d disquieted, walked in an agitated
manner into the gardens of the Tuileries, talked more than once of
death: and when Bassompierre represented to him the immense
prosperity to which he had attained, and asked him what he could
desire more, he replied, with a deep sigh, 'My friend, all this must
be quitted.'

"He twice cast himself upon his bed to seek sleep, but in vain; and
about four o'clock demanded his coach, to proceed to the arsenal, in
order to confer with Sully, who was unwell. As soon as the carriage
was ready, he descended to the court and entered the vehicle,
accompanied by the Dukes of Epernon and Montbazon, with Roquelaure,
Lavardin, and La Force, giving some orders to Vitry, captain of the
guard, before he set out. He was followed by a small troop of
gentlemen on horseback, and the carriage was surrounded by a number
of running footmen.

"The large coaches of that day could be entirely closed by a sort of
door, or blind, which let down from the top: but the day being hot,
and Henry wishing to see the preparations which were going on for the
Queen's public entry, the carriage was left open on both sides, and
he himself remained exposed to the gaze of the people. Passing down
the Rue St Honore, the royal party turned into the Rue de la
Feronnerie, in itself narrow, and still farther straitened by a
number of small shops, built against the wall of the cemetery of the
Innocents, which Henry, some time before, had ordered to be pulled
down. At the moment the carriage entered the street, a cart, loaded
with barrels of wine, was on the right side, and another, filled with
hay, upon the left, so that the coachman was obliged to stop, while
the footmen ran round by the cemetery to remove the obstruction.

"At that moment a man, who had followed the carriage from the Louvre,
put one foot upon the front wheel, the other upon a stone at the
side, and, reaching into the carriage, struck the King a violent blow
with a knife. Henry immediately exclaimed, 'I am wounded;' but
notwithstanding the number of persons who were with him, the assassin
was suffered to repeat the blow, which now pierced the King to the
heart. A third blow was caught in the sleeve of one of the
attendants; and, instead of throwing down the knife and flying, the
man who