The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-06-21 00:00:00

IrENRY THE FOrRTII OF FRANCE.

A modern hi:torian accuse; the Duke of Lerma of the
murder of Henry IV. " This," says he, "is the best
established opinion." This opinion is evidently the worst
established. It has never been heard of iu Spain ; and in
France, the continuator of De Thou is the only one who
has given any credit to these vague and ridiculous suspi-
cions. If the Duke of Lerma, Prime Minister, employed
Ravaillac, lie paid him very ill, for when the unfortunate
,an was seised, he vas almost without money. If the
Puke of Lerma either prompted him or caused him to be
prompted to the commission of the act, by the promise of a
reward proportioned to the attempt, Ravaillac would as-
suredly have named both him and his emissaries, if only
to revenge himself. :lc named the Jesuit D'Aubigny, to
whom he had only shown a knife—why then should he
spare the Duke of Lerma ? It is very strange obstinacy
not to believe what Itavaillac himself declared when put to
the torture. is a great Spanish family to be insulted with-
out the least shadow of proof ?
Et roil: josternect comme on ierit l'histaire.
(Yet thus is hi3tory written.) The Spanish nation is not
accustomed to resort shameful crimes; and die Spanish
grandees have always possessed a generous pride, which
has prevented them from acting so basely. If Philip 11.
s,:t a price on the head of the Prince of ()range, ate bad,
at least, the pretext of punishing a rebellious subject, as
the Parliament of Paris had when /he set fifty thousand
crowns on the head of Admiral Coligtii, and afterwards on
that of Cardinal Mazarin. These political prostriptibns
partook of the horror of the civil wars, but how can it be
supproed that the Duke of Lerma had secret communtei-
tions with a poor wretch like Ravaillac?
The same author says, that Marshal D'Ancre anil-hh
wife were struck, as it were, by a thunderbolt. The teak I
is, that the one was struck by pistol-balls, and the other
burned as a witch. Ali assassination and a sentence of I
death passed on the wife of a Marshal of France, an atten-
dant on the Queen, as a reputed sorceress, do very little
honour either to the chivalry or to the jurisprudence of that
day. But we know not why the historian makes use of
these words:—"lf these two wretches were not accomplices
in the King's (Lath, they at least deserved the most rigor-
ous chastisement: it is certain that even during the King's
life, Concha and his wife had connections with Spain in
opposition to the King's designs."
This is not at all certain, nor is it even likely. They
were Florentines ; the Grand Duke of Florence was the
first to acknowledge henry IV., and feared nothing so
much as the power of Spain in Italy. Concini and his wife
had no influence in the time of henry IV.; if they in-
trigued with the Court of Madrid, it could only be through
the Queen, who must, therefore, have betrayed her hus-
band. Besides, let it once more be observed, that we art
not at liberty to bring forward such accusations without
proofs. What ! shall a writer pronounce a defamation from
his garret, which the most enlightened jeidges of the king-
dom would tremble to hear in a Court of Justice ? Why
are a Marshal of France and his wife, one of the Qrteen's
attendants, to be called two wretches? Does Marshal'
D'Ancre, who raised an army against the rebels at his own
expense, merit an epithet suitable only to Ravaillac or Car-
touche—to public robbers or public calumniators?
It is but too true, that one fanatic is sufficient for the
commission of a parricide, without any accomplice. De-
meins had none ; he repealed four times in the course of
his interrogatory, that he tommitted his efirnesolely through
a principle of religion.