12. "Catherine de Médicis was of a large and, at the same time, firm and powerful figure, her countenance had an olive tint, and her prominent eyes and curled lip reminded the spectator of her great uncle, Leo X" —Civil Wars in France, by Leopold Ranke, London, 1852, p 28.
13. Philippe Emanuel de Lorraine, Duc de Mercoeur, born at Nomény, September 9, 1558, was the son of Nicolas, Count de Vaudemont, by his second wife, Jeanne de Savoy, and was half-brother of Queen Louise, the wife of Henry III. He was made governor of Brittany in 1582. He embraced the party of the League before the death of Henry III., entered into an alliance with Philip II., and gave the Spaniards possession of the port of Blavet in 1591. He made his submission to Henry IV. in 1598, on which occasion his only daughter Françoise, probably the richest heiress in the kingdom, was contracted in marriage to César, Duc de Vendôme, the illegitimate son of Henry IV. by Gabrielle d'Estrées, the Duchess de Beaufort. The Duc de Mercoeur died at Nuremburg, February 19, 1602.—Vide Birch's Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth, Vol. I., p. 82; Davila's His. Civil Warres of France, p. 1476.
14. Jean d'Aumont, born in 1522, a Marshal of France who served under six kings, Francis I., Henry II., Francis II., Charles IX., Henry III., and Henry IV. He distinguished himself at the battles of Dreux, Saint-Denis, Montcontour, and in the famous siege of Rochelle in 1573. After the death of Henry III., he was the first to recognize Henry IV., whom he served with the same zeal as he had his five predecessors. He took part in the brilliant battle of Arques in 1589. In the following year, he so distinguished himself at Ivry that Henry IV., inviting him to sup with him after this memorable battle, addressed to him these flattering words, "Il est juste que vous soyez du festin, après m'avoir si bien servi à mes noces." At the siege of the Château de Camper, in Upper Brittany, he received a musket shot which fractured his arm, and died of the wound on the 19th of August, 1595, at the age of seventy-three years. "Ce grand capitaine qui avoit si bien mérité du Roi et de la nation, emporta dans le tombeau les regrets des Officiers & des soldats, qui pleurerent amérement la perte de leur Général. La Bretagne qui le regardoit comme son père, le Roi, tout le Royaume enfin, furent extrêmement touchez de sa mort. Malgré la haine mutuelle des factions qui divisoient la France, il étoit si estimé dans les deux partis, que s'il se fût agi de trouver un chevalier François sans reproche, tel que nos peres en ont autrefois eu, tout le monde auroit jette les yeux sur d'Aumont."—Histoire Universelle de Jacque-Auguste de Thou, à Londres, 1734, Tom. XII., p. 446—Vide also, Larousse; Camden's His. Queen Elizabeth, London, 1675 pp 486,487, Memoirs of Sully, Philadelphia, 1817, pp. 122, 210; Oeuvres de Brantôme, Tom. IV., pp. 46-49; Histoire de Bretagne, par M. Daru, Paris, 1826, Vol. III. p. 319; Freer's His. Henry IV., Vol. II, p. 70.
15. François d'Espinay de Saint-Luc, sometimes called Le Brave Saint Luc, was born in 1554, and was killed at the battle of Amiens on the 8th of September, 1597. He was early appointed governor of Saintonge, and of the Fortress of Brouage, which he successfully defended in 1585 against the attack of the King of Navarre and the Prince de Condé. He assisted at the battle of Coutras in 1587. He served as a lieutenant-general in Brittany from 1592 to 1596. In 1594, he planned with Brissac, his brother-in-law, then governor of Paris for the League, for the surrender of Paris to Henry IV. For this he was offered the baton of a Marshal of France by the king, which he modestly declined, and begged that it might be given to Brissac. In 1578, through the influence or authority of Henry III., he married the heiress, Jeanne de Cosse-Brissac, sister of Charles de Cosse-Brissac, postea, a lady of no personal attractions, but of excellent understanding and character. —Vide Courcelle's Histoire Généalogique des Pairs de France, Vol. II.; Birch's Memoirs of Queen Elizabeth, Vol. I., pp. 163, 191; Freer's Henry III., p. 162; De Mezeray's His. France, 1683, p. 861.
16. Charles de Cosse-Brissac, a Marshal of France and governor of Angiers. He was a member of the League as early as 1585. He conceived the idea of making France a republic after the model of ancient Rome. He laid his views before the chief Leaguers but none of them approved his plan. He delivered up Paris, of which he was governor, to Henry IV. in 1594, for which he received the Marshal's baton. He died in 1621, at the siege of Saint Jean d'Angely.—Vide Davila, pp. 538, 584, 585; Sully, Philadelphia, 1817, V. 61. Vol. I., p. 420; Brantôme, Vol. III., p. 84; His. Collections, London, 1598, p. 35; De Thou, à Londres, 1724, Tome XII., p. 449.
17. "By the Articles of this Treaty the king was to restore the County of Charolois to the king of Spain, to be by him held of the Crown of France; who in exchange restor'd the towns of Calice, Ardres, Montbulin, Dourlens, la Capelle, and le Catelet in Picardy, and Blavet in Britanny: which Articles were Ratifi'd and Sign'd by his Majesty the eleventh of June [1598]; who in his gayety of humour, at so happy a conclusion, told the Duke of Espernon, That with one dash of his Pen he had done greater things, than he could of a long time have perform'd with the best Swords of his Kingdom."—Life of the Duke of Espernon, London, 1670, p. 203; Histoire du Roy Henry le Grand, par Préfixe, Paris, 1681, p. 243.
CHAPTER II.
QUARTER-MASTER.—VISIT TO WEST INDIES, SOUTH AMERICA, MEXICO.—HIS REPORT.—SUGGESTS A SHIP CANAL.—VOYAGE OF 1603.—EARLIER VOYAGES.— CARTIER, DE LA ROQUE, MARQUIS DE LA ROCHE, SIEUR DE CHAUVIN, DE CHASTES. —PRELIMINARY VOYAGE.—RETURN TO FRANCE.—DEATH OF DE CHASTES.—SIEUR DE MONTS OBTAINS A CHARTER, AND PREPARES FOR AN EXPEDITION TO CANADA.
The service of Champlain as quarter-master in the war in Brittany commenced probably with the appointment of Marshal d'Aumont to the command of the army in 1592, and, if we are right in this conjecture, it covered a period of not far from six years. The activity of the army, and the difficulty of obtaining supplies in the general destitution of the province, imposed upon him constant and perplexing duty. But in the midst of his embarrassments he was gathering up valuable experience, not only relating to the conduct of war, but to the transactions of business under a great variety of forms. He was brought into close and intimate relations with men of character, standing, and influence. The knowledge, discipline, and self-control of which he was daily becoming master were unconsciously fitting him for a career, humble though it might seem in its several stages, but nevertheless noble and potent in its relations to other generations.
At the close of the war, the army which it had called into existence was disbanded, the soldiers departed to their homes, the office of quarter-master was of necessity vacated, and Champlain was left without employment.