town on the Cornish coast, which he might retain till the next spring, so as to favour the landing of the grand fleet, which was then to sail. Essex was already returning, and approaching this Spanish fleet without being aware of it, and a day or two might have seen the two navies engaged; but another storm arose when the Adelantado was off the Scilly Isles, and dispersed his fleet. Essex's fleet was also involved in the same tempest, but could escape into friendly ports, whilst the Spanish was compelled to brave the hurricane, and, pursued by it across the Bay of Biscay, reached the Tagus minus sixteen of its best ships."

At the commencement of the following year, Henry of France made known to the Queen of England his intention of seeking a peace with Spain. He was heartily wearied of the anarchy which prevailed throughout his own country, and of the evil which threatened all Christendom while Spain was in open hostility with the leading States of Europe. He loved his people, and was most anxious to advance their social comfort and to deliver them from the miseries of war. Enough had already been done for honour's sake-he had never shunned the field when there was occasion for martial valour-his chivalrous spirit was above suspicion, but he yearned for peace. At the Conference, the English ambassador extraordinary, Sir Robert Cecil, strongly opposed the terms proffered; this opposition was warmly supported by the Dutch deputies, who saw risk for the United Provinces in the withdrawal of France fron the antiSpanish league; in England, also, much opposition was offered to all terms of peace, and no man was more vehement in his demand for war than Essex. In the midst of one of the debates in the council, Burleigh put his pocket Bible gently before the earl, open at the words in the Psalms-"Bloodthirsty men shall not live out half their days." Essex took no notice of it, but it came to be looked upon as prophetic.

The peace between Spain and France was signed in the spring of 1598, all the places held by the Spaniards in France being given up. Six months after the signing of this treaty, the voluminous correspondent of the Escurial laid down his pen for the last time. He died on the 13th of September, in the seventy-first year of his age.

So after forty years of civil war France breathed at last, the royal power established above the reach of private ambition, and Henry of Navarre the great centre of European influence. But there was a want still felt something which disturbed the serenity of those who remembered that kings were but mortal. Who should take the place of Henry

when death summoned him away? He had no child by Margaret Valois. The second union of the king was regarded with extreme interest by the nation. No man regarded it with more anxiety than Sully. To him the king was attached both with justice and reason; and notwithstanding his personal affection for the beautiful Gabrielle d'Estrees, he listened to the suggestions of his councillor and accepted the hand of Marie de Medici, daughter of the Duke of Tuscany.

This marriage cost the king a bitter pang, for he loved Gabrielle with all his heart; and when she heard his decision she shed "tears as big as

little peas." They were alone together under the famous oak of Fontainebleau-Gabrielle pleading, the king tempted to yield, tempted to risk a private alliance contrary to the wishes of Sully, rather than ally himself with a royal house. Suddenly, it is said, Sully appeared. He heard and saw all-saw that the king was yielding, and by that step imperilling his own crown and the peace of France.

"Your Majesty," said he, bowing respectfully, "appears to have decided. You have determined to do that which I believe to be ruinous to the prospects of the country, fatal to the peace of France. I have but

one duty-a solemn and unpleasant duty-and that is, to request your Majesty to appoint my successor."

"You desert me, Sully!" exclaimed the king in a reproachful tone.

"Sire, I cannot, loving my country, and desiring an honest fame, incur the odium of having connived at an unpopular and unwise act. I must resign, to save my honour and my reputation."

"Your Majesty will find many as faithful and attached ministers," exclaimed Gabrielle d'Estrees, beginning to recover hopes.

"And so, Rosny," said the king affectionately, "you have made up your mind, in this case, to leave me."

"I say it, your Majesty, with deep regret; but it is my duty" "Then, Rosny, it must be that you are right. You would never leave me, were you not persuaded of the justness of your cause.

This afternoon

send the demand for the hand of Marie de Medici. Go, my friend." The minister bowed, without a word, and retired.

"Your Majesty," exclaimed the alarmed Lady Gabrielle, who had not yet learned to understand the king's fickleness, "your Majesty prefers that Rosny to your beloved Gabrielle."

"That Rosny, Gabrielle," said the king gravely, "is the guardian of my crown."

Gabrielle tried every art to persuade the king to disgrace the minister, and take one more compliant. Then it was that Henry made his historical reply to the fair dame.

“Pardi, madame! this is too much. You have been incited to this by some enemies of mine. In order, then, that you may be quite at ease on the subject, let me tell you, that I would rather lose one hundred women as beautiful as you, than one man like Sully."

Gabrielle d'Estrees was silenced. After dinner she renewed the conflict in Sully's pavilion, but in vain.

The hand of Marie de Medici was formerly asked by the king, and Gabrielle d'Estrees returned to Paris, after begging the monarch's pardon on her bended knees.

She retired to her apartments in the Hotel Zamet, where a few days later she died, after eating a meal which had been all poisoned. It was never known, nor even suspected, by whom this poison was administered, as the object could not very well be discovered. It has even been suggested that she ate only some mushrooms which were of a poisonous tribe, and was thus accidentally killed.

Soon after this event Fontainebleau was in activity. The alliance with the house of Tuscany was concluded; Henry became the husband of Marie de Medici, who, on the 21st of September, 1601, presented him with a dauphin. The king was delighted, placed his own sword in the infant's hand, and exclaimed, "Ma vie! rejoice! Heaven has granted our wish: we have a handsome son."

So of the three Henries, this brave Bernese was the most blessed: a child was given him to sit on his throne.

France attained a degree of prosperity hitherto unknown. Sully, who was eminently aristocratic-so much so that he had vehemently opposed

the introduction of those manufactures which enriched the civic class at the expense of the landholders-had been, however, overruled by his sovereign in this, and founded the silk manufacture of the kingdom, as well as that of tapestry. Small mirrors, in the Venetian style, commenced to be manufactured. Industry began to contribute to the revenues of France. Literature and art added to its grandeur. The king housed in the gallery of the Louvre artists of every description; de Thou and Jeannin, d'Ossat and Duperron formed part of his council; Pithou wrote the "Treatise on the liberties of the Gallican Church;" Jerôme Bignon commenced his great works on jurisprudence; Arnaud and Etienne Pasquier were the glory of the bar; Regnier wrote his satires, which still

retain a place in the standard literature of his country. Henry IV., who loved the luxury of palaces and gardens, executed great works at Fontainebleau, the Louvre, the Tuileries, and Monceaux; he constructed the château of Saint Germain, now destroyed, the Place Royale, and the Place Dauphine; he finished the Pont Neuf, the Hotel de Ville; and, notwith

standing all the expenditure entailed thereby, collected a numerous and disciplined army, paid with regularity, and accumulated thirty-five millions of specie in the cellars of the Bastile.

In collecting and disciplining an immense army, Henry foresaw that the liberal tendencies of the age, the intolerance of Spain, and the cupidity of Austria, would and must produce a universal war. Henry contemplated a grand scheme which war only could realize-a scheme which should