THE INTERPOLATED [MA]. 421 case (l'estuy, as l'étui was then written), while in the stanza, as announced, there is no such reference. Amazed they must have been! Yet I doubt whether it occurred either to father or son, as it occurs to me, that the evidence thus brought to light is vastly stronger on account of its peculiar character-is much more convincing because, while absolutely substantial in its coincidence with the promised stanza, it bears no stamp of literalism. The interpolated ma in the discovered stanza greatly puzzled them at first, but was subsequently explained. When exhibiting the original parchment to the friend through whom I obtained this narrative, M. Bach said: "No one could imagine the meaning of the word ma, surrounded by lines, as you see. But one day my hand was again moved involuntarily, and there was written: 'Amico mio: the King joked about my Italian accent in the verse he sent with the spinet. I always said ma instead of mais."'" Ma, Italian for but, corresponds to the French mais; and I have observed that Italians, in speaking French, frequently make this mistake. Thus "ma moult simplette," in Baltazari ni's patois, would mean "but very simple." The original parchment (blackened by age, as the plate shows) was taken by M. Bach to the "Bibliothèque Impériale" (if that be still the title of France's great national library) and there compared with original manuscripts. In these last Henry's hand was found to vary, as in that age hand-writ ings often did but with some of the acknowledged originals the writing on M. Bach's parchment-verse as well as signature was found most strictly to correspond. "L'identité étaiť absolue,” M. Bach said. It was also submitted, for verification, to experienced antiquarians, and by them, after critical comparison, pronounced to be a genuine autograph of Henry, whencesoever obtained. The minute holes visible along the upper edge of the parchment (see fac-simile), indicating that it had originally been tacked to some wooden surface, sustain the allegation that Henry had caused it "to be nailed to the case." On the lower 422 THE EXCITEMENT IN PARIS. edge it seems to have been cut off inside of the nail-holes; but the marks of four larger holes, one at each corner of the parchment, are distinctly visible. The rough cross above the quatrain is an additional voucher of authenticity; for a similar token of easy piety heads almost every specimen of Henry the Third's writing that has come down to us. These marvellous incidents, more or less correctly related, could not fail to find their way into the newspapers. They appeared in several Parisian journals, and were thence copied far and wide. For a week or two M. Bach's spinet, with its supernatural accessories, was the great sensation of the noveltyseeking French metropolis. The whole was usually set down as incomprehensible; they stated the facts, with some such comment as- “Mystère que nous n'osons pas approfondir:" and though there were general suggestions that some natural explanation must exist, yet so firmly established was M. Bach's reputation for integrity-these never took the shape of doubts that he had acted in entire good faith. After a time, of course, the excitement was replaced by that of some other engrossing rumor, but without leading to any solution or explanation whatever. The song was published. As no treble accompaniment, but only the air with bass, was given in the original (see fac-simile of music on preceding page), M. Bach had to supply the accompaniment for the right hand, which he did with taste and judgment. The words are pretty and suit well with the sentiment of the romance. * They contain two special allusions; one to the royal author having met the object of his passion at a distant hunt ("chasse lointaine"); and the other to the lady having sadly passed her last days in a cloister. (“Triste et cioistrée," now written cloitrée-are the words). * Here they are, with the original orthography: REFRAIN. J'ay perdu celle pour quy j'avois tant d'amour. Elle, si belle, avoit pour moy, chaque jour, Faveur nouvelle et nouveau désir: Oh ouy! sans elle, il me faut mourir. WORDS OF THE SONG. 423 It need hardly be said that the publication of the incidents above related and of the mysterious song caused various researches into the annals of the sixteenth century, to determine how far the historical record of the times bore out M. Bach's story. It was soon discovered that, according to the best biographies, the "grande passion" of Henry's life was for the Princess Marie de Clèves; and that, according to a diary kept of those times, that princess appears to have died in an abbey. Also a passage was brought to light, occurring in one of the works of that laborious chronicler, the Abbé Lenglet-Dufresnoy, and reading thus: "In 1579, Balthazzarini, a celebrated Italian musician, came into France, to the court of Henry III." * 1r. VERS. Un jour, pendant une chasse lointaine, Je croyais voir un ange dans la plaine, Lors, je devins le plus heureux des Roys! ... mais! 2nd. VERS. Je donnerois certes