e
and a multitude of other birds, all skilfully imitated and grouped; and
when the feathered pageant had passed on, appeared the Comte de
Sommerive[320] and his noble band, all wearing the same costume and
bearing the same arms. Lastly came Earth, in which the pages were
succeeded by two enormous elephants, artistically constructed, and
bearing upon their backs small towers filled with musicians, who, as
they advanced, poured out a volume of sweet sound, to which several
horses, draped with cloth of gold and led by Moors, moved in cadence
like the grooms by whom they were conducted. Then followed more pages,
and a band of trumpeters whose occasional flourishes overpowered the
softer instruments of those who marched in front; and finally, twelve
Moorish knights, led by the Duc de Nevers,[321] all resplendent with
gold and jewels, closed the procession, and fell back to the remaining
extremity of the enclosure. A combat then commenced between the knights
of Earth and those of Water, first single-handed, then in couples, and
finally troop against troop, and so soon as this had terminated, the
cavaliers of Air and Fire went through the same evolutions; when each
having exhibited his dexterity in the _manege_ and his skill in arms,
the whole of the four bands joined in the _melee_, shivering their
lances, their arrows, and their shields, and then each of the combatants
seized a torch which had been prepared for him, and after having ridden
round and round each other, making the wandering lights assume the
appearance of meteors, the entire company formed once more into order
and returned to the Hotel de Bourbon like a long line of fire.[322]

These were precisely the entertainments that Henri IV was eager to
encourage, as they involved an expenditure which frequently crippled the
means of those by whom they were exhibited for several years; and he was
accustomed to declare that it was frequently to the poverty of his
nobles that he was indebted for their fidelity, as they no sooner found
themselves in a position to arm a few retainers and assume the
offensive, than they forthwith began to organize a cabal.

The King having, in the month of March of this year, determined upon
proceeding in person to quell the disturbances in the provinces, and to
compel the Duc de Bouillon, who was known as the instigator of these
disorders, to obedience, made preparations on an extensive scale for
this purpose, and raised a powerful army in