News out of France: Concerning great troubles likely to ensue, by occasion of the departure of the Queen Mother from Blois: And the causes thereof. Contained in the Letters of the said Queen Mother, unto her Son the French KING, and his Answer thereunto; manifesting the Motives of his taking up Arms, and against whom he intends to employ them. Dated the 17. of March, 1619. With four other Letters of the Queen Mother, to the Lord Chancellor, Keeper of the Seals; Precedent jannin, and Duke de Mayenne, and the Prince of Pyemont his Letter unto her, concerning these Affairs. Faithfully translated, according to the French Copy. LONDON: Printed by T.S. for Nathanael Newberry, and are to be sold at his shop under S. Peter's Church in Cornchill, and in Popes-head Alley at the sign of the Star. 1619. THE QUEEN Mothers first Letter, sent unto the King of France, her Son, from Loche, the 23. of February, 1619. Stile novo. MY Lord my Son. I have long suffered & endured my honour and liberty to be suppressed, and withal conceived many strong and strange apprehensions of the danger of my life, and that which most fencibly moved me thereunto, was the deprivation of your sight and presence. All which in some sort and manner being done under the authority of your name; with the like patience I would have expected & attended the future event thereof, without (for mine own part) once seeking to know whether your proceed and desires be well or badly led: but being (to my great grief) to preach and set forth your virtues, and commendable praises, in such a place wherein you shall think good, that I shall continue the rest of my days. Beseeching God (as continually I do, with the most passionate feeling of my heart) for the prosperity of you, and all your kingdom, being most truly, even in the uttermost degree of fidelity and affection, my good Lord and Son. Your most humble and most affectioned Mother and Subject MARIA. From Loche, the 23. of February, 1619. Stilo novo. THE LETTER Written by the Queen Mother, and sent from Angoulesme to the King of France: Bearing date the 10. of March 1619. Stilo novo. MY Lord, and dear Son, I am persuaded that no man will approve the counsel that hath been given unto you, to abstain ten days from returning an answer unto my Letters, and then to put me in a doubt how to understand your intentions, which to be borrowed from others, and none of yours, I do too much conceive and apprehend, by the great numbers of Commissions, which are sent forth under your Name to renforce and to levy new companies of foot, and troops of horse, by the Swissers, which are said to be sent for, by the Cannons which are reported to be already mounted and set forward out of your Arsenal, and by the munitions of war which are sent against me; I most humbly entreat you my Lord and dear Son, for a while to stay your proceed, and withal to consider, what you are by others moved to do. When I writ that I desired to be so much obliged unto you, as that I might let you understand and know such things specially as import the good and furtherance of your service and estate, and to belocue that the extremity of the grief which I conceive for the arms and forces which you are counseled to levy, at this present doth in a manner kill me. The stain which is given to your name in all ages of a prodigious violence, and the desolation of your people, which thereby will ensue, will do you more wrong, than death can procure unto me, in such manner, that prostrating myself at your feet; I beseech you, and earnestly entreat you, speedily to countermand all your aforesaid preparations of forces and armies now levied, which are bend only against me, what show soever is otherwise made & pretended, seeing they are presently levied upon my departure from Blois, and that it is evidently known, that at this present you have no other occasion of civil or foreign war to move you thereunto: And therefore once again I earnestly entreat you to give ear unto me; If my intent and determination had no other ground then only a desire to be freed of captivity, I think and certainly believe that no man could dislike it; there being no law in the world, (no not among the Barbarians) which prohibiteth Prisoners to seek for their liberty, and to secure their lives. But seeing that I never had, nor yet have, any intent or meaning but to let you know and be made acquainted with the evident danger of your affairs, as also of your good Subjects, easily to be perceived, by the withdrawing of your person and your counsel from the greatest and most noble personages of your realm; I am undoubtedly persuaded, that your bounty would gladly have conceived the passion of my zeal, and withal commended the fidelity and respect which I ought to have, and own unto you, if it were not violently diverted by those, who disdaining all the offers of amity and good will, which in consideration of you, I have made unto them, hazard the state, and trouble the peace and tranquillity thereof, being persuaded that they cannot build the miracle of their fortunes, but upon my ruin, whereunto I would gladly consent, if thereby I might further and procure the