children. In the midst of their conversation, the door of the room, in which they sat near the window, opened quietly, and a man entered, booted and spurred. It was the wanderer whom I have mentioned over so many parts of France ; and as soon as he appeared, Monsieur de Castelnau kissed the fair forehead of his child, and sent her from him. When she was gone, La Renaudie approached the master of the house, and said in a low voice — FR.\NCE AMBOISE. 29 " The day is the fifteenth of March. The place, Blois. How many men do you think you can bring ?" " Some hundred and fifty," replied the Lord of Castelnau ; " but I think it needless, and even hazardous to bring them in arms.

I have read the paper that you gave me, and see no thing in the resolutions taken that could com promise my loyalty or my faith. I presume that the names affixed to that paper are a guarantee that no more is intended, than is there set down." " Nothing, upon my honour," replied La Renaudie. " If so, why then go in arms?" demanded the Lord of Castelnau. " The gentlemen of course will bear their usual weapons ; but why should they arm their tenants, if the intention be merely to prove to the kbag the sense of the great mass of the people ?" " Because with the rule under which we live," replied La Renaudie, " the highways of France are no longer safe. Dying vipers will bite ; and as soon as these men find that their last hour is coming, they will assuredly strive to strike some blow, either for vengeance or for safety.

It may fall upon me ; it may fall upon you; but the only means to render it harmless to any, or perhaps to avert strife alto gether, is to go prepared for resistance, and to make sure that no one party of true-hearted men be cut off by the way, in going to pull down a tyrant." " Perhaps you are right," replied the Lord of Castelnau, after a short pause. " Perhaps you are right," he repeated, thoughtfully ; " but let me order you some refreshment." " No," replied La Renaudie ; " I must for ward upon my way. I have these seven and thirty noble gentlemen to see before nightfall. The whole of France is with us, except the creatures of the Guise." Thus saying, he turned away. The Lord of Castelnau recalled his child, and listened, some times with attention, sometimes absently, to her innocent talk.