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'Oh, indeed!" said the Duke." Pray, sir, have you ever seen the castle of Montmelian ?"

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Truly I thought not, or you would not talk so lightly of taking it. Montmelian is impregnable!"

"Ah, my lord," replied the Baron, "I advise you not to oblige his Majesty to make the attempt, or you may depend upon it Montmelian will lose its title."

"I am not insensible, Grand Master," said the Duke, now very seriously, "that I have the misfortune to have as my enemy a man whose But the Duke's compliments were cut short by the entrance of his Majesty. Come, my lord; come, Grand Master,-this is not a time to talk so gravely; the ladies want you ;-let us sup first."

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However, as all sides desired to have the business "en train" at least, five Commissioners on each side were chosen that night, and the times for meeting agreed on. This was at the latter end of the year 1599, and most of those who were appointed on Henry's side were, even at that time, strongly leaning to Savoy's interests; and the Duke took care that the new year's presents, which it was customary to make, should not be such as to tempt them to cool in his cause. Accordingly they found, on their first meeting afterwards, that there only remained to be conquered the indomitable Rosny. Hitherto, though the others had gradually yielded, first one point and then another, the Baron had held firmly to the point-" either that Saluces should be restored, or that Bresse, and all the borders of the Rhone from Geneva to Lyons, should be given in exchange." Judging of his nature by their own, therefore, they concluded that they had not come up to his price, and resolved to try again. Des Allymes was fixed upon to convey to him the Duke's new-year's gift; the extreme polish and suavity of whose manners, it was thought, would prove a match for the Baron's straightforward roughness. On the 5th of January, then, 1600, Des Allymes waited upon M. De Rosny; and, after the first salutations, which were extremely polite on both sides, had passed, Des Allymes began :

"It is with extreme pleasure, Grand Master," said he, "that I have received the appointment of his Highness to wait upon you with the compliments of the season; and I should esteem myself exceedingly fortunate, if I could always make such compliments with the perfect sincerity with which I do the present. That, however, is impossible; for how rarely does the world see a Baron de Rosny!"

"You overpower me, M. des Allymes," said Rosny; "do not, I beseech you, let your praises so far outstrip the merit of their object."

"Ah! Grand Master, you ought to do yourself more justice: but let me not forget the commission with which I have been honoured. His Highness, M. De Rosny, has commanded me to beg your acceptance of his picture, as a small testimony of the esteem in which he holds you as the faithful minister of his most Christian Majesty, to whom he is so deeply attached."

So saying, the gentleman presented M. De Rosny with a portrait of the Duke, set in a box enriched with diamonds and brilliants to the value of fifteen or twenty thousand crowns. Rosny received the splendid, but treacherous present, and as his eye dwelt upon it with the natural admiration its magnificence demanded, Des Allymes went on:

"I should think myself extremely happy, M. De Rosny, if I could prevail upon you to give your attention to the reasons his Highness has to urge on the little matter which at present is the object of his visit to France. cannot but believe that you would find them so good, and so consistent with the interests of France also, as to ensure your acquiescence in them at

once."

His Highness may be assured," said Rosny, keeping his eyes on the May 1839.-VOL. I.—NO. II.

box with a fixedness which convinced Des Allymes that the bait had at last taken, "that the desire which I have to secure his esteem, if at all compatible with the interests of my country, is such as to bind me entirely to him. You are probably the bearer of proposals from his Highness, M. Des Allymes may I know what they are?" Now, thought Des Allymes, the time is come.

"I am extremely happy, Grand Master," said he, "that at length I have the opportunity of quietly conversing with you on this subject, as I have been convinced from the beginning that it was only necessary to lay before you the very great advantage which would accrue to his most Christian Majesty, from securing in his interest a prince so noble as the Duke of Savoy, to make you a warm and efficient supporter of the cause on which that prince has just now set his heart."

Rosny listened to all this with an air of such apparent interest and willingness to be convinced, that Des Allymes went on with increased hopes of success.