continuance of your greatness. I protest before God and his holy Angels, that for mine own part, I pretend nothing, neither have any other design then that which I ought to have, for the prosperity of your reign & kingdom: and for that I see & manifestly perceive your ears to be stopped against my faithful and just supplications, I must and shall be constrained, presently to make known in all places both of France and Europe, and hereafter unto yourself, the true proofs of my sincerity and innocency, assuring you, that as much as I can, I will seek means to impeach and hinder the force of arms, whereunto you are drawn, not only against the law of God, but also of the whole world, and Nature, causing the great personages of your Monarchy, offended and discontented, to break their bounds and to do as much against the obedience whereunto (as it is well known) I always counseled them: But for mine own part, I will in all places, use my liberty and my life to please and content you, but yet to oppose myself against the cruelty of those that govern, if for the space of this whole week I perceive and see the continuance of the unjust forces, which at this present are prepared, contrary to that which I hope to find in your good nature, and the equity of my cause, which I expect from God; I think I shall be forced by my just and general complaints, to publish and make known, that my deplorable misfortunes continually increase by unjust and superfluous excess of the ambitions and fears of those that sovereignly possess your person and Kingdom: and that as by your permission, (but yet with my most great displeasure and dislike) I ought to dispose my actions to the necessities of defence, always containing myself so religiously within the bounds thereof, that I may only draw you from an opinion of dislike, for giving me leave to suppress them, that so I may preserve my life, and the long days upon earth, which I assure myself you will and wish unto her, which is, and ever shall be, whatsoever happeneth, my Lord and dear Son, Your most humble and most affectioned Mother and Subject MARIA. From Angoulesme, the 10. of March, 1619. Stilo novo. A LETTER Written by the King of France, in Answer to a Letter sent by the Queen his Mother, bearing date the 17. of March 1619. Stilo novo. Faithfully translated, according to the French Copy. LONDON: Printed by T.S. for Nathanael Newberry, and are to be sold at his shop under S. Peter's Church in Cornhill, and in Popes-head Alley at the sign of the Star. 1619. A LETTER, Written by the KJNG of France, in answer to a Letter sent by the Queen his Mother, bearing date the 17. of March 1619. Stilo novo. MADAM. Your last Letters, as also the first that I received from you, are to me assurances, that it resteth not in your power to write and signify unto me the true feeling of your interior cogitations, touching your opinion concerning the government of mine estate. You know and may persuade yourself, that the same neither can, nor may, in any sort be blamed or disliked, but that the disgrace thereof must needs fall, and specially be laid upon myself: which moveth me to think, and verily persuades me, that you will not offer me that wrong, to bereave me of the glory of my reign, by attributing unto me the reputation not to do or effect any thing, but by the motions of others. I know there are some that not only seek the means to persuade you, yea, and to imprint in your mind an evil opinion of my affairs, but also enforce themselves to move you to apprehend, and sinisterly to conjecture of the preparations to War, which at this present I make, as if I had an intent or meaning to use them against you. But although my authority of a King, doth dispense with, and warrant me not to yield an account of mine actions unto any man, but only to God; Nevertheless, I would that all the world should know, that my resolution and intent is, to employ them, only for the maintenance of mine own authority, the peace and tranquillity of my Kingdom, and to hinder and impeach the means and motions, that in any wise may or might trouble the same, or procure the Ruin and desolation of my faithful Subjects, as also to oppose myself against the pernicious intents purposes and practices of those, who under your name and title, have levied and gathered divers companies of Soldiers, as well within, as without the Realm, which I should never have believed, if I had not seen and heard the Letters, which they have caused you to write, not only touching this subject, but also to give an evil impression, of the administration of my affairs unto divers Princes, Lords, and others, as well my Subjects as strangers, who would not believe it. The knowledge and feeling (which the perturbators of the common peace of this Realm have always had,) of the singular affection and honour which I bear unto you, makes them hope that my clemency will indifferently pardon and remit all the attempts which they enterprise and take on them to do in your name, against my regal authority. But I always knew, and know how to distinguish your interest from theirs, in me, having no other resolution, then only to love and