with great pomp, in the city of Chartres, on
the 27th of February, 1594. The Leaguers were now quite disheartened.
Every day their ranks were diminishing. The Duke of Mayenne,
apprehensive that his own partisans might surrender Paris to the king,
and that thus he might be taken prisoner, on the 6th of March, with
his wife and children, left the city, under the pretense of being
called away by important business.

Three hours after midnight of the 21st of the month the gates were
secretly thrown open, and a body of the king's troops entered the
metropolis. They marched rapidly along the silent streets, hardly
encountering the slightest opposition. Before the morning dawned they
had taken possession of the bridges, the squares, and the ramparts,
and their cannon were planted so as to sweep all the important streets
and avenues.

The citizens, aroused by the tramp of infantry and of cavalry, and by
the rumbling of the heavy artillery over the pavements, rose from
their beds, and crowded the windows, and thronged the streets. In the
early dawn, the king, accompanied by the officers of his staff,
entered the capital. He was dressed in the garb of a civilian, and was
entirely unarmed. All were ready to receive him. Shouts of "Peace!
peace! Long live the king!" reverberated in tones of almost delirious
joy through the thoroughfares of the metropolis. Henry thus advanced
through the ranks of the rejoicing people to the great cathedral of
Notre Dame, where mass was performed. He then proceeded to the royal
palace of the Louvre, which his officers had already prepared for his
reception. All the bells of the city rung their merriest chimes, bands
of music pealed forth their most exultant strains, and the air was
rent with acclamations as the king, after all these long and bloody
wars, thus peacefully took possession of the capital of his kingdom.

In this hour of triumph Henry manifested the most noble clemency. He
issued a decree declaring that no citizen who had been in rebellion
against him should be molested. Even the Spanish troops who were in
the city to fight against him were permitted to depart with their arms
in their hands. As they defiled through the gate of St. Denis, the
king stood by a window, and, lifting his hat, respectfully saluted
the officers. They immediately approached the magnanimous monarch,
and, bending the knee, thanked him feelingly for his great clemency.
The king courteously replied,

"Adieu, gent