The Cardinal de Bourbon[234] assumes the title of successor to the throne, and is indignant at the preference given to the claims of his nephew; he has thrown off his Cardinal’s robes and fancies himself so much in a soldier’s coat, that people think he must be childish. He is fully convinced that he owes it to the Apostolic See, to the faith he professes, to his family, and to himself, not to allow a Protestant to ascend the throne on the death of the King. He therefore considers himself the Chief of the League, and demands the first place in it. The Church, the Commonwealth, the convening[235] of the Estates, the security of the country, the safety of honest people, the common pleas of all revolutionists, are pressed into their service as a cloak for their designs. Again, there was a report of a Bull[236] coming from the Pope, which might arrive at any moment, pronouncing Navarre and Condé incapable of ascending the throne, as unfit and unworthy. For my own part, I question the policy of such a step, showing as it does the disunion of Christendom at a time when the Turkish victories over the Persians render an invasion more probable than ever; for there is no doubt that the ultimate object of the Turks, in prosecuting their long struggle with the Persians, is to prepare the way for the extinction of Christianity. As soon as they have secured their rear, by destroying or crippling their Asiatic foe, they intend to concentrate their forces for a struggle with us; they will fight with us for existence and empire, and the chances are greatly in their favour.[237] But yet the movement I have described is so popular that I cannot tell what the result will be. To the King, indeed, this outbreak is a most untoward and unexpected event, as he has neither forces nor funds wherewith to meet the emergency. There is hardly a Catholic nobleman in France who is not suspected of being concerned in the designs of the Guises, and secretly favouring the movement; almost all the provinces are wavering in their allegiance; of the great cities some are disloyal, while others refuse to receive garrisons from the King. Thus he hardly knows which way to turn, surrounded as he is with open enemies, while his friends are few and weak. Whatever efforts he may make to muster his troops, it will be too late, for he has to deal with an enemy near at hand and well prepared. The only man I am surprised at is the Duke of Mercœur;[238] I cannot understand his taking up arms against the King, when he is brother to the Queen, and has lately received great promotion from the King. He has, however, had some provocation, inasmuch as he has been deprived of certain privileges which his predecessors in the government of Brittany enjoyed, these having been transferred to the Duke of Joyeuse as Admiral of France.[239]