[65] Ibid., January 16, 1619.
[66] Despatch of Contarini, ambassador from Venice, Jan. 27, 1619.
[67] Despatches of the Nuncio Bentivoglio, vol. i. pp. 157, 240, 300; and vol. ii. pp. 10, 31, 39, 40, 44, 80, 82, and 84. Despatch of Bentivoglio, January 30, 1619. See also despatches from the Venetian ambassador, January 27, and February 5, 1619; the Journal d’Héroard, January 25, 1619; Letter from Father Joseph to the Minister of Spain, February 14, 1619; and, lastly, the Mémoires de Bassompierre, vol. ii. p. 147.
[68] To the causes of Louis XIII.’s reserve, which we have just cited, may be added another, which the duty of not omitting anything causes us to indicate. According to the Rélation de Don Fernando Giron (Archives of Simancas), Louis XIII. held aloof from Anne of Austria “because he had been persuaded that if he had a son, while yet so young, it would cause a civil war in the kingdom.” Nothing, however, confirms this supposition, or renders it likely.
[69] Despatch of the Nuncio Bentivoglio, December 4, 1619.
[70] Mémoires de Bassompierre, confirmed by the Journal d’Héroard, March 26, 1622.
[71] Journal d’Héroard, passim, and especially June 8, and August 21, 1626.
[72] Ibid., May 10, 1621.
[73] “He was playing with some little balls, rolling them along his taper stand, and calling them soldiers. M. de Souvré reproved him, and told him that he was always amusing himself at childish games. ‘But, Monsieur de Souvré, these are soldiers; this is not a child’s game!’ ‘Sir, you will always be a child.’ ‘It is you who keep me one!’”—Journal d’Héroard, February 21, 1610.
[74] Several facts cited by Héroard prove that Louis XIII. was not at all sensible to flattery. (See particularly Oct 8, and Dec. 3, 1610.)