ot pause to describe the tardy homage which his countrymen
afterward paid to the name and relics of the fallen great. These
obsequies and panegyrics may be looked on as some small expiation for
the national guilt of France, but Coligni needed them not.

HENRY IV. OF FRANCE

(1553-1610)

[Illustration: Henry IV. [TN]]

Henry IV., the most celebrated, the most beloved, and perhaps, in
spite of his many faults, the best of the French monarchs, was born at
Pau, the capital of Bearn, in 1553. His parents were Antoine de
Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, and in right of his wife, titular king of
Navarre, and Jeanne d'Albert, the heiress of that kingdom. On the
paternal side he traced his descent to Robert of Clermont, fifth son
of Louis IX., and thus, on the failure of the elder branches, became
heir to the crown of France. Educated by a Protestant mother in the
Protestant faith, he was for many years the rallying point and leader
of the Huguenots. In boyhood the prince of Bearn displayed sense and
spirit above his years. Early inured to war, he was present and
exhibited strong proofs of military talent at the battle of Jarnac,
and that of Moncontour, both fought in 1569. In the same year he was
declared chief of the Protestant League. The treaty of St. Germain,
concluded in 1570, guaranteed to the Huguenots the civil rights for
which they had been striving; and, in appearance, to cement the union
of the two parties, a marriage was proposed between Henry, who, by the
death of his mother, had just succeeded to the throne of Navarre, and
Margaret of Valois, sister of Charles IX. This match brought Conde,
Coligni, and all the leaders of their party, to Paris. The ceremony
took place August 17, 1572, and a week later came the massacre of St.
Bartholomew. For three years afterward Henry, who to save his life had
conformed to the established religion, was kept as a kind of
state-prisoner. He escaped in 1576, and put himself at the head of the
Huguenot party. In the war which ensued, with the sagacity and fiery
courage of the high-born general, he showed the indifference to
hardships of the meanest soldier. Content with the worst fare and
meanest lodging, in future times the magnificent monarch of France
could recollect when his wardrobe could not furnish him with a change
of linen. He shared all fortunes with his followers, and was rewarded
by their unbounded devotion.

Upon the extinction of the house of Valois, by the assas