CHAPTER XXII.
IN BRETAGNE.
Our readers must now permit us to look backward, for we have (infollowing the principal persons of our history) neglected some others inBretagne, who deserve some notice; besides, if we do not represent themas taking an active part in this tale, history is ready with herinflexible voice to contradict us; we must, therefore, for the present,submit to the exigencies of history.
Bretagne had, from the first, taken an active part in the movement ofthe legitimated bastards; this province, which had given pledges offidelity to monarchical principles, and pushed them to exaggeration, ifnot to madness, since it preferred the adulterous offspring of a king tothe interests of a kingdom, and since its love became a crime by callingin aid of the pretensions of those whom it recognized as its princes,enemies against whom Louis XIV. for sixty years, and France for twocenturies had waged a war of extermination.
We have seen the list of the principal names which constituted thisrevolt; the regent had wittily said that it contained the head andtail; but he was mistaken--it was the head and body. The head was thecouncil of the legitimated princes, the king of Spain, and his imbecileagent, the prince of Cellamare; the body was formed by those brave andclever men who were now in the Bastille; but the tail was now agitatingin Bretagne among a people unaccustomed to the ways of a court, and itwas a tail armed with stings like those of a scorpion, and which was themost to be feared.
The Bretagne chiefs, then, renewed the Chevalier de Rohan, under LouisXIV.; we say the Chevalier de Rohan, because to every conspiracy must begiven the name of a chief.
Along with the prince, who was a conceited and commonplace man, and evenbefore him, were two men, stronger than he; one in thought and the otherin execution. These two men were Letreaumont, a Norman gentleman, andAffinius Vanden-Enden, a Dutch philosopher; Letreaumont wanted money, hewas the arm; Affinius wanted a republic, he was the soul. This republic,moreover, he wanted inclosed in Louis XIV.'s kingdom, still further toannoy the great king--who hated republicans even at a distance--who hadpersecuted and destroyed the Pensioner of Holland, John de Witt, morecruel in this than the Prince of Orange, who, in declaring himself DeWitt's enemy, revenged personal injuries, while Louis XIV. had receivednothing but friendship and devotion from this great man.
Now Affinius wanted a republic in Normandy, and got the Chevalier deRohan named Protector; the Bretons wished to revenge themselves forcertain injuries their province had received under the regency, and theydecreed it a republic, with the power of choosing a protector, even werehe a Spaniard; but Monsieur de Maine had a good chance.
This is what passed in Bretagne.
The Bretons lent an ear to the first overtures of the Spaniards; theyhad no more cause for discontent than other provinces, but to them itseemed a capital opportunity for war, and they had no other aim.Richelieu had ruled them severely; they thought to emancipatethemselves under Dubois, and they began by objecting to theadministrators sent by the regent; a revolution always commences by ariot.
Montesquieu was appointed viceroy to hold assemblies, to hear thepeople's complaints, and to collect their money. The people complainedplentifully, but would not pay, because they did not like the steward;this appeared a bad reason to Montesquieu, who was a man of the oldregime.
"You cannot offer these complaints to his majesty," said he, "withoutappearing to rebel: pay first, and complain afterward; the king willlisten to your sorrows, but not to your antipathies to a man honored byhis choice."
Monsieur de Montaran, of whom the Bretons complained, gave no offense;but, in being intendant of the province, any other would have been asmuch disliked, and they persisted in their refusal to pay.
"Monsieur le Marechal," said their deputies, "your language might suit ageneral treating with a conquered place, but cannot be accepted by freeand privileged men. We are neither enemies nor soldiers--we are citizensand masters at home. In compensation of a service which we ask,namely--that Monsieur de Montaran, whom we dislike, should be removed,we will pay the tax demanded; but if the court takes to itself thehighest prize, we will keep our money, and bear as we best can thetreasurer who displeases us."
Monsieur de Montesquieu, with a contemptuous smile, turned on hisheel--the deputies did the same, and both retired with their originaldignity.
But the marshal was willing to wait; he behaved himself as an ablediplomatist, and thought that private reunions would set all right; butthe Breton nobles were proud--indignant at their treatment, theyappeared no more at the marshal's reception; and he, from contempt,changed to angry and foolish resolves. This was what the Spaniards hadexpected. Montesquieu, corresponding with the authorities at Nantes,Quimper, Vannes, and Rennes, wrote that he had to deal with rebels andmutineers, but that ten thousand of his soldiers should teach theBretons politeness.
