ment of an immense work which he entitled _Les
Ogdoades_, it being divided into seven batches of eight books each. The
imitation of the classics is obvious, and the constant intrusion of
classical parallels rather tedious. The Memoirs of the Duke of Guise,
composed in great part of what we should call his secretary's
letter-book, are very voluminous, but not of much literary value.
Francois de Rabutin, author of _Commentaires des Guerres de la Gaule
Belgique_, has the fault, common to his time, of enormous sentences, but
is often lively and picturesque enough, as becomes a member of the
family of Madame de Sevigne and of Bussy-Rabutin. The famous Marshal de
Tavannes, on whom more than on any single man rests the blood of St.
Bartholomew's Day, found a biographer in his son Jean de Tavannes, whose
work, though somewhat too elaborate, is interesting. Another son,
Guillaume de Saulx-Tavannes, has written his own memoirs on a smaller
scale. The memoirs of Michel de Castelnau show more of the tradition of
Comines than most of their contemporaries, and are remarkably full of
political studies. Boyvin du Villars, of whom little is known, left
voluminous memoirs which have some literary merit. The last book of
memoirs of some size which needs to be mentioned, is that of Nicholas de
Neufville, Seigneur de Villeroy, a politician of eminence and a vigorous
writer. Some short pieces may be noticed, such as the Siege of Metz, by
Bertrand de Salignac, that of St. Quentin, by Coligny himself, the only
literary monument of the Admiral (an excellent specimen of the military
writing of the time), and a very curious history of Annonay in the
Vivarais by Achille Gamon, which gives perhaps the liveliest idea
obtainable of the sufferings of the French provincial towns during the
religious wars.

[Sidenote: General Historians.]

The general histories, which make up a second class of historical
writings, are, as a rule, of very much less value than these personal
memoirs. Not till the extreme end of the period did the historical
conception take a firm hold in De Thou, and the _Thuana_ was written in
Latin, which excludes it and its author from detailed notice here.
D'Aubigne's _Histoire Universelle_ of his own time has been mentioned
for convenience' sake already. Lancelot de la Popeliniere attempted in
the last quarter of the century a general history of France, and
incidentally of Europe during his own day. He is said to have spent all
his