d by
pledging her royal word that she would uphold the Duke in his
opposition, as resolutely as ever he had been supported in his former
measures by the deceased monarch. More and more bewildered by this
apparent inconsistency, Sully respectfully took possession of the
document, declaring his perfect willingness to serve both her Majesty
and the state by every means in his power; and he then awaited her
pleasure upon other matters of more public importance; but on all else
Marie was silent, and the disappointed minister at length withdrew to
examine the paper which had been delivered to him, and of which we will
transcribe the principal contents as singularly illustrative of the
venal state of the Court at that period.

The Prince de Conde demanded the captaincy of the fortress of
Chateau-Trompette, the government of Blaye, and the principality of
Orange as far as the bank of the Rhone; the Comte de Soissons solicited
the captaincy of the old palace of Rouen, and the fortress of Caen, with
the tax upon cloth, flax, and hemp, which he had previously endeavoured,
as elsewhere stated, to obtain from Henri IV; the Duc de Lorraine
requested payment in full of the whole sum specified in his treaty,
although he had previously consented to accept two-thirds of the amount;
the Duc de Guise demanded the royal assent to his marriage with Madame
de Montpensier, the revocation of all the patent taxes in Provence and
the port of Marseilles, and the liquidation of his debts; the Duc de
Mayenne, who had warned the Regent to resist the extravagant
pretensions of the Princes, also came forward with a demand for large
sums independently of those insured to him by his treaty; the Duc
d'Aiguillon[95] sought to obtain a donation of thirty thousand crowns,
the governments of Bresse and the city of Bourg, together with the
embassy to Spain, and enormous emoluments; the Prince de Joinville, so
lately an exile from the Court, requested the government of Auvergne, or
failing this, that of the first province which should become vacant; the
Duc de Nevers asked for the entire proceeds of the tax upon salt
produced in the Rethelois, with the governments of Mezieres and
Sainte-Menehould; the Duc d'Epernon demanded the command of a corps of
infantry, to be constantly kept in an efficient state, the survivorship
of his governments for his son, and that fortifications should be formed
at Angouleme and Saintes, with three or four other equally important