tout mon royaume Pour la revoir encor un seul instant, Près d'elle assis dessous un humble chaume, Pour sentir mon cœur battre en l'admirant... mais! 3me. VERS. Triste et cloistrée, oh ! ma pauvre belle Fut loin de moi pendant ses derniers jours. Elle ne sens plus sa peine cruelle, Ici bas, hélas!.. je souffre toujours! . . . ah!... In singing, the refrain is repeated after each verse. The word si, in the second line of the refrain, seems at first to be written sy; and it was so printed in the song: whereupon a critic wrote to M. Bach, calling his attention to the fact that the French have never written the word si with a y. On examining the supposed y, however, with a magnifier, M. Bach and his friends came to the opinion that it was but the long Italian i, often used when i was a final letter, in those days. It is evidently unlike any other y in the original, as may be seen by examining the two lines in fac-simile (page 416). * Tablettes Chronologiques de l'Histoire Universelle, vol. ii. p. 704. (Ed. of 1778.) 424 CHARACTER OF HENRY III. But I determined to obtain, if possible, further testimony, and have succeeded in procuring some other important particu lars. HENRY, THE LAST OF THE Valois. This favorite son of Catherine de Médicis is best known by the one great crime of his life; his assent to that massacre of St. Bartholomew, which took place, at the instigation of his mother and by the authority of his elder brother, Charles IX., in August, 1572. But Henry was not without redeeming qualities. When but nineteen years old, he won, for his brother, the battles of Jarnac and Montcontour; thus achieving a military reputation which, three years later, procured his election as King of Poland. One among the most discriminating of modern historians says of him: "Henry wished to lead a palace life, divided between pious exercises, the pleasures of the city, retirement and the reverence due to the sovereign magistrate. He was little inclined to cultivate the society of old generals, politicians, and men of learning, who might have informed and instructed him: preferring young and gay people of handsome exterior, who emulated him in the faultlessness of their costumes and the brilliancy of their ornaments.” * "His nature," But this was one side only of his character. says Ranke, “was like that of Sardanapalus which, in seasons of prosperity, abandoned itself to enervating luxury, but in adversity became courageous and manful. . . His failings were obvious to every one. His deficient morality, his eagerness for enjoyment, and his dependence upon a few favorites gave general and well-founded offence. Occasionally, however, he rose to the full height of his vocation; showing an intellectual capacity corresponding with his exalted position, and, * RANKE: Civil Wars and Monarchy in France; p. 307. (New York Ed. 1854.) HENRY IN POLAND. 425 though subject to many vacillations, great susceptibility of mind and goodness of disposition."* Such was the monarch who, according to the allegation made in M. Bach's dream, composed the elegiac song. The name of the lady whom it mourns was not mentioned; but-the genuineness of the song being conceded-there cannot be a doubt as to the person intended. The name of Beatrice is not more inseparably connected with the memory of Dante, nor Laura with Petrarch, than is the name of Marie de Clèves with that of Henry III. Not a detailed history of the time, not a biography of Henry, but alludes to it. He met her, while still Duke d'Anjou, and sought her in marriage; but she was a Protestant and he a Catholic of Medicean blood. The difference of religion, insuperable of course in the eyes of the Queen Mother, seems to have been the sole cause that prevented their marriage. She was married, in July, 1572, to the Prince of Condé, one of the chief Protestant leaders; and, the next year, 1573, Henry left France to assume the throne of Poland, carrying with him, according to Chateaubriand, remorse for the massacres of St. Bartholomew, but—in still stronger measure-regret for his disappointment in love. "He wrote with his blood,” says that historian, "to Marie de Clèves, first wife of Henry, Prince of Condé." ↑ * RANKE: work cited, pp. 314, 394. "La difference de religion, suivant quelques mémoires, fut la seule cause qui l'empecha de l'épouser."-Biographie Générale, tome x. p. 854. The same assertion is made, in more positive terms, in the Biographie Universelle, vol. ix. p. 95. + Le Duc d'Anjou (depuis Henry III.) alla prendre la couronne de Pologne, et raconter, dans les forêts de la Lithuanie, à son medecin Miron, les meurtres dont la pensée l'empêchait de dormir: 'Je vous ai fait venir ici, pour vous faire part de mes inquietudes et agitations de cette nuict, qui ont troublé mon repos, en repensant a l'execution de la Saint-Barthelemy.' En quittant la France, le duc d'Anjou avait été moins poursuivi du souvenir de ses crimes que de celui de ses amours ; il écrivait avec son sang à Marie de Clèves, première femme de Henri, Prince de Condé.”—Analyse raisonnee de l'Histoire de France, par CHA |