honour you as my Mother, and to punish them as rebellious Subjects, and enemies to my estate. Nature so powerfully uniteth me to hearken unto all that which in any wise toucheth and concerneth your good or hurt, that I am bound to employ all the power and force that God hath given unto me, for your deliverance. Those that attend upon my person, have so many and so evident testimonies to persuade them of the respect which I always have had and borne unto you, that you may believe, and certainly persuade yourself, that they are as desirous of your contentment, as in reason they are affected, to further and advance those things that concern and appertain unto my service. The former testimony as also those which continually they show unto me thereof, are so evident, that they bind and oblige me to maintain and protect them, both by reason and justice. Assure yourself, MADAM, that there is no man so bold, that dare enterprise or take upon him to propound any proposition, which may in any wise sound against, or be contrary to the Honour and respect which is due unto you. If you persuade yourself, that there is any thing to be required and desired in a Kingdom, wherein justice and Peace hath equally flourished and been maintained, ever since I had the care and government thereof, you may when it pleaseth you, utter unto me that which you secretly conceive in your mind, without spreading, or causing Complaints publicly to be given forth: Which manner of proceeding, as it is wholly against my meaning and intent, so it gives cause sinisterly to judge of yours; for that the same hath never been nor is practised or used, but only by those that always have had a desire, rather to perturb and trouble the government, than to procure the reformation thereof. In my last Letters I wrote, and likewise by Mounsieur de Bethune, by word of mouth certified unto you, that if it please you, you may choose any of your own Houses, or of mine, therein to live at your pleasure and full and free liberty, without any impeachment; in such manner that it is long of yourself, if you live not happily and contentedly. Let me only entreat at your hands, to be aiding and assistant unto my good intentions, with a true correspondence of will & affection; and let me see and perceive some testimonies from you therein, as worthy of a good Mother, as those which you shall receive from me, are worthy of him, who MADAM, resteth your most humble and obedient Son LOVYS. From Paris, the 17. of March, 1619. Stilo novo. Letters written by the Queen Mother of France, to the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Keeper of the Seals, and the Lord Precedent I annin. The Queen's Letter to the Lord Chancellor. MY Lord, I have hitherto laboured and sought only to let the King my Son understand, the just causes and reasons of my escape from Blois, wholly grounded upon the passion, and bounden duty which I have and owe unto the good and furtherance of his service. But to the contrary, those that are and attend about his Person, think me so unworthy to know his intents, that they have made me defer the same, and induced him to rigorous and violent courses, such as the like were never heard of before; as those which I specially apprehend, which are to raise puissant forces against the person of her, that brought him into the World; and who breathes and apprehends no other thing, but only passion and obedience, to those things which may be good & profitable unto him, although the place and presence of evil counsellors, were contrary, and suspicious unto me. Villiers hath not forborn in heart, to acknowledge the tender affection of nature, in such manner, that I must of force with more hope, summon you before God, and your native Country; that according to the duty of your office, you should not fear to show unto him, the great importance and danger of that which he is moaned to do: without any respect at all of my dignity, or commiseration of my misery. And to the end that you may truly know and understand, what I have written unto him, I have delivered unto this bearer two Copies of the Letters which I sent him touching this matter, as knowing well, that they are often times kept from you, and all others the good and ancient counsellors and Servants to the King and the Crown. And herewith I beseech God, my Lord Chancellor, to protect and preserve you. From Angoulesme the 10. of March, 1619. Stilo novo. The Queen's Letter to the Lord Keeper of the Seals. MY Lord: It was never yet heard of, not known, that a Prince would at any time purposely defer and put off the hearing of the counsel or suit of a faithful Subject, and that a Son, in stead of satisfying the sincere affection of a good Mother, should be moved, or counseled, violently to take arms against her, therewith to oppress her. I know well that the wisdom wherewith you are so religiously in dowed, neither will nor can move you to give him any such counsel; and much less can I be persuaded, that the good nature of the King my son, can be induced or moved unto any such extraordinary motions, whereof if I were in doubt, the very grief I should thereby conceive would kill me. But