"Now France saw two monarchs disputing the Tells the king from the Vatican orders had throne.

Nor heard the dull thunder which growled o'er "I pitied his weakness; without more ado,

"In Coutras that elegant Joyeuse I sought;" "But Guise now determined, in stratagem skill- You know his defeat, to what end he was ed,

Joyeuse, Frenchman by birth and of ignoble Whom the sword then mowed down in the

Left pleasure behind, and with him faced the Vile flatterers of court, but brave troops in the foe.

Devices, the tokens of love's ardent flames, Were marked in their clothes with their mistresses' names;

Their weapons, graced,

with rubies and diamonds

field.

"In this fearful affray, to the soldiers I gave The order, in vain, that they Joyeuse should

save.

Ilis form I soon saw by the troops borne away; Were like frivolous toys in infant's hands He was pale, and the shadows of death on him placed. lay;

With ardor and tumult, with experience un- Like a flower that opens its leaves to the morn, tried, Is kissed by the zephyrs, drinks the dew of the dawn,

They brought to the battle their rashness and pride;

In their glittering pomp and their numerous alliance,

Without order they came, with a step of defiance.

"My army, devoid of all glitter and shine,
In order and silence, and drawn up in line,
Presented a different view to their sight,-
Troops to hardship inured, and gray in the
fight,

For a moment delights, when its beauties all fade

From a blast of the wind, or the mower's sharp blade.

"But why the events of that sad day retrace? Far happier could I from my memory efface The tokens to which all this success attained, The arm by the blood of my countrymen stained.

My conquest at this sight at once disappears; Scarred with their wounds, and to death oft My laurels are crimsoned and bathed with my exposed,

tears.

Their muskets and swords all their trappings This victory rendered the abyss more profound, Where Valois had hoped an escape to have found.

composed.

Armed like the rest, and rejecting vain show,
The squadrons I led and encountered the foe.
With them I faced death when the fierce tem-
pest sped,

And my only distinction to march at their head.
Beneath our swift charge they were conquered
and slain;

The few left alive soon deserted the plain.
The sword, I confess, which I used with regret,
With the blood of the Spaniards had better
been wet.

He became more despised when the story wAS told,

Less obedient Paris, and the League the more bold.

The glory of Guise but augmented his trouble, Whose insults appeared his misfortune to double.

In Vernosi, Guise, by a victory gained 7

O'er the Germans, revenge for Joyeuse had obtained;

In Anneau, my allies, surprised, had to yield, Among all these courtiers (I speak to their And to Paris, with laurels, Guise came from

They must stand by the church and avenge the And he to whom churchmen the title accord

foul deed.

Guise's brother, redoubtable, Mayenne by name,
Their vengeance increases by fanning the flame;
His interest more than his vengeance desires,
And in hundreds of places he lights up the
fires.

"Mayenne, long familiar with war and alarms,"
And who, under his brother, had carried his
arms,

Succeeds to his office, designs, and intrigue,
And the sceptre receives at the hand of the
League.

Unlimited grandeur, to his bosom so dear,

For the death of his brother effaces the tear.12

He served with regret, and much rather to-day
His death would avenge than his orders obey.
Mayenne, I confess, as a hero is great,
Nor is he less so in affairs of the State;

Of Father of Christians,' arms his sons with the sword.

From the extremes of Europe I see the sad
sight

Of these troubles together in Paris unite.
A king without subjects, defenceless, pursued,
To claim my assistance Valois deemed it good.
He generous believed me; he was not deceived;
For the woes of my country I felt deeply
grieved;

In danger so pressing all anger I smother,
And in Valois I only behold now a brother.
My duty thus ordered, I the dictate obeyed,
And as king to a king I have given my aid.
In his presence I came without treaty or
friends; 16

Your fortune,' I said, 'on your courage de-
pends;

On the ramparts of Paris you conquer or die.'
These words to his spirit new fires supply.

Men, foes to themselves, and to tyrants the To flatter myself I do not pretend

slaves,

His wise law unites, and from anarchy saves. Their talents he knows, for his own purpose keeps,

And e'en from misfortune advantage he reaps
Guise to the eye in more splendor appeared, -
More grand, more heroic, not more to be feared.
While such is Mayenne, such the means he
commands,

My example produced this desirable end;
No doubt his disgrace on his vision arose,
And showed him his fall through his former re-
pose.

Valois needed reverses; misfortune oft brings
Experience, the truthful instructor of kings."

Such the candid recital that Henry made.

