enough to cite this one instance,
which is recent, and about which the Queen herself did me the
honour to disclose.

It is as follows:

When she went to Guyenne, and, later, to Coignac to reconcile the
princes of the Religion and those of the League, and so give peace
to the kingdom again--for she saw that it would soon be ruined
by this division--she determined to declare a truce in order to
formulate this peace; because of which the King of Navarre and
the Prince de Conde became very discontented and mutinous--for
the reason, they said, that this proclamation did them great
harm because of their foreign troops, who, having heard of it,
might repent of their coming, or might delay in coming, thinking
that the Queen had made it with that very intention.

And they declared and resolved not to see the Queen nor to treat
with her until the said truce was revoked.

Her Council, whom she had with her, though composed of able men,
she found to be without much sense and weak, because they could
find no means by which this truce could be rescinded.

The Queen then said to them, "Truly, you are very stupid as to
finding a remedy. Don't you know any better? There is only one
solution to this. You have at Maillezais the Huguenot regiment
of Neufvy and of Sorlu. Send for me from here, from Niort, all
the arquebusiers you can muster and cut the regiment to pieces
and so you will have the truce broken and rescinded without any
further trouble."

And as soon as she commanded it, it was done, the arquebusiers
started, led by Captain l'Estelle, and forced their fort and
barricades so well that the Huguenot regiment was defeated, Sorlu
killed, who was a valiant man, Neufvy taken prisoner and many
others killed. Their flags were all captured and brought to the
Queen at Niort. She showed her accustomed clemency by pardoning
all, and sent them away with their ensigns and flags, which,
as regards flags, is a very rare thing.

But she wished to make this concession, she told me, on account
of its very rarity, so that the princes would now know that they
had to deal with a very able princess, and that they should not
apply to her such mockery as to make her revoke a truce by the
very heralds who had proclaimed it. For while they were planning
to give her this insult, she had fallen upon them, and now sent
word to them by the prisoners that it was not for them to affront
her by demanding of her unseemly and unreasonable things, sinc