the memoirs, of which a new translation is now presented to the public, are the undoubted composition of the celebrated princess whose name they bear, the contemporary of our queen elizabeth; of equal abilities with her, but of far unequal fortunes. both elizabeth and marguerite had been bred in the school of adversity; both profited by it, but elizabeth had the fullest opportunity of displaying her acquirements in it. queen elizabeth met with trials and difficulties in the early part of her life, and closed a long and successful reign in the happy possession of the good-will and love of her subjects. queen marguerite, during her whole life, experienced little else besides mortification and disappointment; she was suspected and hated by both protestants and catholics, with the latter of whom, though, she invariably joined in communion, yet was she not in the least inclined to persecute or injure the former. elizabeth amused herself with a number of suitors, but never submitted to the yoke of matrimony. marguerite, in compliance with the injunctions of the queen her mother, and king charles her brother, married henri, king of navarre, afterwards henri iv. of france, for whom she had no inclination; and this union being followed by a mutual indifference and dislike, she readily consented to dissolve it; soon after which event she saw a princess, more fruitful but less prudent, share the throne of her ancestors, of whom she was the only representative. elizabeth was polluted with the blood of her cousin, the queen of scots, widow of marguerite’s eldest brother. marguerite saved many huguenots from the massacre of st. bartholomew’s day, and, according to brantome, the life of the king, her husband, whose name was on the list of the proscribed. to close this parallel, elizabeth began early to govern a kingdom, which she ruled through the course of her long life with severity, yet gloriously, and with success. marguerite, after the death of the queen her mother and her brothers, though sole heiress of the house of valois, was, by the salic law, excluded from all pretensions to the crown of france; and though for the greater part of her life shut up in a castle, surrounded by rocks and mountains, she has not escaped the shafts of obloquy.
the translator has added some notes, which give an account of such places as are mentioned in the memoirs, taken from the itineraries of the time, but principally from the “geographie universelle” of vosgien; in which regard is had to the new division of france into departments, as well as to the ancient one of principalities, archbishoprics, bishoprics, generalities, chatellenies, balliages, duchies, seigniories, etc.
in the composition of her memoirs, marguerite has evidently adopted the epistolary form, though the work came out of the french editor’s hand divided into three (as they are styled) books; these three books, or letters, the translator has taken the liberty of subdividing into twenty-one, and, at the head of each of them, he has placed a short table of the contents. this is the only liberty he has taken with the original memoirs, the translation itself being as near as the present improved state of our language could be brought to approach the unpolished strength and masculine vigour of the french of the age of henri iv.
this translation is styled a new one, because, after the translator had made some progress in it, he found these memoirs had already been made english, and printed, in london, in the year 1656, thirty years after the first edition of the french original. this translation has the following title: “the grand cabinet counsels unlocked; or, the most faithful transaction of court affairs, and growth and continuance of the civil wars in france, during the reigns of charles the last, henry iii., and henry iv., commonly called the great. most excellently written, in the french tongue, by margaret de valois, sister to the two first kings, and wife of the last. faithfully translated by robert codrington, master of arts;” and again as “memorials of court affairs,” etc., london, 1658.
the memoirs of queen marguerite contained the secret history of the court of france during the space of seventeen years, from 1565 to 1582, and they end seven years before henri iii., her brother, fell by the hands of clement, the monk; consequently, they take in no part of the reign of henri iv. (as mr. codrington has asserted in his title-page), though they relate many particulars of the early part of his life.
marguerite’s memoirs include likewise the history nearly of the first half of her own life, or until she had reached the twenty-ninth year of her age; and as she died in 1616, at the age of sixty-three years, there remain thirty-four years of her life, of which little is known. in 1598, when she was forty-five years old, her marriage with henri was dissolved by mutual consent,—she declaring that she had no other wish than to give him content, and preserve the peace of the kingdom; making it her request, according to brantome, that the king would favour her with his protection, which, as her letter expresses, she hoped to enjoy during the rest of her life. sully says she stipulated only for an establishment and the payment of her debts, which were granted. after henri, in 1610, had fallen a victim to the furious fanaticism of the monk ravaillac, she lived to see the kingdom brought into the greatest confusion by the bad government of the queen regent, marie de medici, who suffered herself to be directed by an italian woman she had brought over with her, named leonora galligai. this woman marrying a florentine, called concini, afterwards made a marshal of france, they jointly ruled the kingdom, and became so unpopular that the marshal was assassinated, and the wife, who had been qualified with the title of marquise d’ancre, burnt for a witch. this happened about the time of marguerite’s decease.
