omments upon the insolence of the
Italian adventurer; and so unmeasured were his expressions that his ruin
must have been ensured from that moment, had not a circumstance shortly
afterwards occurred which rendered his services necessary to the Regent.

Before the end of April the Duc de Bouillon returned from Sedan, and
manifested an earnest inclination to devote himself, in so far as his
honour and religious principles would permit him to do so, to the
interests of the Regent during the approaching assembly at Saumur;
adding, moreover, that should the Queen deem his absence from the
meeting desirable, he would remain at Court until it had terminated. So
unexpected a concession highly gratified Marie, who, with many
acknowledgments for his devotion to her cause, referred him to M. de
Villeroy, by whom, his proposal having been demurely considered, it was
declined; the minister being aware that the influence of M. de Bouillon
would be alone able to counteract that of Sully, who, having left the
Court disappointed and dissatisfied, would not fail to profit by so
favourable an opportunity of asserting his power over his
co-religionists. He, moreover, while thanking the Prince for a proof of
loyalty so welcome to the Government, and so important to the sovereign,
hinted that should he succeed in weakening the power of Sully, and in
inducing the Assembly to consent to such terms as could prudently be
conceded, he would confer upon him the government of Poitou, of which it
had been decided to deprive the ex-finance-minister.[115]

This new impulse added fresh energy to the sudden loyalty of M. de
Bouillon, who at once proceeded to Saumur in order to secure his
election as President of the Assembly, a distinction which he declared
to be due to his long services. The Protestant deputies were, however,
by no means inclined to admit his claim, and more than suspicious of his
intentions; and they consequently, despite his undisguised annoyance,
selected for that dignity M. du Plessis-Mornay, the governor of the
city; a circumstance which did not fail to increase the hatred felt by
the Marechal towards Sully, to whom he immediately attributed the
mortification. Soon made conscious, by the coldness with which his
invectives and threats were received by the principal Huguenot nobles,
that he was only injuring by his unseemly violence the cause he sought
to serve, M. de Bouillon nevertheless resolved to restrain himself, and
to endea