Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1935-06-29

Cetv1nR nothing o. his ambitious &C.
signs for his house, believed him con-
cerned only for the greater honor and
glory Of God.
Catherine. taken aback by the exc
tent to which she found that they were
so quickly established, Was yet de-
ceived BY the protestations Of duty with
which they received her: and at first,
IN her loneliness and lack Of q party
Of her own, she was glad enough 70
! lean upon their strength.
They won her confidence by sup
porting her demands for the compar-
alive Punishment Of Diane de Poikiers
and the restitution by the late King 3
mistress OF the crown jewels and the
rest Of the plumber in her hands In
return Catherine had approved whilst
she might yet have opposed it, the
Dukes assumption Of the great office
Of Grand Master Of the Kings House
hold.
Disillasion followed quickly. Her
authority with her degenerate. sickly
son, was Slapped by the Guises through
their plant and dutiful niece. The Of
flee Of Grand Master was used by the
Duke merely as stepping stone to the
greater office Of Lieutenant General Of
the Kingdom, IN which the King sur
rendered to him the sovereign power.
From that moment Catherine became
again, as In the late Kings lifetime
merely the woman who had borne the
royal children In such contempt did
she find herself held that the 16-year-
old Mary Stuart. Queen Of France and
Scotland, and accounting herself also
Queen Of England, dared with impunity
to allude to her mother-in-law as the
Florentine merchants daughter whose
marriage into the royal house Of France /
had constituted a UnpQa11fnnra
A lesser woman, yielding TO her anger, /
might have ruined herself by revolt /
against these indignities. But Gather
inc waited, sluggish and phlegmatic OF 4
aspect as If resigned to her negligible i
role Of Queen Mother.
In her secret eagerness to procure /
a weapon against those by whom she
was opposed, she succumbed to the
temptation Of employing the powerful
Protestant party.
This was after the wholesale execu-
ton Of Huguenots following upon the
march on Amboise by La Renaudie and
his armed reformers. The Duke Of
Guise, in his ferocious anxiety to strike
terror into all opponents, had so abused
his powers as Lieutenant General that
he had not only hardened HuguenOt
hostility but had also lost the adherence
Of those Catholics who were clear
sighted enough to perceive that he en-
ployed religion as an instrument for his
own worldly advancement.
This was GATHERINGS opportunity.
Selling it, she had gone stealthily to
work through some few who were will
ing enough to act as her agents.
A rlImOr was already abroad to the
effect that the young King, who actual
y was suffering from eczema, had been
attacked by leprosy. Logically out Of
his, as it seemed, came q sudden
:lamor for q convocatiCn of the States
Seneral, to the end that owing to the
II health and "Reminiscences Of
he King regency should be appoint
ID.
'esenting as It did an attack upon
Tank on which they were vulnerable.
BY the law Of France regency was per-
niSsible to none but Princes Of the
Blood, which, for all their boosted
eScent from Charlemagne, the GuiSeS Il
we're not. Indeed, they were scarcely (
OOked upon as French, Lorraine being 4
fief Of the German empire. II the q
states supported the demand, the :
hoice Of a regent must fall upon An
pine de Bourbon, the elder Of the :
bourbon princes and King OF Navarro, Z
no, being Of the reformed religion, =
Fas the natural head Of the Huguenot =
arty and therefore the natural OPP
onent OF the Guisards. q
None suspected that the clarnor had y
cen inspired by the Queen Mother, a
ut the Cardinal discovered through his y
etwork OF monkish spies that amongst 9
nose who had first voiced 1t were one Z
+ two whose relations with the Queen 2
Iother made her connivance a posi- Z
lily, however remote. e'
Now the GuiGes well knew that how u
yer negligible Catherine might be at Ell
1urt, as the mother Of the King, she "
as by no means negligible In the eyes a
the country. Consequently If she b
ere openly to declare herself on the
de of their opponents, the difficulties II
.eated for them by the present situa- OF
on would be materially increased. to
Hence that interview IN which they 10
nd sought to probe her feelings and til
tentions. with the covert threat Of ia
anishment should they discover in her vi
le rashness TO conspire against them. to
In the days that followed, there at w
mboise, she was made to feel at once eli
Ieir mistrust and their power. They
d not trouble to diSSemble vigilance Pl
hich suffered none to approach her Ne
We those whom they approved. hs
1t was only from Fontainebleau In in
e following Spring that, at last, she n,
ntrtved to elude their spies. Whilst 70
ntoine de Bourbon, King Of Navarro, vi
IS the nominal head OF the Hugenot -
Irty his pusiIlanim0us nature was
intent to leave the actual leadership
his bold soldierly brother, the Prince
Condo, and it was to Condo Cath
Inc contrived to send a message. 1t
IS couched in very guarded terms, ex-
essing on the surface no more than a
sire to learn the true facts Of the af-
II that had been described as the
lmult of AlnboiSe. But between the
les Of it an invitation was plainly
be read.
The Huguenots responded promptly.
! Innocent scanning messenger. the