ings were in this desperate
state," says Sully, "the fog, which had been very thick all the morning,
dropped down suddenly, and the cannon of the castle of Arques getting
sight of the enemy's army, a volley of four pieces was fired, which made
four beautiful lanes in their squadrons and battalions. That pulled them
up quite short; and three or four volleys in succession, which produced
marvellous effects, made them waver, and, little by little, retire all of
them behind the turn of the valley, out of cannon-shot, and finally to
their quarters." Mayenne had the retreat sounded. Henry, master of the
field, gave chase for a while to the fugitives, and then returned to
Arques to thank God for his victory. Mayenne struck his camp and took
the road towards Amiens, to pick up a Spanish corps which he was
expecting from the Low Countries.

[Illustration: Sully----37]

For six months, from September, 1589, to March, 1590, the war continued
without any striking or important events. Henry IV. tried to stop it
after his success at Arques; he sent word to the Duke of Mayenne by his
prisoner Belin, whom he had sent away free on parole, "that he desired
peace, and so earnestly, that, without regarding his dignity or his
victory, he made him these advances, not that he had any fear of him, but
because of the pity he felt for his kingdom's sufferings." Mayenne, who
lay beneath the double yoke of his party's passions and his own ambitious
projects, rejected the king's overtures, or allowed them to fall through;
and on the 21st of October, 1589, Henry, setting out with his army from
Dieppe, moved rapidly on Paris, in order to effect a strategic surprise,
whilst Mayenne was rejecting at Amiens his pacific inclinations. The
king gained three marches on the Leaguers, and carried by assault the
five faubourgs situated on the left bank of the Seine. He would perhaps
have carried terror-stricken Paris itself, if the imperfect breaking up
of the St. Maixent bridge on the Somme had not allowed Mayenne,
notwithstanding his tardiness, to arrive at Paris in time to enter with
his army, form a junction with the Leaguers amongst the population, and
prevail upon the king to carry his arms elsewhither." The people of
Paris," says De Thou, "were extravagant enough to suppose that this
prince could not escape Mayenne. Already a host of idle and credulous
women had been at the pains of engaging windows, which they let very
dear, and which they