Another distinguished memoir-writer was Theodore d’Aubigné, half-brother to the king, and grandfather to Madame de Maintenon.
One of the first cares of Henry when he came to the throne, was to restore his capital to its former flourishing condition. He found the streets overgrown with grass, many of the shops shut up, and others, abandoned by their owners, had been converted into stables. When the Spanish ambassadors arrived, a few months after his coronation, they expressed their admiration at the great improvement which had taken place in the city, since it had been under his rule.
The king replied, “When the master is absent, all things get into disorder; but when he is returned, his presence ornaments the house, and all things profit.”—Pictorial History of France.
The Last Leaf of Autumn.
It came with spring’s soft sun and showers,
Mid bursting buds and blushing flowers;
It flourished on the same light stem,
It drank the same clear dews with them.
The crimson tints of summer morn
That gilded one, did each adorn;