seeing that God hath presently made me to perceive and know the violent natures, of those that always were my enemies, and seek to afflict me: I thought good to put you herewith in mind of the strict duty whereunto you are obliged; which is, freely to tell him your mind and opinion, in so important a cause. And reading the Copies of two Letters written by me unto him touching this matter, you may judge and easily perceive the equity and true intent of my deserving: which that you may the better consider of, I beseech God (my Lord) to have you in his keeping. From Angoulesme the 10. of March, 1619. Stilo novo. The Queen's Letter to the Lord Precedent jannin. MY Lord, my desire is, that you should tell the King my Son, that which in conscience you think convenient and fit for him to believe and to do, touching the supplication by me made unto him; to hearken unto the great passion which at this present I have for the presernation of his authority, and the good of his estate: for that your Office, and your counsels at this present are much more necessary and convenienter for him then ever they were, in regard that he is moved unto the most violent & unlawful war that ever was heard of. I writ unto him another Letter, whereof, as also of the first, this bearer shall give you a copy, to the end that being informed of the justice and clearness of my proceed, you may give him counsel as much as possibly you can, for the good and furtherance of his service, and the peace of his Kingdom, which I will seek to maintain as much as in melieth, even to the loss of my life; and so I beseech God my Lord to have you in his holy keeping. From Angoulesme the 10. of March, 1619. Stilo novo. The Queen's Letter to the Duke de Mayenne. MY good cozen, I was resolved for ever with patience to have furmounted my afflictions, as long as there had been no other question made but of my interest and pains, thereby not to minister any cause or shadow unto the King my Son, that I once so much as imagined or dreamt of a desire to separate myself from his intents, although it is to be thought, that therein he is badly counseled: but having for the space of a whole year been solicited by the general complaints and entreaties of divers persons, both within and without the Realm, to let the King my Son understand and know the eminent danger of his authority, and the tranquillity of his Realm; I made no difficulty to hazard my life by a most dangerous escape, that so I may safely show him the intent and true meaning of a good and faithful Mother; and hau● already written unto him, most humbly beseeching him to set me down such a form as it shall please him to appoint me to hold and observe in the uttering thereof. I thought good speedily to impart thus much unto you, not only because the account I make of you, together with all France, makes me desire to let you understand my determination: but also knowing the great estimation which the King my Son hath, and aught to have of your Counsel; I wish you would join your entreaties with mine, thereby to move him unto the remedies, which I assure myself you know better than others to be most necessary. Strictly entreating you above all things, as much as possibly I may, in the mean time carefully to put to your helping hand, that no stir be made; and that every man attend and expect from his good nature that which he is obliged to show unto his Subjects and estate. If I needed any witnesses to prove, that the opinions of the service of the King my Son have moved me to certain resolutions, which nothing concerned mine own particular, I would first set you down for one; and at this present I protest unto you, upon the confidence which I desire to have of your magnanimity, in a business of such importance; and in respect of the inclination, which you know well I always bare unto you, that in the most interior thoughts of my heart, I have no other intents nor resolutions, then only those, which the prosperity and power of the King my Son cause me to have. Let us therefore labour to that end, and for your part you shall find me (together with the account I make of your valour) to be always From Roche Rezay the 6. of March 1619. Your very good and affectionate cozen, MARIA. The Duke de Mayennes Answer to the Queen's Letter. MAdam: I cannot conceal from your Majesty, the extreme displeasure that I feel in myself, to see and behold the estate whereunto your departure from Blois may reduce and bring the affairs of this Realm: And should conceive much more, were it not for the assurance which it pleaseth you in honour to give me, of your true intents, for the good and contentment of the King. I beseech God with all my heart, (Madam) that he would be pleased to aid you with holy inspirations. For mine own part, having not the means to contribute any other thing thereunto, but that which belongeth to the duty of an honest man, a most faithful Servant to the King, and one that resolutely hath determined (all other considerations set apart) wholly and only to rely upon his will and pleasure: Do me that Honour in the mean time, good Madam, to believe that I am Your most humble and