"These advantages, I do not need to insist upon any more, excepting this-that, having now irremediably separated himself from Spain, his assistance would be invaluable to France in conquering Naples, Milan-nay, even the empire itself. And I am sure you must perceive, M. De Rosny, that it would be exceedingly unwise to place against advantages so great, a paltry little marquisate, merely because the Duke happens to wish to retain it." This last inuendo was a slip of the diplomatist.

"Hold! M. Des Allymes," replied Rosny, rather nettled; ". you must be very well aware that his Majesty has no such motive in demanding Saluces. On the contrary, it is simply and obviously his duty to transmit the country of France to his successor in as perfect a state as possible, and he would be deficient in that duty were he to suffer it to be mutilated. And certainly the time chosen by his Highness for seizing upon it was not one calculated to make us look upon the act with as little displeasure as we might otherwise have done. It was a strange return, you must be conscious, M. Des Allymes, for the very great obligations which Henry III. had but just bestowed upon him."

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But, Grand Master," resumed Des Allymes, not much liking the turn the conversation was taking, you ought not to overlook the advantages I spoke of; his Majesty's successor would certainly have cause to thank him, that, by resigning so very a trifle to oblige his Highness, he had annexed such large dominions to the crown."

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"I am perfectly sensible of what you say," replied Rosny, smiling; "and I am much obliged by the good opinion his Highness expresses for me; and you may assure him, M. Des Allymes, that when he has made absolute restitution of Saluces (raising his eyes from the box, and suffering them to rest quietly and steadily on the countenance of Des Allymes)-I will by no means forget to use what interest I may possess with his Majesty to engage him to assist the Duke in the acquisition of those opulent kingdoms you speak of; and the more so, as they would be so much more convenient to his Highness than they could possibly be to his Majesty. With respect to this very splendid and magnificent present with which the Duke has honoured me, it is only its value which makes me hesitate about accepting it but if you will allow me to return the box and diamonds, I will retain the picture with great pleasure, in remembrance of so obliging a prince.'

::

While he was saying this, Rosny took the portrait from the box, but Des Allymes, seeing that his hopes had been fallacious, with a stiffness which even his politesse did not enable him to conceal, stopped him, saying that it did not belong to him to make any alteration in his master's presents. Upon which the Baron begged him to return the whole, and they parted; and thus ended their last effort to gain the Grand Master.

They next tried to prevail upon Henry to substitute another for Rosny, but this was going rather too far: Henry knew much too well the value of Rosny, as well as the value of the others, to allow him to be removed. One more trick they tried, and in that they succeeded; which was for the Duke to request that the Patriarch of Constantinople might attend their meetings in the name of the Pope. Henry, not seeing their motive, granted their request at once; and now they hoped the point was in a fair way for being gained.

The next meeting was to be held at the Constable's house; for the king, who had not much relish for the detail of this business, and who knew indeed that Rosny was better able to meet their artifices than himself, had appointed it to be held there, in order that, when he should have presided at the opening of it, he might go and amuse himself at tennis in the court of that house. Having, therefore, seen the conference begun, and exhorted them all to have a strict regard to justice, he whispered to Rosny, as he passed, "Take care of every thing, and do not let them impose upon you," and left them. It was upon this position of circumstances that the Commissioners had relied: instead therefore of uniting in a body, and proceeding to the business, they gathered into little groups of twos and threes, and the nuncio passed from one party to another, talking in a low voice to each, but none of them took the least notice of the Grand Master. Rosny however was not a man whom it was easy to divest of his self-possession; he quietly sat still that he might observe their motions, and force them to the first movement. In a while, after a great deal of seeming reluctance and hesitation, one of them came to him, and told him that the good patriarch could not conquer the scruples which he had about conversing with a Huguenot, and entreated him therefore, in the name of the assembly, to oblige them by absenting himself, as nothing could be done while he was present.

Certainly," said Rosny, not at all disquieted; and bowing profoundly, he withdrew. He was going to seek the king, but met him in the gallery.

"Ha! Grand Master," said Henry, "what, is this affair settled at last, and so speedily?"

