sent a deputation thither for support. Although Lord Holland had long since advised Buckingham not to take the defence of La Rochelle*,-which from its position could not be succoured from sea, "whilst there was not a head amongst the Huguenots save Rohan's," and although the guarantee which England had given the Rochellois fell short of any promise of military support, still the English government could not hesitate; for a treaty between France and Spain for the invasion of England had been signed at Madrid in March, and Olivarez, to render the quarrel between France and England flagrant, informed the latter of the circumstance.† It appears from a letter which is extant, from Buckingham to Richelieu, that the latter desired to enter into communication with the English minister, and if possible to avoid war. Buckingham proposed upon this to proceed to Paris, but Louis intervened and would not permit it. On April 25th appeared an English order in council to seize all goods brought to England in French bottoms. The French replied by a similar edict. Buckingham's plan was at first a vast one, little in accord with the narrow resources of England§, at least under his government. He proposed to send an expedition to Normandy, another to La Rochelle, and the most considerable to Guyenne, which was to rally the Huguenots under Rohan at Montauban, whilst the Duke of Savoy engaged to join them with a large army. Montague, who negotiated these schemes, was seized by Richelieu in Lorraine, and conducted to the Bastille. Little information was wrung from him, but Savignac, in May, was able to reveal the English negotiations to the cardinal. Soon after, Buckingham *Holland's letters of January 23, 1626. See Murden, vol. i. p. 162, for quarrel between Buckingham and Holland about France. † Fontenay-Mareuil, 1627. Rati fied April 20. Memoirs of Richelieu. SS. P. O. France, 184, 185. CHAP. XXIX. XXIX. CHAP. informed Rohan that the only expedition he could then accomplish was that for La Rochelle. Rohan himself, indeed, deprecated the English coming till September, when he wrote that he would be in a condition to take up arms.* The court of France was, however, determined not to wait, and was only delayed during the month of June by the severe illness of the king. He had even set out ere the malady declared itself. Buckingham and Soubise resolved, if possible, to anticipate him, and their fleet of 90 vessels appeared off the Isle of Rhé on the 20th of July. Great was their astonishment at finding the gates of La Rochelle closed against them. The magistrates would scarcely listen to Sir William Beecher, declaring they must first consult not only Rohan, but the churches, and that, at all events, it was a fast-day. With such an answer Beecher was dismissed. Soubise himself then undertook the task, when the Rochellois made the same declaration; nor was it till September that the town declared itself.† Denied entrance to La Rochelle, Buckingham turned to the reduction of the Isle of Rhé. Thoiras, for the king, held its two fortresses, and came with 3,000 infantry to oppose the landing, and, what the English utterly wanted, cavalry. The first charge of these drove the invaders into the sea; but they at last made good their landing, and 8,000 of them, under Buckingham, immediately invested Thoiras in St. Martin del Ré. He was not aware of the strength of the fortress, which Richelieu describes as "the finest and strongest in France."‡ The siege was a work of difficulty, the rocky ground resisting the effort to sink trenches; still, by means of his fleet, and vigilance, Buckingham held the place blockaded for seven weeks. To breach and take it by assault had been found impracticable. Meantime the royal forces were collecting on the mainland, in numbers capable of overwhelming the few thousand English; and a whole navy of boats were prepared to launch with the great flood tides towards St. Martin. The English vessels were drawn up so as to intercept them. But on October the 7th, fifteen of these barks, out of a far greater number, succeeded in reaching the fort, and thus introduced provisions for several weeks. This event disheartened the besiegers, and they determined to abandon the blockade.* A general assault was then tried, which was unsuccessful; and in a few days Schomberg landed in the island, with a force superior to that of the English. Nothing remained for the latter but to embark, which they succeeded in doing on the 19th of November, four months after their landing. Had there been any vitality in the Huguenots of Languedoc or in those of La Rochelle, they would have taken advantage of these four months either to create a diversion, or to pour puissant succours into the Isle of Rhé.† The English fleet had scarcely departed when civil commotion arose in La Rochelle, between the partisans of the English and those of the royalists. Whilst the townsfolk were thus divided, the king and Richelieu surrounded the devoted city with lines of circumvallation, connected with strong towers; and, at the saine time, the cardinal turned all his energies to complete a barrage to blockade the port. As the entrance to the harbour of La Rochelle passed for a certain distance through two tongues of sand, the possession and fortification of these were indispensable to the security of the town. The Duc d'Epernon long since proposed taking possession of the two jetties, and throwing a * De Vic's letter, October 22. S. P. † For the expedition to the Isle of Rhé, see Hardwick Papers; the Mercure Francais, tom. xiii.; Fon tenay-Mareuil; Relation du Siége; CHAP. XXIX. XXIX. CHAP. dyke across.* The supineness of the Rochellois in not providing against so obvious an enterprise, is inexplicable, except by the party divisions of the town. Richelieu now undertook to complete the two arms of the dyke, of 100 toises each, built with dry stones, with apertures for the sea to pass between them. That in the middle was blocked by a fort, and there were also forts at the commencement and at the extremities of each arm of the dyke. Before it Richelieu placed a number of vessels, some 300 tons each, made fast to the ground with stakes, and joined together. Within these, barks mounted with cannon were to lie, the whole presenting an array of artillery more formidable than perhaps army or navy had ever faced. Commenced in November, the work was well-nigh completed when a furious tempest, on the 1st January 1528, swept away large portions of the front of the wall. It was soon repaired. Spinola came to survey and to admire it. Although the Spanish fleet had sailed to Morbihan, it could be of little service this year; but Spinola promised, in execution of the treaty of the previous March, that Spain should be ready in June with a large fleet for the joint invasion of England. He warned his court, at the same time, that La Rochelle would certainly be taken; and this new ally of France determined not to sit still, but take advantage of the occupation of French armies to besiege Casale. Unable to take present revenge of Spain for such infidelity to the alliance, Richelieu prepared to make the House of Austria pay retribution at a future day, by despatching an envoy to Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who, since the defeat of the Danish monarch at Lutter, seemed the only prince capable of offering resistance to the imperial generals.† Richelieu's chief dependence for the capture of La * MSS. Fontanieu, 477-8, June 25. Rochelle was in himself, for he soon perceived that not Rochelle. During the winter, the Rochellois, under their heroic mayor, Guiton, rejected all thought of surrender, and deterred even Richelieu from an assault. His only hope was to reduce them by famine. Louis grew weary of so tedious and inglorious an enterprise, and determined to withdraw to Paris. It was a critical moment for the cardinal, who knew that the courtiers with whom the monarch would be surrounded were all hostile to him, and that the queen mother, who had quarrelled with his niece, the Duchess d'Aiguillon, might now be ranked amongst his enemies. Still he knew, at the same time, that the best recommendation to the king was success, and that if he captured La Rochelle he would surely command the royal favour. The cardinal therefore determined to stay, and to have СНАР. XXIX. |