uenots, had a strong leaning towards the Protestant Hollanders, and
both were ready to furnish asylums to French nobles who had incurred the
wrath of their kings or ministers.

The Duc de Bouillon, father of Turenne, had fought bravely on the side
of Henry of Navarre through the wars of the League. He died when the
viscount was but ten years of age, and, his elder brother being but six
years older, his mother became regent of the little state. After having
greatly weakened the strength of the Huguenot nobles by the siege and
capture of La Rochelle, which had long been the stronghold and bulwark
of that religion, Richelieu obtained from the duchess a treaty by which
she engaged to remain always attached to the interests of France, while
the king undertook to protect the house of Bouillon. The Duke of Savoy
was next compelled to hand over to France the town and province of
Pignerol, and Richelieu then turned his attention to Lorraine. The
reigning duke had entered into an alliance with Austria, and the
invasion of his territory was therefore the first step by which France
entered into the terrible struggle known as the Thirty Years' War.

The duke had given Richelieu an excuse for hostilities. He had married
his cousin, the nearest heir to the dukedom, but he treated her so badly
that she fled to France and begged the protection of Louis XIII. This he
gave her, a French army was at once set in motion against Lorraine, and
it was in this struggle that Turenne had first fought under the French
flag. He had always evinced the strongest predilection for the life of a
soldier, and when he reached the age of fourteen, Richelieu being at the
time engaged in breaking the power of the Huguenots and in the siege of
La Rochelle, the boy's mother sent him to his uncle Maurice of Nassau,
who at the death of his father had become the leader of the Dutch
people. He was treated by his uncle in exactly the same way as other
gentlemen volunteers, carried a musket, and performed all the duties of
a private soldier.

Six months later Prince Maurice died, and his brother, Henry Frederick,
succeeded him in the government of the United Provinces. He at once
promoted his nephew, and the latter speedily rose to the rank of captain
of infantry. Here he was indefatigable in his duties, and unlike most
young men of good family, who left the internal economy and discipline
of their companies to subordinate officers, Turenne saw to everything
himsel