ome
other leading men of the same religion; and, as I have since
heard him say, it was with the greatest difficulty he could be
prevailed upon to give his consent, and not before he had been
made to understand that his own life and the safety of his kingdom
depended upon it.

The King having learned that Maurevel had made an attempt upon
the Admiral's life, by firing a pistol at him through a window,--in
which attempt he failed, having wounded the Admiral only in the
shoulder,--and supposing that Maurevel had done this at the instance
of M. de Guise, to revenge the death of his father, whom the
Admiral had caused to be killed in the same manner by Poltrot,
he was so much incensed against M. de Guise that he declared
with an oath that he would make an example of him; and, indeed,
the King would have put M. de Guise under an arrest, if he had
not kept out of his sight the whole day. The Queen my mother used
every argument to convince King Charles that what had been done
was for the good of the State; and this because, as I observed
before, the King had so great a regard for the Admiral, La Noue,
and Teligny, on account of their bravery, being himself a prince
of a gallant and noble spirit, and esteeming others in whom he
found a similar disposition. Moreover, these designing men had
insinuated themselves into the King's favour by proposing an
expedition to Flanders, with a view of extending his dominions
and aggrandising his power, propositions which they well knew
would secure to themselves an influence over his royal and generous
mind.

Upon this occasion, the Queen my mother represented to the King
that the attempt of M. de Guise upon the Admiral's life was excusable
in a son who, being denied justice, had no other means of avenging
his father's death. Moreover, the Admiral, she said, had deprived
her by assassination, during his minority and her regency, of
a faithful servant in the person of Charri, commander of the
King's body-guard, which rendered him deserving of the like
treatment.

Notwithstanding that the Queen my mother spoke thus to the King,
discovering by her expressions and in her looks all the grief which
she inwardly felt on the recollection of the loss of persons who
had been useful to her; yet, so much was King Charles inclined
to save those who, as he thought, would one day be serviceable
to him, that he still persisted in his determination to punish
M. de Guise, for whom he ordered strict sear