RUN A MAN THROUGH THE BODY.

9

I was too young in the world to be very sensible of this before, and therefore was something startled at the charge; but when I came to discourse with this gentleman, I soon saw the truth of what he said was undeniable, and have since reflected on it with regret, that the naval power of the protestants, which was then superior to the royal, would certainly have been the recovery of all their fortunes, had it not been unhappily broke by their brethren of England and Holland, the former lending seven men-of-war, and the latter twenty, for the destruction of the Rochellers' fleet; and by these very ships the Rochellers' fleet was actually beaten and destroyed, and they never afterwards recovered their force at sea, and by consequence sunk under the siege, which the English afterwards in vain attempted to prevent.

These things made the protestants look very dull, and expected the ruin of all their party; which had certainly happened had the cardinal lived a few years longer.

We stayed in Paris about three weeks, as well to see the court, and what rarities the place afforded, as by an occasion which had like to have put a short period to our ramble.

Walking one morning before the gate of the Louvre, with a design to see the Swiss draw up, which they always did, and exercised just before they relieved the guards; a page came up to me, and speaking English to me, Sir, says he, the captain must needs have your immediate assistance. I that had not the knowledge of any person in Paris but my own companion, whom I called captain, had no room to question, but it was he that sent for me; and crying out hastily to him, Where? followed the fellow as fast as it was possible. He led me through several passages which I knew not, and at last through a tennis-court, and into a large room, where three men, like gentlemen, were engaged very briskly, two against one. The room was very dark, so that I could not easily know them asunder; but being fully possessed with an opinion before of my captain's danger, I ran into the room with my sword in my hand. I had not particularly engaged any of them, nor so much as made a pass at any, when I received a very dangerous thrust in my thigh, rather occasioned by my too hasty running in, than a real design of the person; but enraged at the hurt, without examining who it was hurt me, I threw myself upon him, and run my sword quite through his body.

The novelty of the adventure, and the unexpected fall of the man by a stranger, come in nobody knew how, had becalmed the other two, that they really stood gazing at me. By this time I had discovered that my captain was not there, and that 'twas some strange accident brought me thither. I could speak but little French, and supposed they could speak no English; so I stepped to the door to see for the page that brought me thither; but seeing nobody there, and the passage clear, I made off as fast as I could, without speaking a word; nor did the other two gentlemen offer to stop me.

The

But I was in a strange confusion when, coming into those entries and passages which the page led me through, I could by no means find my way out; at last, seeing a door open that looked through a house into the street, I went in, and out at the other door; but then I was at as great a loss to know where I was, and which was the way to my lodging. wound in my thigh bled apace, and I could feel the blood in my breeches. In this interval came by a chair; I called, and went into it, and bid them, as well as I could, go to the Louvre; for though I knew not the name of the street where I lodged, I knew I could find the way to it when I was at the Bastile. The chairmen went on their own way, and being stopped by a company of the guards as they went, set me down till the soldiers were marched by; when looking out, I found I was just at my own lodging, and the captain was standing at the door looking for me. I beckoned him to me, and, whispering, told him I was very much hurt, and bid him pay the chairmen, and ask no questions, but come to me.

I made the best of my way up stairs, but had lost so much blood, that I had hardly spirits enough to keep me from swooning, till he came in: he was equally concerned with me to see me in such a bloody condition, and presently called up our landlord, and he as quickly called in his neighbours, that I had a room full of people about me in a quarter of an hour. But this had liked to have been of worse consequence to me than the other; for by this time there was great inquiring after the person who killed a man at the tenniscourt. My landlord was then sensible of his mistake, and came to me, and told me the danger I was in, and very honestly offered to convey me to a friend's of his, where I should be very secure; I thanked him, and suffered myself to be carried at midnight whither he pleased. He visited me

DISORDER OF FRENCH AFFAIRS.

11

very often, till I was well enough to walk about, which was not in less than ten days, and then we thought fit to be gone; so we took post for Orleans; but when I came upon the road I found myself in a new error, for my wound opened again with riding, and I was in a worse condition than before, being forced to take up at a little village on the road, called about miles from Orleans, where there was no surgeon to be had, but a sorry country barber, who nevertheless dressed me as well as he could, and in about a week more I was able to walk to Orleans at three times.

Here I stayed till I was quite well, and then took coach for Lyons, and so through Savoy into Italy.

I spent near two years' time after this bad beginning, in travelling through Italy, and to the several courts of Rome, Naples, Venice, and Vienna.

When I came to Lyons, the king was gone from thence to Grenoble to meet the cardinal, but the queens were both at Lyons.

