ed to consent that, if he were enabled to persuade the Swiss
themselves to solicit his appointment, the difficulty should be
overcome. Fortunately for the aspirant the officer to whom the levies
were entrusted was his personal friend, and so zealously did he advocate
his cause that the Thirteen Cantons united in consenting to receive him
as their leader; and Bassompierre, although only a petty noble of
Lorraine, found himself invested with a command which was coveted by all
the proudest subjects of France.

Two days subsequently the Court were informed that the Prince de Conde
and the Duc de Nevers had taken Mezieres and Sainte-Menehould, upon
which the newly-raised troops received orders to join M. de Praslin,
who, with the remainder of the army, was concentrating his forces at
Vitry. Their arrival so alarmed the insurgent party that they resolved
to evacuate the latter city, and demanded that even should the troops
remain in their vicinity, Bassompierre himself, who, from the share that
he had taken in the affair throughout, was peculiarly obnoxious to them,
should be recalled. The Duc de Ventadour and the President Jeannin,
through whom M. de Conde and his party carried on their negotiation with
the King, accordingly wrote to the young commander to apprise him that
the Regent required his services in the capital, for reasons which she
would explain on his arrival; and, greatly to his mortification,
Bassompierre found himself compelled to retrace his steps.[172]

Once more Marie de Medicis resolved to afford to the adverse faction the
opportunity of terminating their ill-advised struggle without bloodshed;
and she accordingly despatched a trustworthy messenger to M. de Conde,
volunteering to send deputies who should be authorized to effect a
reconciliation. The offer was accepted, the malcontents having become
paralyzed by the unexpected energy of their opponents; and after sundry
meetings between the agents of the Government and the chiefs of the
cabal, in which each made particular conditions for himself which were
veiled by three demands of a more public nature, a treaty of peace was
drawn up and signed by both parties, and amity was once more restored.
Situated as they were, the Princes had been careful not to insist on
more than they were aware would be readily conceded; and thus they asked
only that the States-General should be convoked with as little delay as
possible, that the double alliance with Spain should