religious toleration which does so much honour to his memory. By Henri III he was successively appointed governor of the chancelry of Burgundy, councillor of the provincial Parliament, and subsequently president.--_Petitot_. [185] Daniel, vol. vii. pp. 414, 415. Péréfixe, vol. ii. p. 367. Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_, book ii. p. 411. [186] Charles de Bourbon-Conti, Comte de Soissons, espoused the cause of the King of Navarre, whom he accompanied to the battle of Coutras in 1587. Henry promised to him the hand of his sister, Catherine de Navarre, to whom he presented him immediately afterwards, when a reciprocal affection was the result. M. de Soissons, however, abandoned the reform party, and did not return to it until after the death of Henri III. He served actively and zealously during the League; but having discovered that the King did not intend to fulfil his promise of marrying him to the Princess, he quitted him during the siege of Rouen in 1592, on the pretext of illness, and hastened to Béarn, hoping to induce Catherine to become his wife before the King could interfere to prevent their union, and by engaging himself to support his brother, the Cardinal de Bourbon, to make himself master of the possessions of the house of Navarre beyond the Loire. On reaching Béarn, however, he found Henry already there, and was obliged to withdraw without having accomplished either object. A short time subsequently he renewed his friendship with that monarch, and officiated as Duke of Normandy at his coronation at Chartres in 1594. [187] Péréfixe, vol. ii. p. 369. [188] Louis de l'Hôpital de Vitry, knight of all the Royal Orders, and Captain of the King's bodyguard, was descended from the illustrious and ancient family of the Marquis de Sainte-Même and de Montpellier, Comtes d'Entremons. [189] Charles de Choiseul, Marquis de Praslin, the representative of one of the most illustrious families of France, was a descendant of the ancient Comtes de Langres. He distinguished himself at the siege of La Fère in 1580, at that of Paris in 1589, and at the battle of Aumale in 1592. Henri IV made him a captain of his bodyguard, and Louis XIII, in 1619, bestowed upon him the _bâton_ of marshal of France. He died in 1626, in his sixty-third year. [190] Mézeray asserts, and with greater probability, that Henry's parting words were: "Since you will not speak out, adieu, Baron" (_Hist, de France_, vol. x. p. 201); while Péréfixe gives a third version, asserting that the King took leave of him by saying: "Well then, the truth must be learnt elsewhere; adieu, Baron de Biron" (_Hist, de Henri le Grand_, vol. ii. p. 371). [191] Sully, _Mém_. vol. iv. pp. 108, 109. [192] Daniel, vol. vii. pp. 415-417. Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles,_ book ii. pp. 413-415. Mézeray, vol. x. pp. 196-202. Péréfixe, vol. ii. pp. 369-372. [193] Mézeray, vol. x. p. 203. [194] Matthieu, _Hist. des Troubles_, book ii. pp. 415, 416.