it has just before been mentioned how little has been handed down to these times respecting queen marguerite’s history. the latter part of her life, there is reason to believe, was wholly passed at a considerable distance from court, in her retirement (so it is called, though it appears to have been rather her prison) at the castle of usson. this castle, rendered famous by her long residence in it, has been demolished since the year 1634. it was built on a mountain, near a little town of the same name, in that part of france called auvergne, which now constitutes part of the present departments of the upper loire and puy-de-dome, from a river and mountain so named. these memoirs appear to have been composed in this retreat. marguerite amused herself likewise, in this solitude, in composing verses, and there are specimens still remaining of her poetry. these compositions she often set to music, and sang them herself, accompanying her voice with the lute, on which she played to perfection. great part of her time was spent in the perusal of the bible and books of piety, together with the works of the best authors she could procure. brantome assures us that marguerite spoke the latin tongue with purity and elegance; and it appears, from her memoirs, that she had read plutarch with attention.
marguerite has been said to have given in to the gallantries to which the court of france was, during her time, but too much addicted; but, though the translator is obliged to notice it, he is far from being inclined to give any credit to a romance entitled, “le divorce satyrique; ou, les amours de la reyne marguerite de valois,” which is written in the person of her husband, and bears on the title-page these initials: d. r. h. q. m.; that is to say, “du roi henri quatre, mari.” this work professes to give a relation of marguerite’s conduct during her residence at the castle of usson; but it contains so many gross absurdities and indecencies that it is undeserving of attention, and appears to have been written by some bitter enemy, who has assumed the character of her husband to traduce her memory.
[“le divorce satyrique” is said to have been written by louise marguerite de lorraine, princesse de conti, who is likewise the reputed author of “the amours of henri iv.,” disguised under the name of alcander. she was the daughter of the due de guise, assassinated at blois in 1588, and was born the year her father died. she married francois, prince de conti, and was considered one of the most ingenious and accomplished persons belonging to the french court in the age of louis xiii. she was left a widow in 1614, and died in 1631.]
m. pierre de bourdeille, seigneur de brantome, better known by the name of brantome, wrote the memoirs of his own times. he was brought up in the court of france, and lived in it during the reigns of marguerite’s father and brothers, dying at the advanced age of eighty or eighty-four years, but in what year is not certainly known.
[the author of the “tablettes de france,” and “anecdotes des rois de france,” thinks that marguerite alludes to brantome’s “anecdotes” in the beginning of her first letter, where she says: “i should commend your work much more were i myself not so much praised in it.” (according to the original: “je louerois davantage votre oeuvre, si elle ne me louoit tant.”) if so, these letters were addressed to brantome, and not to the baron de la chataigneraie, as mentioned in the preface to the french edition. in letter i. mention is made of madame de dampierre, whom marguerite styles the aunt of the person the letter is addressed to. she was dame d’honneur, or lady of the bedchamber, to the queen of henri iii., and brantome, speaking of her, calls her his aunt. indeed, it is not a matter of any consequence to whom these memoirs were addressed; it is, however, remarkable that louis xiv. used the same words to boileau, after hearing him read his celebrated epistle upon the famous passage of the rhine; and yet louis was no reader, and is not supposed to have adopted them from these memoirs. the thought is, in reality, fine, but might easily suggest itself to any other. “cela est beau,” said the monarch, “et je vous louerois davantage, si vous m’aviez moins loue.” (the poetry is excellent, and i should praise you more had you praised me less.)]
he has given anecdotes of the life of marguerite, written during her before-mentioned retreat, when she was, as he says (“fille unique maintenant restee, de la noble maison de france”), the only survivor of her illustrious house. brantome praises her excellent beauty in a long string of laboured hyperboles. ronsard, the court poet, has done the same in a poem of considerable length, wherein he has exhausted all his wit and fancy. from what they have said, we may collect that marguerite was graceful in her person and figure, and remarkably happy in her choice of dress and ornaments to set herself off to the most advantage; that her height was above the middle size, her shape easy, with that due proportion of plumpness which gives an appearance of majesty and comeliness. her eyes were full, black, and sparkling; she had bright, chestnut-coloured hair, and a complexion fresh and blooming. her skin was delicately white, and her neck admirably well formed; and this so generally admired beauty, the fashion of dress, in her time, admitted of being fully displayed.