The states were held again; from the nobility to the people in Bretagneis but a step; a spark lights the whole; the citizens declared to M. deMontesquieu that if he had ten thousand men, Bretagne had a hundredthousand, who would teach his soldiers, with stones, forks and muskets,that they had better mind their own business, and that only.
The marshal assured himself of the truth of this assertion, and wasquiet, leaving things as they were for a while; the nobility then made aformal and moderate complaint; but Dubois and the council of the regencytreated it as a hostile manifesto, and used it as an instrument.
Montaran, Montesquieu, Pontcalec and Talhouet were the men reallyfighting among themselves. Pontcalec, a man of mind and power, joinedthe malcontents and encouraged the growth of the struggle.
There was no drawing back; the court, however, only saw the revolt, anddid not suspect the Spanish affair. The Bretons, who were secretlyundermining the regency, cried aloud, "No impost, no Montaran," to drawaway suspicion from their anti-patriotic plots--but the event turned outagainst them. The regent--a skillful politician--guessed the plotwithout perceiving it; he thought that this local veil hid some otherphantom, and he tore off the veil. He withdrew Montaran, and then theconspirators were unmasked; all the others were content and quiet, theyalone remained in arms.
Then Pontcalec and his friends formed the plot we are acquainted with,and used violent means to attain their ends.
Spain was watching; Alberoni, beaten by Dubois in the affair ofCellamare, waited his revenge, and all the treasures prepared for theplot of Paris were now sent to Bretagne; but it was late--he did notbelieve it, and his agents deceived him; he thought it was possible torecommence the war, but then France made war on Spain. He thought itpossible to kill the regent; but he, and not Chanlay, should do what noone would then recommend to the most cruel enemy of France. Alberonireckoned on the arrival of a Spanish vessel full of arms and money, andthis ship did not arrive; he waited for news of Chanlay; it was LaJonquiere who wrote--and what a La Jonquiere!
One evening Pontcalec and his friends had met in a little room near theold castle; their countenances were sad and irresolute--Du Couedicannounced that he had received a note recommending them to take flight.
"I have a similar one to show you," said Montlouis; "it was slid undermy glass at table, and my wife, who expected nothing, was frightened."
"I neither expect nor fear anything," said Talhouet; "the province iscalm, the news from Paris is good; every day the regent liberates someone of those imprisoned for the Spanish affair."
"And I, gentlemen," said Pontcalec, "must tell you of a strangecommunication I have received to-day. Show me your note, Du Couedic, andyou yours, Montlouis; perhaps it is the same writing, and is a snare forus."
"I do not think so, for if they wish us to leave this, it is to escapesome danger; we have nothing to fear for our reputation, for that is notat stake. The affairs of Bretagne are known to the world: your brother,Talhouet, and your cousin have fled to Spain: Solduc, Rohan, Sanbillythe counselor, have all disappeared, yet their flight was supposed to benatural, and from some simple cause of discontent. I confess, if theadvice be repeated, I shall
fly."
"We have nothing to fear, my friends," said Pontcalec, "our affairs werenever more prosperous. See, the court has no suspicion, or we shouldhave been molested already. La Jonquiere wrote yesterday; he announcesthat De Chanlay is starting for La Muette, where the regent lives as aprivate gentleman, without guards, without fear."----"Yet you areuneasy," said Du Couedic.
"I confess it, but not for the reason you suppose."
"What is it, then?"
"A personal matter."
"Of your own!"
"Yes, and I could not confide it to more devoted friends, or any whoknow me better. If ever I were molested--if ever I had the alternativeof remaining or of flying to escape a danger, I should remain; do youknow why?"
"No, speak."
"I am afraid."
"You, Pontcalec?--afraid! What do you mean by these words, after thoseyou have just uttered?"
"Mon Dieu! yes, my friend; the ocean is our safeguard; we could findsafety on board one of those vessels which cruise on the Loire fromPaimboeuf to Saint Nazaire; but what is safety to you is certain deathto me."
"I do not understand you," said Talhouet.
"You alarm me," said Montlouis.
"Listen, then, my friends," said Pontcalec.
And he began, in the midst of the most scrupulous attention, thefollowing recital, for they knew that if Pontcalec were afraid theremust be a good cause.
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