The French affairs seemed at this time to have but an indifferent aspect; there was no life in anything but where the cardinal was. He pushed on everything with extraordinary conduct, and generally with success; he had taken Suza and Pignerol from the Duke of Savoy, and was preparing to push the duke even out of all his dominions.

But in the mean time everywhere else things looked ill; the troops were ill paid, the magazines empty, the people mutinous, and a general disorder seized the minds of the court; and the cardinal, who was the soul of everything, desired this interview at Grenoble, in order to put things into some better method.

This politic minister always ordered matters so, that if there was success in anything the glory was his; but if things miscarried it was all laid upon the king. This conduct was so much the more nice, as it is the direct contrary to the custom in like cases, where kings assume the glory of all the success in an action; and when a thing miscarries, make themselves easy by sacrificing their ministers and favourites to the complaints and resentments of the people; but this accurate refined statesman got over this point.

While we were at Lyons, and as I remember, the third day after our coming thither, we had liked to have been involved in a state broil, without knowing where we were.

It was of a Sunday, in the evening; the people of Lyons, who had been sorely oppressed in taxes, and the war in Italy pinching their trade, began to be very tumultuous; we found the day before the mob got together in great crowds, and talked oddly; the king was everywhere reviled, and spoken disrespectfully of, and the magistrates of the city either winked at, or durst not attempt to meddle, lest they should provoke the people.

But on Sunday night, about midnight, we were waked by a prodigious noise in the street; I jumpt out of bed, and, running to the window, I saw the street as full of mob as it could hold. Some, armed with muskets and halberds, marched in very good order; others in disorderly crowds, all shouting and crying out, Du paix le Roy, and the like. One, that led a great party of this rabble, carried a loaf of bread upon the top of a pike, and other lesser loaves, signifying the smallness of their bread, occasioned by dearness.

By morning this crowd was gathered to a great height; they run roving over the whole city, shut up all the shops, and forced all the people to join with them; from thence they went up to the castle, and, renewing the clamour, a strange consternation seized all the princes.

They broke open the doors of the officers, collectors of the new taxes, and plundered their houses, and had not the persons themselves fled in time, they had been very ill treated.

The queen-mother, as she was very much displeased to see such consequences of the government, in whose management she had no share, so I suppose she had the less concern upon her. However, she came into the court of the castle and showed herself to the people, gave money amongst them, and spoke gently to them; and by a way peculiar to herself, and which obliged all she talked with, she pacified the mob gradually, sent them home with promises of redress and the like; and so appeased this tumult in two days, by her prudence, which the guards in the castle had small mind to meddle with, and if they had, would, in all probability, have made the better side the worse.

There had been several seditions of the like nature in sundry other parts of France, and the very army began to murmur, though not to mutiny, for want of provisions.

This sedition at Lyons was not quite over when we left the place, for, finding the city all in a broil, we considered

be gone.

MADE PRISONERS OF WAR.

13

we had no business there; and what the consequence of a popular tumult might be, we did not see, so we prepared to We had not rid above three miles out of the city, but we were brought as prisoners of war, by a party of mutineers, who had been abroad upon the scout, and were charged with being messengers sent to the cardinal for forces to reduce the citizens; with these pretences they brought us back in triumph, and the queen-mother being by this time grown something familiar to them, they carried us before her.

When they inquired of us who we were, we called ourselves Scots; for as the English were very much out of favour in France at this time, the peace having been made not many months, and not supposed to be very durable, because particularly displeasing to the people of England; so the Scots were on the other extreme with the French. Nothing was so much caressed as the Scots, and a man had no more to do in France, if he would be well received there, than to say he was a Scotchman.

When we came before the queen-mother she seemed to receive us with some stiffness at first, and caused her guards to take us into custody; but as she was a lady of most exquisite politics, she did this to amuse the mob, and we were immediately after dismissed; and the queen herself made a handsome excuse to us for the rudeness we had suffered, alleging the troubles of the times; and the next morning we had three dragoons of the guards to convoy us out of the jurisdiction of Lyons.

CHAPTER II.

REFLECTIONS- -JOURNEY TO GRENOBLE, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE SWISS TROOPS THERE-ACCOUNT OF THE KING AND COURT-DEPART FOR PIGNEROL-SIEGE OF CASALI ESCAPE GREAT DANGER IN AN ACTION THERE-MARCH TO SALUCES-DEATH OF THE DUKE OF SAVOY-I CATCH THE PLAGUE-RECOVER AND SPEND THE WINTER AT MILAN JOURNEY THROUGH ITALY, AND SINGULAR ADVENTURES THERE.

I CONFESS this little adventure gave me an aversion to popular tumults all my life after, and if nothing else had been in