Page:Historyoffranc00yong.djvu/143

 VII. 1 THE RELIGIOUS WARS. 119 and victory ! " His words were fulfilled. The army of the League was destroyed, and Mayenne escaped with difficulty. Henrj^'s victory at Ivry showed that his final success was only a matter of time ; but he could not march on Paris at once on account of the state of the roads, and also for want of money and supplies. These were kept back by his Catholic supporters, as they did not wish his success to be speedy, for they hoped that the difficulties in his way might lead him to accept their faith. 16. The Sieges of Paris and Rouen, 1591. — The death of the Cardinal of Bourbon deprived the League of their shadow of a king. But Paris held out, and the Duke of Nemours, Mayenne's brother, with all the magis- trates and captains, took an oath on the altar of Notre Dame to die rather than surrender. But they took no pains to provide stores, and, when Henry blockaded the city, the first fortnight caused suffering which he could not bear to witness. He granted a short truce and allowed useless mouths to leave the city, saying, " Paris must not become a graveyard." He even winked at food being introduced, which enabled it to hold out a month longer, until the advance of a Spanish army under Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, forced him to raise the siege. Farnese was a most able general, and, by refusing Henry's offer of battle, forced him to break up his army, which was worn out by being eighteen months in camp. Then, throwing a Spanish garrison into Paris, Farnese returned to the Low Countries, while Henry, with a few troops, hovered about the capital. Paris was now in great misery, and so hated the Spaniards that any change would have been welcome. The Leaguers were beginning to dislike their allies far more than their enemies, and in the winter of 1591, when Henry was besieging Rouen, Mayenne let pass the chance of cutting him off, out of dislike to co-operate with Farnese. Henry let liimself be pursued into Caux, where he hoped to de- stroy the Spaniards between the sea and the Seine. But Farnese brought down boats from Rouen and crossed the Seine at night, retreating to the Netherlands, where he died in a few weeks. 17. Conversion of Henry IV., 1592. — Then came a pause, while Philip II. debated the terms of a marriage between his daughter and the young Duke of Guise, and Henry listened to the arguments of the French