"No, Sire," said Rosny, smiling, "but Father Bonaventure's scruples are rather troublesome this morning."

"What do you mean, M. de Rosny?"

"The good Father pays me the compliment to think himself in danger from my presence, Sire, that's all."

"Your merriment is somewhat ill-timed, Grand Master; do you mean to say that they have desired your absence ?"

"I do, Sire."

"Ventre St. Gris!" said Henry, stamping with rage on the floor of the gallery; "they will compel me to notice their treason. Return to them, sir, and tell them that if there is any person to whom your presence is displeasing, it is that person's place to withdraw, and not yours; and that it is my will that you remain."

This message somewhat disconcerted the good people; however, seeing they could not help themselves, they were fain to submit. What the nuncio did with his scruples, history doth not say. The Commissioners were now reduced to their last point, time; and this they contested so strongly, that, notwithstanding Rosny as strongly combated it, they gained at last three of the eighteen months for which they at first stipulated. Still the Duke failed not repeatedly to solicit from his majesty an alteration of the decision, till, finding at last that he received no other answer than this, "I am resolved to have my marquisate," he set off for Chamberry, where, till the expiration of the time prescribed, which was in the month

of June, he employed himself in preparations for defending it, instead of giving it up.

Such is a specimen of the way in which they managed such things in France, in those days. We have left ourselves no room for reflections, and therefore our readers must each supply his own, only taking care, for our sakes, that they be no worse than it might be supposed we ourselves should have made, had we had room.

MUTABILITY IN LOVE.

I.

SHAME on the restless heart, that longs to rove,
And feels no joy but in a change of love;
Blighted those eyes, whose ever-varying glance
But seeks some fairer, fonder countenance;
Be mute the mouth, whose silver tongue supplies
The changeful coin of well-invented lies;
For all it sound so sadly sweet, for all

It gloze away in murmurs musical,

Casting the spirit's garb o'er cold dull sense,
And passion's hues o'er mute indifference.
Be poison, like the hot Simoom, the sighs,
That, tainting, as an exhalation rise:
Be gall, ye tears, that so serenely fall
Athwart the cheek, and start to life at call,
Unmoved, unruffled man's more noble part,
Untouched the stagnant current of the heart.

This to the fool whose heart is fixed in vain,
That calculates his conquest by the pain
It gives his friend or victim-such as they
May flutter, like the fly, their lives away.
There is a panoply more strong than steel-
The want of head to learn, or heart to feel.

Not worse, though weaker, is the heart that lies,
Spite of itself, the helpless sacrifice

Of each more auburn tress, each eye more blue,
Each cheek more rivalling the rose-bud's hue,
Caught in the nets of some Neæra's hair,
Whose feigned or venal loves it yearns to share;
Wrecked on each eddy of each dimpled cheek,
In chains that only some new thrall can break,
By some new Siren-song that points, too late,
Towards some false shore, and leaves it desolate.

Nothing akin to such is true love's tone—
Harsh to the world, it beats for one alone :
Flame to that one-to all the rest as ice,
It asks in wonder, Does the soul feel twice?
Not there the language that the brain reflects,
But half the heart's and half the intellect's;
Affection second-hand, a bastard love,
Imaging sorrows that we think we prove,
Born of the brain, as Pallas was to Jove;
Whose show of fire is as the ice's gleam,
Or, at its warmest, like a sunlit stream;

That sparkles to the stars,-and when the stars have done,
Changes its hand, and sparkles to the sun.

II.

Go, deem thyself in love, young boy,
Go, deem thyself in love;
Write sonnets to thy lady's fan,
And ditties to her glove :

And say thy soul is comfortless,
Thy spirit seeks relief;

Thou scarce canst drink one pint of wine,
Or eat one pound of beef.

I hate the fool that tries to feel,
And walks abroad to find

Something to fill the vacant space,
In that cold void, his mind.

And worse than him the youth that doats;
But worse than aught beside,

The female fop that fans a flame,

To only feed her pride.