such was queen marguerite as she is portrayed, with the greatest luxuriance of colouring, by these authors. to her personal charms were added readiness of wit, ease and gracefulness of speech, and great affability and courtesy of manners. this description of queen marguerite cannot be dismissed without observing, if only for the sake of keeping the fashion of the present times with her sex in countenance, that, though she had hair, as has been already described, becoming her, and sufficiently ornamental in itself, yet she occasionally called in the aid of wigs. brantome’s words are: “l’artifice de perruques bien gentiment faconnees.”
[ladies in the days of ovid wore periwigs. that poet says to corinna:
“nunc tibi captivos mittet germania crines;
culta triumphatae munere gentis eris.”
(wigs shall from captive germany be sent;
‘tis with such spoils your head you ornament.)
these, we may conclude, were flaxen, that being the prevailing coloured hair of the germans at this day. the translator has met with a further account of marguerite’s head-dress, which describes her as wearing a velvet bonnet ornamented with pearls and diamonds, and surmounted with a plume of feathers.]
i shall conclude this preface with a letter from marguerite to brantome; the first, he says, he received from her during her adversity (‘son adversite’ are his words),—being, as he expresses it, so ambitious (‘presomptueux’) as to have sent to inquire concerning her health, as she was the daughter and sister of the kings, his masters. (“d’avoir envoye scavoir de ses nouvelles, mais quoy elle estoit fille et soeur de mes roys.”)
the letter here follows: “from the attention and regard you have shown me (which to me appears less strange than it is agreeable), i find you still preserve that attachment you have ever had to my family, in a recollection of these poor remains which have escaped its wreck. such as i am, you will find me always ready to do you service, since i am so happy as to discover that my fortune has not been able to blot out my name from the memory of my oldest friends, of which number you are one. i have heard that, like me, you have chosen a life of retirement, which i esteem those happy who can enjoy, as god, out of his great mercy, has enabled me to do for these last five years; having placed me, during these times of trouble, in an ark of safety, out of the reach, god be thanked, of storms. if, in my present situation, i am able to serve my friends, and you more especially, i shall be found entirely disposed to it, and with the greatest good-will.”
there is such an air of dignified majesty in the foregoing letter, and, at the same time, such a spirit of genuine piety and resignation, that it cannot but give an exalted idea of marguerite’s character, who appears superior to ill-fortune and great even in her distress. if, as i doubt not, the reader thinks the same, i shall not need to make an apology for concluding this preface with it.
the following latin verses, or call them, if you please, epigram, are of the composition of barclay, or barclaius, author of “argenis,” etc.
on marguerite de valois,
queen of navarre.
dear native land! and you, proud castles! say
(where grandsire,[1] father,[2] and three brothers[3] lay,
who each, in turn, the crown imperial wore),
me will you own, your daughter whom you bore?
me, once your greatest boast and chiefest pride,
by bourbon and lorraine,[4] when sought a bride;
now widowed wife,[5] a queen without a throne,
midst rocks and mountains [6] wander i alone.
nor yet hath fortune vented all her spite,
but sets one up,[7] who now enjoys my right,
points to the boy,[8] who henceforth claims the throne
and crown, a son of mine should call his own.
but ah, alas! for me ‘tis now too late [9]
to strive ‘gainst fortune and contend with fate;
of those i slighted, can i beg relief [10]
no; let me die the victim of my grief.
and can i then be justly said to live?
dead in estate, do i then yet survive?
last of the name, i carry to the grave
all the remains the house of valois have.
1. francois i.
2. henri ii.
3. francois ii., charles ix., and henri iii.
4. henri, king of navarre, and henri, duc de guise.
5. alluding to her divorce from henri iv..
6. the castle of usson
7. marie de’ medici, whom henri married after his divorce from
marguerite.
8. louis xiii., the son of henri and his queen, marie de’ medici.
9. alluding to the differences betwixt marguerite and henri, her husband.
10. this is said with allusion to the supposition that she was rather
inclined to favour the suit of the due de guise and reject henri for a
husband.
