Asserting the king of Navarre’s right to succeed to the reigning monarch, and exposing the machinations and hollow pretexts of the Guises, was the crime of which Belloy was guilty. The works which drew on him the vengeance of the Guisian faction were the “Catholic Apology;” “A Refutation of the Bull of Pope Pius V. against the Navarrese sovereign;” and “An Examination of the Discourse published against the Royal House of France.” In these works, which were given to the press in 1585 and 1586, he contended, that the protestantism of Henry of Navarre did not deprive him of his title to the crown; that the king could not disinherit his legitimate heir; that the Pope had no authority to sit in judgment upon the question of the succession; and that the seeming ardour of the Guises, in behalf of catholicism, was nothing more than a mask to cover their designs upon the throne. His language was strictly decorous, his candour and impartiality were evident, but his facts and arguments were unforgivable. Slander was the weapon which his enemies began by using against Belloy. To his “Catholic Apology” a reply was published by a Jesuit, who assumed the designation of Francisculus Romulus, but who is believed to have been the celebrated Bellarmin. To give weight to his reasonings, the Jesuit boldly asserted that his opponent, who falsely took the name of catholic, was at least a heretic, if not an atheist. This calumny fell harmless upon the object at which it was aimed. It was not so with calumny from a higher quarter. The Guises were not satisfied with defaming him; they determined to make him feel their power more effectually. An unfortunate maniac, le Breton by name, of whom I shall have next occasion to speak, had written a seditious libel. This libel the Guises ascribed to Belloy. Failing to effect their purpose by this accusation, they painted him in the darkest colours to the king, as a dangerous mischief-maker and heretic, and the weak monarch was at last prevailed upon to commit him to the prison of the Concièrgerie. After Henry had assassinated the duke of Guise, the Council of Sixteen removed Belloy to the Bastile, where he remained in close confinement for nearly four years. He at length found means to escape, and he sought refuge at St. Denis, which was garrisoned by the troops of Henry IV. He was introduced to Henry, by Vic, the governor, and the king rewarded his talents and fidelity, by appointing him advocate-general to the parliament of Toulouse. His subsequent life appears to have been passed in quiet. The date of his death is not known, but in 1612 he was still living. He wrote various works, besides those which have already been mentioned: among them are a “Dissertation on the Origin and Institution of various Orders of Chivalry;” and “An Exposition of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel.”