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Article ANECDOTES OF HENRI DUC DE MONTMORENCI. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Anecdotes Of Henri Duc De Montmorenci.
their frugal meal under a tree , " these men shall settle the point for us . " He comes up to them , and accosting them in his usual gracious * manner , says , " My friends , are you happy ? pray tell me . " Threeof them told him , " that confining their happiness to a few acres which they had received from their ancestors , they desired nothing farther . " The fourth said , " that all that he wished was to be able to regain the possession of a part of his patrimonywhich had passed into other
, hands by the misfortunes of some of his family . " "Well , then , my friend , if you had it again , you think that you should be happy ?" " As happy , my lord duke , 1 think , as a man can possibly be in ' this % vorid . " "What would it cost you to recover it ? " " Two thousand livres , Sir . " " Well , then , " said the duke , turning to one of his attendants , " present him with the money , that I may say I have
had the satisfaction to-day of making one person happy . " St . Preuil , who headed the troop which took the duke prisoner after the battle of Castelnadauri , fell at the feet of his sovereign , to request the life of his illustrious captive , Richelieu , who was present whilst he was thus forcibly imploring the clemency of-Louis , cried out , " St . Preuilif his majesty were to treat as deservehe would
, you you , lay your head at your heels * . " Montmorenci , when brought to his trial at Thoulouse , was , contrary to the custom observed with state-prisoners in France , placed upon a stool on a level with the court . When the judges delivered their opinions respecting the sentence that was to take place upon this distinguished culpritthe first to whom the president applied
, , gave his opinion for death , the dreadful but the well-deserved punishment ¦ cf him who appears in arms against his sovereign . The rest , one by one , rose from their seats , uncovered their heads , but said nothing ; too plainly shewing , by their mournful silence , the cruel necessity they were under to dispense the rigid sentence of the law , however at variance with their wishes and their affections .
The Chancellor Seguier , Richelieu ' s meanest minion , and who had been brought up by the father of the duke , presided at this tribunal ( as it is said ) at his own particular desire . Oh his asking the ¦ duke in the usual forms of French criminal procedure , " What was his name ? " the duke replied , " I am sure , Sir , you ought to know it , who have so long eaten the bread of our house . " The duke appeared much affected when he was asked whether he
¦ had any children ; with respect to every thing else , he made his answers as short as possible . He not only admitted the facts of which he was accused , but confessed several charges that were not brought against him , in hopes to save the lives of those who had followed him in his fatal expedition . When he was asked , whether the Duke of Orleans , his sovereign ' s brother , had not prevailed upon him to take up arms against their mutual soverei gn , he replied , " that he did not pretend to lay any blame upon him , but that it was his acr
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anecdotes Of Henri Duc De Montmorenci.
their frugal meal under a tree , " these men shall settle the point for us . " He comes up to them , and accosting them in his usual gracious * manner , says , " My friends , are you happy ? pray tell me . " Threeof them told him , " that confining their happiness to a few acres which they had received from their ancestors , they desired nothing farther . " The fourth said , " that all that he wished was to be able to regain the possession of a part of his patrimonywhich had passed into other
, hands by the misfortunes of some of his family . " "Well , then , my friend , if you had it again , you think that you should be happy ?" " As happy , my lord duke , 1 think , as a man can possibly be in ' this % vorid . " "What would it cost you to recover it ? " " Two thousand livres , Sir . " " Well , then , " said the duke , turning to one of his attendants , " present him with the money , that I may say I have
had the satisfaction to-day of making one person happy . " St . Preuil , who headed the troop which took the duke prisoner after the battle of Castelnadauri , fell at the feet of his sovereign , to request the life of his illustrious captive , Richelieu , who was present whilst he was thus forcibly imploring the clemency of-Louis , cried out , " St . Preuilif his majesty were to treat as deservehe would
, you you , lay your head at your heels * . " Montmorenci , when brought to his trial at Thoulouse , was , contrary to the custom observed with state-prisoners in France , placed upon a stool on a level with the court . When the judges delivered their opinions respecting the sentence that was to take place upon this distinguished culpritthe first to whom the president applied
, , gave his opinion for death , the dreadful but the well-deserved punishment ¦ cf him who appears in arms against his sovereign . The rest , one by one , rose from their seats , uncovered their heads , but said nothing ; too plainly shewing , by their mournful silence , the cruel necessity they were under to dispense the rigid sentence of the law , however at variance with their wishes and their affections .
The Chancellor Seguier , Richelieu ' s meanest minion , and who had been brought up by the father of the duke , presided at this tribunal ( as it is said ) at his own particular desire . Oh his asking the ¦ duke in the usual forms of French criminal procedure , " What was his name ? " the duke replied , " I am sure , Sir , you ought to know it , who have so long eaten the bread of our house . " The duke appeared much affected when he was asked whether he
¦ had any children ; with respect to every thing else , he made his answers as short as possible . He not only admitted the facts of which he was accused , but confessed several charges that were not brought against him , in hopes to save the lives of those who had followed him in his fatal expedition . When he was asked , whether the Duke of Orleans , his sovereign ' s brother , had not prevailed upon him to take up arms against their mutual soverei gn , he replied , " that he did not pretend to lay any blame upon him , but that it was his acr