VIE DE HENRI IV

There are f ew kings whose names hâve remained so popular as that of Henry IV., and this is owing to his bravery and to what he did for his people.

For a long time France had been ruled over by cruel and incapable princes, but Henry endeared himself to his people by his careful and skilful administration.

On the 18th of August, 1572, he married the sister of Charles IX. This event took place six days before the fatal night of Saint Bartholomew.

With the death of Henry III., who was assassinated in

1589, the last king of the Valois family had disappeared, and the throne fell to Henry, but as he was a Protestant he had to conquer his kingdom.

The Catholic armies were commanded by Mayenne, while he hiraself led the Huguenots. He conquered Mayenne at Arques and Ivry, but he never was able to capture Paris.

After having twice laid siège to that city he made up his mind to become a Catholic, and in 1594 he triumphantly entered the capital.

However, the Spaniards, who had helped the Catholics against the king, were still possessed of two provinces, Picardy and Burgundy. Henry defeated them near Dijon.

He then thought of bettering the condition of his people. By the Edict of Nantes, he gave the Protestants freedom to worship God according to their faith. He now turned his attention to the welf are of the peasants, and a f ew years later the country was in such a flourishing condition that those who had been through it but a few years before did not recognize it.

That excellent monarch was killed by a fanatic on the 14th of May, 1610, as he was going to call on Sully, his prime minister.

PIEEEE LE GBAKD.

Thème.

Peter I. may be said to hâve been the founder of the Eussian empire. When he came to the throne, industries, arts, manufactures, were completely unknown there. He called to his court men from ail countries, and thus succeeded in developing commerce, art, and industries among his people. He was not only a good organizer, he also was a great gênerai; he had to fight the Swedes, Persians, and Turks. In ail his wars his enemies were conquered by him, and when he died he had gained control over the White, Azof, Caspian,

Exercices de Traduction. 225

and Baltic seas. What, however, remains as his best title to glory is the founding of Saint Petersburg.

In order to carry ont his plan, marshes had to be drained, the conrse of the Neva river had to be regulated, and the whole province, where now stands the beantiful capital of the Enssian empire, had to be conquered from the Swedes. He succeeded in trinmphing over ail thèse obstacles, and when he died, his empire was acknowledged by ail to be one of the most important in the world. Ever since, Eussia has kept on developing, and her natnral wealth is said to be well-nigh nnlimited. Peter, however, had his f anlts ; he was tyrannical and cruel, but it remains to his crédit to hâve made Eussia what she is now, a very powerfnl country.