manity--this is the real character of Catherine de' Medici." The
following burlesque poetry was composed for her:

"La reine qui ci-git fut un diable et un ange,
Toute pleine de blame et pleine de louange,
Elle soutint l'Etat, et l'Etat mit a bas;
Elle fit maints accords et pas moins de debats;
Elle enfanta trois rois et trois guerres civiles,
Fit batir des chateaux et ruiner des villes,
Fit bien de bonnes lois et de mauvais edits.
Souhaite-lui, passant, enfer et paradis."

[The queen lying here was both devil and angel, blamed and praised;
she both put down and upheld the state; she caused many an agreement
and no end of disputes; she produced three kings and three civil wars;
she built castles and ruined cities, made many good laws and many bad
decrees. Wish her, passer-by, hell and paradise.]

With the reign of Henry IV.--the first king of the house of Bourbon,
and the first king of the sixteenth century with a will of his own and
the courage to assert it--begins a period of revelling, debauch, and
the most depraved immorality. Three mistresses in turn controlled
him--morally, not politically.

Henry was master of his own will, and, had he desired to do so, could
have overcome his evil tendencies; instead, he openly countenanced and
even encouraged dissoluteness and elegant debauchery, as long as he
himself was not deprived of the lady upon whom his capricious fancy
happened to fall. His advances were but seldom repulsed; but upon
making his usual audacious proposals to the Marquise de Guercheville,
he was informed that she was of too insignificant a house to be the
king's wife and of too good a race to be his mistress; and when the
king, in spite of this rebuff, made her lady of honor to his wife,
Marie de' Medici, she continued to resist him and remained virtuous.
Such types of purity, honor, and moral courage were very exceptional
during this reign.

The three principal mistresses of this sovereign represent three
phases of influence and three periods of his life. Corisande
d'Andouins, Comtesse de Guiche and Duchesse de Gramont, fascinated him
for eight years, while he was King of Navarre (1582-1590); to her he
was deeply attached, and recompensed her for her devotion; this is
called his _chevaleresque_ period. The beautiful Gabrielle d'Estrees,
Duchesse de Beaufort, was called his mate after victory; "she refined,
sharpened, softened, and tamed his customs; she made him king of the
court i