I. 1574 1589. CHA P. gold and silver, having a Greek motto or device on the awning, which signified, that "however "blown about and agitated, I have never "fallen, nor changed." The allusion was natural and obvious, to the fidelity and loyalty manifested by La Garde, during a long life, chequered by many misfortunes and disgraces. The beds, furniture, benches, streamers, and flags, were either covered with, or composed of velvet and damask in equal proportions, fringed with gold or silver. All these superb preparations were rendered useless, by the rupture of the proposed marriage, which, it is probable, Elizabeth never seriously meant to accomplish.i Naval ex Individuals appear to have possessed and expeditions ercised in the sixteenth century, the right of by private fitting out in time of peace, naval expeditions fitted out individu als. at their own cost, without any leave obtained from the sovereign; the object of which was either trade or conquest, as accident and circumstances might determine. The only measure requisite to be observed, was not to attack allies or confederates of the crown to which the adventurer owned allegiance. Henry the Third seems to acknowledge and admit this principle in all its extent, as equally just and generally Enterprize recognized. Under Charles the Ninth's reign, of Mont- a son of Marshal Montluc, having heard that luc. great wealth was to be acquired on the coast of Africa, between Cape Blanco and the Cape of i Brantome, vol. ii. Cap. Fran. p. 385-387 Le Lab. sur Cast. vol. iii. p.524. Good L 1589. Good Hope; determined to share in these sup- CHA P. posed riches. Regardless either of the papal donation, or of the long possession acquired by 1574the Portugueze, he publickly equipped two vessels in the river Adour, which falls into the Bay of Biscay below Bayonne; employed six months in compleating their compliment of men, and at length sailed from Bourdeaux. Arriving at Madeira, and being refused refreshments by the governor, who had received intimation from his court, of the design of Montluc, the French landed, attacked, and carried the works; but their commander being killed, they quitted the island. Great complaints were made by the Portugueze embassador at Paris, of this infraction of treaty'. La Noue expressly Piracies. says, that the piratical expeditions, undertaken by Frenchmen annually to the coast of Peru, did not drain the nation of a smaller number, than five hundred subjects a year. m Fire-ships were well known, and frequently Fire-ships. used, under Henry the Third. Frederic Jembelli, an engineer whom the Spaniards had disgusted, threw himself into Antwerp, when besieged by the Prince of Parma in 1584; and gave signal proofs of his capacity, by sending down the Schelde, several fire-ships of prodigious magnitude. They had nearly demolished Their inthe bridge or mole, constructed by that great 1 D'Aub. vol. i. p. 247 and 248. Brantome, vol, ii. Cap. Fran. P. 256-258. La Noue, p. 182. vention. com I. 1574 1589. CHA P. commander, across the river, and on which he reposed all his hopes of success against the place. Jembelli is regarded as their inventor": it is however incontestable that they were used by the Hugonots, several years earlier, in 1577, at the siege of Brouage in Poitou. Clermont d'Amboise, who commanded the fleet of Ro-. chelle, sent four fire-ships, to burn the royal squadron. De Thou very accurately describes their nature and destination°. We find no men-. tion made of them among the English, before the invasion of the Spanish Armada in 1588, when they performed such signal execution. a Busbeq. de Bong. p. 242. • De Thou, vol. vii. p. 518. CHAP. II. State of commerce and navigation.-Bankers. Attempts at colonization. - Manufactures.-Sumptuary laws.Agriculture.-Condition of the peasants. - Oppression of the inferior orders of society. -- Population.-State of Paris. The Louvre. Public Edifices.- Courts Tor of law, and of criminal judicature. Venality of of- IT. ·Sale of honors II. State of T is by no means easy, from the most accu- C H A P. rate and laborious comparison of the materials left us by the contemporary authors, to 1574-form any clear, or perfect idea of the precise 1589. state of the French commerce, under the last the French princes of the race of Valois. The information commerce. on that point, is usually short, obscure, and unsatisfactory; while on subjects of far inferior importance, they frequently embrace a vast detail. We may however safely assert, that the true principles of trade were at that period little understood or studied, either by men of speculative research, or by statesmen and financiers. A very precarious protection was extended by the state, to the merchant adventurer: navigation was dangerous, not only from Impedithe want of correct charts which might direct ments to VOL. IV. G the trade. II. 1589. CHA P. the mariner, but, from the number of pirates, with which the Mediterranean and the other 1574 European seas were infested. Ships were besides liable to detention, and even to confiscation, either from the rapacious spirit of the government, or from the impolitic and pernicious regulations adopted in various countries, with a view to draw unreasonable advantages from the affluence of foreign traders. Monopolies, or exclusive privileges, granted by the French kings to favored individuals, fettered and oppressed the genius of commerce. Impolitic prohibitions, originating in narrow and contracted ideas of national benefit, prevented the exportation of many articles. Industry had not yet laid open and improved the numerous sources of internal riches. Naval enterprize and discovery, rather than the spirit of trade, Objects of characterized the age. Gold formed the object of general research, more than the exchange of commodities, and the progressive acquisition of wealth. The example of Spain and Portugal, whose sovereigns had over-run and conquered the richest portions of the Old and New World, with incredible rapidity; and whose subjects returned home with the spoils of India, of Africa, and of Peru; had contributed to awaken avidity, and to debauch the sober genius of laborious application. Men preferred distant and precarious expeditions, in quest of plunder, or in search of mines, before the beaten track of limited profit. The effect of so many causes, operating to one point, may account for the slender commer cial re search. |