stooping to receive the homage of a nobleman, the stroke only wounded his lip, and broke a tooth. The assassin was instantly seized; when, some say, he confessed, that knowing himself to be guilty of great sins, he thought to avoid hell by this action, which he deemed both just and meritorious; because the king was not reconciled to the church, and should be accounted a tyrant: and it must be admitted, that the doctrines of the Sorbonne, in those days, were, the excellency of the established church, the necessity of uniformity, the horror of hugonotism, and the merit of killing the tyrant on the throne.

These attempts to assassinate the king, were improved by the reformed, who reminded his majesty, that he had never been in such danger from protestants. Soon after this event, they demanded a new edict. It contained seven articles, which need not be stated, because they are included in the edict of Nantes, without which, nothing would give them satisfaction.

- Prevarications on the side of the catholics, and loud complaints on the side of the protestants, still continued and increased; and, by the former, horrible deeds were done and approved, both at Rome, and in France. At Rome, one of the reformed from Flanders, and another of them from England, were burned alive. At Rome, also, secret articles are said, at this time, to have been' formed, by which the pope obliged Henry the fourth,

G

fourth, to exclude protestants from offices of trust; to marry the princess, his sister, to a catholic prince, and to make war against the declared heretics of his kingdom, till they were destroyed. Such were the efforts of the pope at Rome; and, in France, his agents gave a dreadful proof of their obedience to his persecuting disposition; for, at Chataigneray, they suddenly surprised and massacred, two hundred of every sex and age; and among them an infant, that was brought to be baptised, or rather to be sprinkled, according to the custom of pædo-baptists.

The chicane of the pope, and of the king, seem to have been nicely balanced. The pope, under pretence of calling in question the sincerity of the king's conversion, required of him new and strange proofs of his attachment to the see of Rome. The king, to pacify the pope, and to flatter the catholics, talked of his being disgusted with the reformed religion; and, on the contrary, to please the reformed, he would sometimes say to them, in confidence, that he had always their religion in his heart. But, in a heart like his, how was it pos sible for religion to prosper?

While the king was thus embarrassed on the subject of religion, he was deeply entangled, and strangely ensnared, by love. The dutchess of Beaufort, held him in such captivity, that it is said, he had thoughts of making her his queen. From his wife, Margaret de Valois, (whose conduct,

since her marriage, was very reprehensible,) he had a long time lived apart. The dutchess of Beaufort dying suddenly, Henry, soon after, fell desperately in love with Madame d'Entragues, daughter of a mistress of Charles the ninth. But of his amours, there was no end while he lived; and, from them, he is not entitled to any posthumous honour. They have furnished Mr. Bayle with an occasion to lay before the public some curious remarks, in his historical and critical dictionary; which, if worth notice, it would be improper here to produce.

The protestants being more and more oppressed, and being told it was not yet time to grant them an edict, such as they requested, grew impatient, and demanded what they had frequently solicited in respectful language. This demand was evaded several months; but could no longer be denied. The famous edict of Nantes was, therefore, granted; and, by that grant, the civil war ceased, and the nation soon was, comparatively speaking, in a flourishing condition.

This edict was granted, April 1598, and published, in parliament, the 15th of February, 1599, greatly to the satisfaction of the reformed. It contains ninety-two articles, besides fifty-six secret articles; and is called perpetual and irrevocable. It grants to protestants, liberty of conscience, and the free exercise of religion; a free access to all places of honour and dignity; great

sums

sums of money to pay off their troops; a hundred places, as pledges of their future security, and certain funds to maintain both their preachers and their garrisons.

What is not granted by government, with good will, is not likely to be lasting. These extorted articles laid many foundations for envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, both among catholics and protestants; which issued in the revocation of this famous edict, in October, 1685.

Henry now resolved to carry the war into Germany, and made immense preparations for that expedition. What were his real intentions in that affair, are not known. Some say, he designed to have formed christendom into one great republic, of which France was to be the head; but whatever was his design, while he was eager to set out on this romantic expedition, (from which he was only detained by the preparations that were making for the coronation of the queen,) he was assassinated in the centre of his capital,

The wretch that committed this murder, was Francis Ravaillac, a native of Angouleme, from whence he travelled on foot to Paris, on purpose to kill the king, For several days, he watched for an opportunity to strike the dreadful stroke, and continually followed the king for that purpose. At last, as Henry was passing in his coach, through

a narrow

a narrow street, in going from his palace to the arsenal, some obstruction took place, and the king's guards were at some distance; in that unexpected moment, Ravaillac came up to the coach, and observing his majesty was looking at something on the other side, he gave him three blows with a knife. On the first thrust, Henry exclaimed, I am wounded! Another stroke pierced his heart, and he immediately expired, in the midst of his most faithful servants.

There were with the king, in his coach, the dukes d'Espernon, and Montbazon; the marshals de Lavardin, and de Roquelaure; the marquises de la Force, and de Mirabeau; and Liancourt, master of the horse.-Who can be safe, that is not always under divine protection; and what king can execute his purpose, good or bad, without divine permission?

Ravaillac thought he had done an acceptable service to God, by murdering a king, whom he and others imagined was again about to change his religion, because he was going to assist the protestants. He did not, therefore, attempt to escape; but appeared much astonished that his action should be considered as a crime. He was immediately, seized, and afterwards executed, by tortures too horrid to describe: but no other victim suffered on account of this murder; for those who were obliged to look into the business, and to punish his accomplices, were as negligent in discharging