Note 701 — Chapter IX

Henry the Fourth, when a boy of eleven years of age, was in the train of Catherine, and was present at one of her interviews with Alva. It is said that he overheard the words of the duke quoted in the text, and that they sank deep into the mind of the future champion of Protestantism. Henry reported them to his mother, Jeanne d'Albret, by whom they were soon made public. Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. XVIII. p. 447.—For the preceding paragraph see also De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 34 et seq.—Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 23.—Brantôme, Œuvres, tom. V. p. 58 et seq.