Cinq Mars -- Volume 3

ng soul, let this city be besieged; I consent. Let Louis go; I will allow him to strike a few poor soldiers with the blows which he wishes, but dares not, to infli

mind. Thunder, bombs, and cannons; meditate upon your operations, skilful captains; hasten, young warriors. I shall silence your noise, I

h its ramparts of brick, its bastions, its citadel, and its spire, formed upon this plain an oval and sombre mass on its broad and verdant meadows; the vast mountains surrounded it, and the valley, like an enormous bow curved from north to south, while, stretching its white line in the east, the sea looked like its si

nt beneath his yoke a long time; and admiration of him shielded all his actions to which another would have been often subjected. At this moment, for instance, no one thought of smiling, or even of feeling surprised, that the cuirass should clothe the priest; and the severity of his character and aspect suppressed every thought of ironical comparisons or injurious conjectures. This day the Car

d and calculated the movements of that heart as those of a watch, and could have told with precision through what sensations it had passed. Louis XIII came and placed himself at his side; but he came as a pupil, forced to acknowledge that his master is in the right. His air was haughty and dissatisfied, his language brusque

ng up; "that is to say," he added, with a careless air, "when all your p

did your Majesty think proper to begin the attack in a quarter of

and give my orders myself; I wish to do everything myself. Schomberg, Schom

nd of the right wing, gave the

irected to attack two impregnable points; and because, with their experience, and above all with the common sense and quick perception of French soldiers, an

tly, "these batteries do not play

e as an equestrian statue, and they imitated his example. The answer must have been that the fault was not with the soldiers, but with him who had ordered this fals

gross military blunder by his question, blushed slightly, and, approaching the

is very tiresome, is it not

alois drew n

are not employing here the machin

dy, not a mine, not a petard beneath these walls; and the Marechal de la Meilleraie told me this morning that he had proposed to bring some with which to open the breach. It was neither the Casti

e a sign to Fabert, who left the group in attendance, and ranged hi

foucauld, drawing n

ok! here is a numerous sally, directing itself straight toward your Ma

rge and force those villains back again. Bring on the

low you are my men-at-arms and my light horse, whom I pray your Majesty to employ, for those of your Majest

im, huddled up in military attire, which he wore aw

ed the heavy cavalry, which drew up on the plain. The French army, in battle array at the foot of the hill where the King stood, behind fortifications of earth, be

ied Louis XIII; "or my

ng off with the rapidity of lightning, and to the cry of "Vive le Roi!" They fell upon the long column of the enemy's cavalry like two vultures upon a serpent; and, making a large and bl

ne in his own. He paused yet another instant in suspense, listening, intoxicated, to the roar of the cannon, inhaling the odor of the powder; he seemed to receive another

friends! here I

ws of dust from the ground, which trembled beneath them, they were in an instant mingled

the guns from their useless position! Fabert, give your orders; let them be all directe

heir orders; the aides-de- camp galloped off into the plain, where, leaping over the ditches, barriers, and palisa

sky in an infinite number of light and floating wreaths; the volleys of cannon, which had seemed like far and feeble echoes, changed into a formidable thunder whose roll was a

tures, Richelieu ceased not to multiply his orders, casting upon those who recei

three regiments of infantry instantly, Gassion, La Meilleraie, and Lesdiguieres! Take the enemy's columns in flank. Order the rest of

the carriage of a cannon. The page presented his shoulder as a desk; and the Cardinal hastily penned that order which contemporary manuscripts have transmitted to us, and which might well be imitated by the diplomatists of our day, who are, it

re not to understand that his Majesty forbids you to fight at all; but his intention is that you do not engage in a general battle unless it be wi

points a cannon, continued in silence to watch the battle, like an old wolf, which, sated with victims and torpid with age, contemplates in the plain the ravages of a lion among

plication of his soul on the events which he had to conduct that he triumphed over his physical pains, seeming, by forgetting, to have destroyed them. It was this power of attentio

as in the cabinet. Louis XIII claimed with eager hand the victory which his minister had procured

mainder had met the same fate, was already within the walls, and on the plain no living man was to

anish guns, which, whether from lack of skill, or by a secret agreement with the Prime Minister, or from very shame to kill a king of France, only sent

to his face, as if having the right to sit alone on a royal head; his look lost its fleeting fire, and at last, when he joined the Cardinal, a profound melancholy entirely possessed him. He found the minister as he had left him, on horseback; the latter, s

then traversed, by the side of the Prince, the right of the camp, which had not been under his view from the height where he had remained; and he saw with satisfaction that Schomberg, who knew him well, had acted precisely as his master had directed, bringing into action only a few of the light troops, and fighting just enough not to incur reproach for inaction, and not enough to obtain any distinct result. Th

ion," he added, "we name you a knight of our order, an

owed the Prince with his bent head, like a culprit, recalling, to console himself, all the brilliant actions of his career

steps, when the Due de Beaufort,

It appears to me that I see upon yonder bastion several cavaliers in red u

al knitted

men-at-arms and those cavaliers. It is for that reason I ventured just now to say to the King that

c de Beaufort; "but I do not deceive myself, and there a

aid the King; "if I find my old C

cross the marsh, and with infinite astonishment their riders saw

is; "I think that not

ep your word-you take

chelieu, with disdain; "it in no way advances the t

e intelligence of the Queen's death addressing the Cardinal withou

tack, Sire," said old Coislin; "and we have gained new

hey?" said

s the first who proposed the assault, and the first to venture his person in m

ptain, took off his hat and showed his pale face,

me of some one," said t

din

y cast a penetrating glanc

istaken, this

," said the vol

our Majesty, and who was to have been presented

is a suitable introduction, my boy, for one bearing your name. You will follow us to the camp, wh

to death, without judging, sundry Spaniard

ning; "it is not my business. Herein I have no merit;

ravery, and we shall not forget this. Card

it revealed itself in a cruel word that escaped him. The motive was a passage in the history of the President De Thou-the father of the young man

ing to Joseph's

he subsequently wrote it in blood. At this moment, to avoid answering the King, he feigned not to have heard h

ed to-morrow. I would know more of him, and raise him to a higher fortune, if he pleases me. Let us

aced himself on the King's right hand, and the whole court quitted the b

breach which they had effected with such prompt

went up to

ecompensed," said he; "not

here against my will-receive one. Such are courts, such is

ting death tomorrow, if necessary,