obedient servant, De. Mayenne. From Bordeaux the 12. of March, 1619. Stilo novo. A Letter written by the Prince of Piedmont to the Queen. MAdam: I have conceived an exceeding contentment, to accompany my most Sovereign Lord the King, in his pretended voyage to Blois, to visit your Majesty, in hope there to to have had the means to have done you some service; persuading myself, that the interview of your Majesties, re-establishing a perfect union between you, as we here saw, noted and perceived by all sorts of good dispositions, I should have had a better means, by my submission and obedience to testify and show forth, how much I esteem of the Honour to be allied unto the same. But how much the more I rejoiced in the expectation and attendance of that good hap, so much the more grief I received and conceived at the displeasure I took to see myself estranged and prolonged from it, by the sudden and unexpected departure of your Majesty from thence: And that which grieved me more, was, to see and perceive by your majesties Letters, that you have taken occasion to withdraw your person from Blois, supposing yourself therein not to be secure, and that you could not freely let the King know of the disorders which some men have made you believe to be crept into his estate. Which I esteem not to proceed from the pure will or conceit of your Majesty, whose judgement and nature is most excellent, but only from the craft and policy of those, who seeing and perceiving your Majesty to stand upon the point of strict uniting together, have given you those impressions, hoping to reap profit by your disunion, and the trouble which they peradventure suppose it will breed unto this state: for it is most certain, and I am able to justify it, as having known it well; that there was not any kind of liberty whatsoever, which your Majesty should not have had in Blois; and that there cannot be any more added to the tender motions, and true affection, which the King beareth unto you, if we mark and consider the conduction of his actions, both private and public, which all are answerable to the most great reputation which he hath gotten, and to the estimation in all places made of his virtue and generosity, whereof, besides the effects which all Christendom feeleth, I daily see and perceive divers manifest proofs, beholding him sitting in the middle of the ancient Officers and Counsellors of the late King his Father, with so a judgement, so exact justice, and so firm and courageous resolution, that there is no man but will judge (and shall find subject to admire him, and to believe) that God hath endued him with so many excellent parts, with an intent to bless his Reign, and to raise and elevate his glory, above that of his Ancestors. The profession that I have always made to love the truth, the duty which bindeth me to publish that which I know, and the extreme grief I conceive to behold the labyrinth, whereinto (those which in some manner disguise the same unto you) would cast you, shall dispense with me, if it please you Madam, for speaking so freely unto you. And further, if I beseech you, (as I do) with all humility, to banish out of your thoughts all whatsoever you may have imagined or conceived therein, to the prejudice of the sincerity of the King's intents, and of his Graces prudent and wise conduction. Assuring myself, that when it shall please your Majesty to look better into it, without suspicion, you shall therein find all sorts of satisfactions; seeing that like a good and a wise Mother you cannot have any greater desire than to behold the prosperity of the King your sons affairs, and to live in perfect love and amity with him. I know he is much moved against those, whom he conceiveth and esteemeth to have a pretence, under your name to move and procure an alteration; and I perceive that he maketh preparation powerfully to assail them. It consisteth in your wisdom Madam, to prevent the infinite mischiefs that thereby may arise, and not to endure nor see by your occasion, and under pretence to procure another order in the State, confusion; and those disorders therein to reign, which commonly follow and ensue civil wars, God, nature, your own good, and all sorts of considerations bind you thereunto; I assure and persuade myself that the bounty, and good nature of your Majesty will wholly move you to the contrary. The House of Sa●oy, and myself specially, are so much beholding unto the King, that in case to preserve his authority, to bring and compel the enemies of the quiet estate of France, and the greatness of his Crown, to reason and obedience, and to restore your Majesty to the liberty which you are bereaved of, by your retract from Blois, he shall be constrained to make war, we will therein freely venture our lives & goods, and all our forces to testify to the World that we are not unthankful for the unspeakable favours which it hath pleased him to impart unto us; herewith beseeching God long to preserve your Majesty in health, and to give me Madam by my good endeavours and services, the quality▪ From Paris the 12. of March, 1619. To be your most humble and most obedient servant, V Amedee. FINIS.