172 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS of Valois, sister of Charles IX. This match brought Conde, Coligni, and all the leaders of their party, to Paris. The ceremony took place August 17, 1572, and a week later came the massacre of St. Bartholomew. For three years afterward Henry, who to save his life had conformed to the established religion, was kept as a kind of state-prisoner. He escaped in 1576, and put himself at the head of the Huguenot party. In the war which ensued, with the sagacity and fi en- courage of the high-born general, he showed the indifference to hardships of the meanest soldier. Content with the worst fare and meanest lodging, in future times the magnificent monarch of France could recollect when his wardrobe could not furnish him with a change of linen. He shared all fortunes with his followers, and was rewarded by their unbounded devotion. Upon the extinction of the house of Valois, by the assassination of Henrv III. in 1589, Henry of Navarre became the rightful owner of the French throne. But his religion interfered with his claims. The League was strong in force against him : he had few friends, few fortresses, no money, and a small army. But his courage and activity made up for the scantiness of his resources. With five thousand men he withstood the Due de Mayenne, who was pursuing him with twenty-five thousand, and gained the battle of Arques, in spite of the dis- parity. This extraordinary result may probably be ascribed in great measure to the contrast of personal character in the two generals. Mayenne was slow and indolent. Of Henry it was said, that he lost less time in bed than Mayenne lost at table ; and that he wore out very little broad-cloth, but a great deal of boot- leather. A person was once extolling the skill and courage of Mayenne in Henry's presence. " You are right," said Henry, " he is a great captain, but I have always five hours' start of him." Henry got up at four in the morning, and Mayenne about ten. The battle of Arques was fought in the year of his accession. In the follow- ing year, 1590, he gained a splendid victory at Ivri, over the Leaguers com- manded by Mayenne, and a Spanish army superior in numbers. On this oc- casion he made that celebrated speech to his soldiers before the battle : " If you lose sight of your standards, rally round my white plume ; you will always find it in the path of honor and glory." Nor is his exclamation to his victorious troops less worthy of record : " Spare the French ! " Paris was soon blockaded, but the Parliament swore on the Gospels, in the presence of the Legate and the Spanish Ambassador, to refuse all proposals of accommodation. The siege was pushed to such extremities, and the famine be- came so cruel, that bread was made of human bones ground to powder. That Henry did not then master the capital, where two hundred thousand men were maddened with want, was owing to his own lenity. He declared that he had rather lose Paris, than gain possession of it by the death of so many persons. He gave a free passage through his lines to all who were not soldiers, and allowed his own troops to send in refreshments to their friends. By this paternal kind- ness he lost the fruit of his labors to himself ; but he also prolonged the civil war, and the calamities of the kingdom at large.