So much the League hopes to obtain at his In the mean time, he presses the English for aid;
hands,
Already, victorious shouts reach the land
From the city of rebels, and his presence de-

So much youthful Aumale, with presumptuous

Aumale to the party with high prestige came, 13
With the title invincible gracing his name;
With Mayenne in fight, his hot haste to con
trol,

mand.

Soon a thousand young English with him will unite,

Plough the sea with their ships, and engage in the fight.

Their leader is Essex, whose valor and zeal 17 He's the arm of the League, and Mayenne is Had humbled the forces of haughty Castile, the soul.

"In the mean time, the politic Flemish oppressor,

The dangerous neighbor and Roman professor,
That king whose chief power has from artifice
grown,

Your enemy, madam, and still more my own,-
Philip in this quarrel with Mayenne unites,14

But who little foresaw that an ignoble end
Its blight on his hardly-earned laurels would
send.

"Bold and openly, then, your great purpose

pursue;

It is you, not Valois, as their chief they will own; My friendship commends them to your care In conquering Mayenne, you Rome will subalone;

due.

In the thick of the battle, you'll see this co- Her hate or her favor on you now depends;

hort,

Your valor to copy rather than to support;
Instructed by you, both by precept and deed,

Their country they'll serve in the hour of
need.

May the League by your hand in the dust be laid low !

Spain favors Mayenne, and Rome is your foe. Let Spain be subdued! No great soul can dread

The vain thunders Rome may discharge on your head.

Your efforts for freedom may victory crown, And Philip's and Sextus's pride be brought down!

"Like his father, King Philip possesses address, In policy equal, in all else he is less;

By dividing his neighbors he forges their chains,

And while still in his palace the mastery gains.

To the conquered unyielding, to the victor she

bends;

To condemn she is ready, to absolve you no less;

Her thunder you'll either call forth or repress."

(End of the Third Canto.)

NOTES TO CANTO III.

I saw him expire, etc. Charles IX. was always ill after the St. Bartholomew massacre, and died about two years after, May 30, 1574, bathed in his own blood, which issued from the pores of his body. Henry IV. witnessed the death of Charles IX. This prince, from whom he had received such outrages, sent for him a few hours before his death. He commended to his care his wife and his daughter, as being the natural heir to the throne, and as a prince on whose greatness of soul and good faith he could rely. He told him to beware of (but he pronounced that name and some others so as not to be heard by any in the chamber). "Sir, you must not say that," said the queen-mother, who was present in the chamber. "Why not say it?" said Charles; "it is true." He probably spoke of Henry III. He knew his vices;

"From the dust to the throne Sextus reached he had a horrid idea of him, since he delayed

the high goal; 18

Than l'hilip less potent, but prouder in soul,
This herdsman of Montalte, the rival become
Of kings, would now govern in Paris like
Rome.

With his tiara crowned, pompous emblem of
State,

He would all, even Philip himself, subjugate.
Vehement, but sly, a deceitful professor,
A foe to the strong, to the weak an oppressor;
In my court here in London his cabals have
been found,

And the nations deceived with his intrigues

abound.

"To combat such foes you must now be pre

pared;

To dispute my authority both of them dared.
Against storms and my navy one battled in

vain;

Their ships were all taken or sunk in the main; 19

his departure to Poland in the hope of his approaching death.

2 With steps of impatience, etc. The reputation he had acquired at Jarnac and Montoncour, together with the money of Francis, obtained his election as King of Poland in 1573. He succeeded Sigismund II., the last prince of the race of Zagellans.

3 Guise came on the stage, etc. Henry of Guise, the Balafre, born in 1550 of Francis de Guise and Ann d'Est. He executed the great project of the League, formed by the Cardinal Lorrain, his uncle, at the time of the Council of Trent, and entered upon by Francis, his fa

ther.

thor has been censured for using the word serIn Paris his criminal sermons, etc. The aumon in an epic poem. He replies that anything may be admitted, and that the epithet criminal relieves the expression of sermon.

fought in the battle of Coutras against Henry 5 In Coutras, etc. Ann, Duke of Joyeuse,

IV., then King of Navarre, the 26th of October, 1589. His army was compared to that of Darius, and Henry's to that of Alexander. Joyeuse was killed in the battle by two infantry captains named Bordeaux and Descontiers.

Least unworthy of all, etc. Joyeuse married the sister of the wife of Henry III. In his The shores, with their blood, e'en now crimson embassy to Rome, he was treated as the brother of the king. He had a heart worthy of his appear. great fortune. One day, having kept the two T'other, quiet at Rome, yields me honor and Secretaries of State in the king's ante-chamber

fear.

for a long time, he apologized to them, giving