January 9, 1584.
LETTER XXXI.
The King is bent on a plan for reforming his life, and devoting himself more exclusively to religion. It was supposed that he would spend the Carnival at Paris;[211] he used to say that not to be at Paris at that season was as bad as being in Poland, for he should miss all the fun and pleasure of the capital, and last, but not least, the society of certain ladies whom he had been accustomed to meet on that occasion.[189]
In his present humour he does not care to leave Saint-Germain, where he lives like a hermit. Meanwhile the assembly, which was convened for the purpose of reforming the people and remedying abuses in the government, is still sitting. Every day it passes a number of wholesome measures, of which I shall now proceed to give your Majesty an example. There is no greater burden laid on the realm of France than the multiplication of official posts, which the King creates to the benefit of his own pocket and the impoverishment of his people; these are now, to a great extent, abolished. For instance, the King had as many as 150 chamberlains, all of whom are now dismissed, with the exception of sixteen, or, according to another version, twenty-four. The same course, it is supposed, will be followed in all similar cases, to the great advantage and relief of the nation, on whose shoulders the entire burden of supporting these sinecures used to rest.
This reform, however, will draw complaints from individuals who have purchased such offices with hard cash out of their own pockets. Their claims, it is true, will be commuted, but they will suffer great inconvenience and loss by the change.
Meantime there is a vague idea that France is on the eve of a fresh civil war, and there are people who assert that Navarre has sent to Germany to hire reiters. Whether that be so or not, at any rate the King is raising troops.
It is supposed that the Queen of Navarre will shortly be reconciled to her husband, if indeed the reconciliation has not already taken place, through the mediation of one Pernantius of Lorraine, a notable champion of Protestantism. The Netherland ambassadors are now with Alençon, waiting for fuller instructions from the States. Alençon is urging his claim to be appointed Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, with the same powers as the present Sovereign held during the reign of his brother Charles, which were very extensive; but the King objects, and it seems hardly likely that they will come to terms. This difference, it is feared, will, in the event of war, be the source of yet more serious quarrels.
Every day men[190] are coming over from England to France who have been concerned in the great conspiracy against the life of the Queen (Elizabeth). The Earl of Norfolk[191] has been arrested in England for his part in the plot, and everyone expects that he will lose his head, but the Earl of Arundel’s case is not regarded as equally desperate, as the Queen seems more inclined to show him mercy. Even the Queen of Scots, who is accused of having been privy to all their designs, is considered to be in great danger. The Ambassador[192] of the King of Spain, they say, was the prime mover in the conspiracy, and on this account has been ordered to leave England. There is an idea that he will pass through France on his way to Spain.
February 12, 1584.