New-York tribune., 1886-11-14
WORK DAILY TRIBUNE SUNDAY NOVEMBER a. 1886 xTEEN PAGES

| 10 what he cynically called INSTRUCTION waS u"s
n notorious element OF the political sltuatioh'
| ater ne assured delegation from tine Cathoh,S
| that he had contemplated going over 10 oi'e o,'
faith from the very moment OF his accessioh i
nostponed the affair Of his soul until he could
make sure of the greater affair OF his throne bu'
to instruct King was quite different matter
from teaching q private person. The difficulty
Of convincing Henry was in exact proportion 10
his indifference 80 that the less he cared ABOUT
his religion the costly the apparatus whlch
he required TO change it. Nothing short OF
grand ecclesiastical council could fix that merculai
| mind or touch that tough conscience. supposinS
that such an organ as conscience had any part in
the performance. II is remarkable that so able
| a man Us the soldier statesman. and theoloslah
Duplessis Mornay, the boldest OF the Kings Hugue-
not advisers, completely deceived as TO the
| true state of the case that he warmly supported
the project OF council, in which the most learned
men of each side should debate the claims Of the
two religions in the presence Of the august in
duircr He made no doubt that the Papists would
be confounded, the King saved, and the Re
formed faith vindicatcd in the eyes OF all the
world But when the overingenuOus counsellor
discovered what was the forcgone conclusion, he
fastened to beg the King that at least the dls
putation might be omitted. Henry had tender
ness enough for his old associates to grant this re-
ouest He summoned an archbishop and four
nishors to wait upon him at Saint Denis and in
the course of five hours coloquy this distin
guished body Of ecclesiastics succeeded in once
more turning the nimble intellect How
deeply Henry must have been impressed by the
moral aspect of the transaction we may judge
from the fact of his writing the same evening to
his mistress, Gabrielle d. Estrees, to tell how he
came on with his conversion. con Sunday"
said he. 81 shall take the perilous leap; and on
Sunday accordingly the formal abiuration was
pronounced. 1t ought to be mentioned as sign
of the times, that several Of the Kings lluguenot
advisers, including certain Reformed preachers.
assured him that he might rightly take this step
i.ut il anybody deceived TO his sincerity,
n was not the Pope. {" Do not tell me that your
king is q Catholic" cried Clement VIII to the
Duke of Ncvers 81 shall never believe that he
is really converted unless angel come from
heaven TO assure me that he is"
Our author remarks that this great act Of false
hood bore its natural consequence in the steady
degcneracy OF the King. But one IS at loss to
know where the signs Of degeneracy arc found.
The royal morals remained about what they had
heen from the first for whatever Henry ~. may
have thought OF religion he never made it rule
of conduct. The abIuration did not extinguish
nis sensual appeitcs but it made them no stronger
L was after this event However. that he became
a great King. lIllnerlO he nau Decn picturesque
rather than commanding character q brilliant
so11ier but an Indifferent general Now he fls'
appears as a statesman and patriotic ruler am
his ambition no lon-er centred on self finds nobeI
] objects in the restoration Of the grandeur oil
France AMI the establishment OF French pre-
pondcrance in the affairs of Europe. 1t was after
he had stopped the terrible of religion thai
he was enabled to reunite the broken ties OF
society, to consolidate an orderly administration
70 rcpair the shattered finances, to abolish mul
D tude Of unjust privileges and exemptions anf
to bring together his distracted subjects as one
people, no longer torn by the spirit OF faction
I hut animated with the sentiment of nationality
This is the glorious epoch of Ilenry's life. Bu
the times OF material prosperity are often not thos
OF religious vgor and when we look at the re
gious side Of the subject it is impossible to deny
= that the influence OF Henry Of Navarro was In
. furious TO both the parties which he successiyel'
n embraced The supreme indifference to religious
principle which the Protector of the Protestan
= Churches manifested throughout his career an
n tne ease which he forsooS their cause q
con as his political interests becloned MN to I'M
, other side could not but have deplorable effec
Z in peisuadng people that the wars were more 70
G rarty advantage than for truth and liberty Will
/ the obvious nsincerity OF the royal convert dis
II credited rather than exalted the Catholic cause
5 which he sold himself No series OF events Il
II three hundred years has outraged and dehled th
> Christian faith more foully than the wars OF re
ligion and the League in France and the trans
C action which closed them put appropriat
S crown to the evil by striking blow at the na
II onal conscience from which it has not ye
n recovered. In reading the history of this msei
e able era one ceases to wonder that religion is S
10 weak in France, and feels it to be miracle tina
Is France has any religion at all.
| baV iipd To sketch Henry
10 ne appears in the course of Professor Bairds an
e mated pages All that is set down to his discredi
&c is fully exposed in the plainspoken narrative Bu
a in summing up the thrilling story, our autho
d presents q moro complete and upon the Who'll
le more favorable estimate OF his principal personas
n an the reader might perhaps form for himself
n- and we copy the passage both as a mature Jude
10 ment of character ana specimen OF an aITactlN
= style:
- of France-IIenry the Great as his admiring sub
" iects not Improperly surnamed mm-so grand
:, man. in some respects, that we wonder that nj
d character should have been marred by such ben
x shcs-so faulty man, from other points or view
8 tnat we marN el that he could ever have Dee
esteemed magnanimous; an enigma TO his col
o. temporaries, scarcely less an enigma to succeed
u Ing generations man OF singular strength and 0
If singular weakness compound OF rare virtue
u and extraordinary vices keen Of perception acute
> uerseyering patient Of fatigue, buoyant, courage
~ Gus, afable, witty, CHEEKY companion, IN
< petuous forgetful Of danger, leader IN perllou
n enterprises, with jest for every emergency VIII
- an encouraging word or look for each OF his 10
, lowers-a general, in short, for whom not one G
10 $ Huguenot soldiers but would have deemed
is n privilege to lay down life; ; man. on the othe
20 hand of excessive fondness for pleasure, yer
- SAMSON who than once allowed his lock
III 10 be shorn, who more than once suffered hlInse
- TO be robbed OF his strength to gIauiy DeDlah
Y selfish even where he most liberal; Gale!
= lating, where he appeared most dslnterested
IL ac,,le in his love, whether to man or to woman
n not incapable Of suffering discarded mistres
w and the mother OF his child, to die OF want an
ID NEGLECT within stones throw OF his castle, or
~ Arranging beforehand for the unmerited dlscon
ri future in unequal controversy Of brave and loyl
&C Dnplessis Mornay, when the discontinue woul
.d | inure to some fancied advantage OF the King.
- Yet neither the patriot the lover OF religion
" freedom can be oblivious Of the claims OF the fir
TO bourbon King Of France to the gratitude or 20